The pinnacle of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's remarkable collaboration and perhaps the most widely loved of all their films, The Red Shoes, released in 1948, has come to be regarded as a highlight of world cinema. According to many accounts the most successful British film ever made, its heady mixture of dance, music, colour and light has left a remarkable cinematic legacy, and it continues to inspire audiences today. This, the first comprehensive book on the film, examines the role of The Red Shoes in Powell and Pressburger's oeuvre and explores the creative genius behind the individual elements of its production, from the brilliant score to the unconventional approach to set design and dazzling use of light, colour and imagery. Taking a fresh look at its reception by critics and in the popular press and offering new insights into the characters at the heart of the story, the Svengali-like impresario and his obsession, the ingenue dancer embodied by the brilliant Moira Shearer, Mark Connelly here illuminates this startling work and the ways in which it has beguiled generations of filmmakers and audiences.