The Turning Point

Synopsis: The story of two women whose lives are dedicated to ballet. Deedee left her promising dance career to become a wife and mother and now runs a ballet school in Oklahoma. Emma stayed with a company and became a star though her time has nearly passed. Both want what the other has and reflect on missed chances as they are brought together again through Deedee's daughter, who joins the company.
Genre: Drama, Romance
Director(s): Herbert Ross
Production: Paramount Pictures
  Nominated for 11 Oscars. Another 11 wins & 7 nominations.
 
IMDB:
6.9
Rotten Tomatoes:
60%
PG
Year:
1977
119 min
2,178 Views


This is KKNG Stereo 92, KKNG,

Oklahoma City.

The magnificent American Ballet Company

is at the Civic Center Music Hall.

Great dancing stars are performing

full-length Tchaikovsky ballets,

plus many classic and contemporary

favorites from ABC's vast repertoire.

Tickets are available

at the Music Hall box office and all agencies.

KKNG. And now we continue

with music from the ballet.

Is everybody ready?

Gorgeous.

Very smart!

- I thought you were gonna set up the bar.

- There'll be time after we get back.

Dad.

The wife's always the last to know.

Emilia, will you get dressed?

Janina, that's enough.

There'll be time when we get back.

And it takes you an hour to get ready.

Will you go and do it? Where's Ethan?

Mom, those beads look

absolutely gross with that dress.

These beads were given to me by Emma

before you were born.

Well, they look gross now.

- Ethan? Ethan, will you quit that?

- It's the lights. I'm crazy.

Well, the lights are for the party.

Come on, we're leaving in two minutes.

Come on, let's go.

- Who's got the tickets?

- I don't have them.

- I got 'em.

- You have the tickets.

I am so nervous.

Momma, don't be so nervous.

- How are you doin'?

- OK.

- Did you have a good cry?

- A beaut.

- What'd you tell the kids?

- Nothing. They know you.

They've heard the tale of you and Emma

rehearsing for the same part a hundred times.

- There's no law says we gotta go backstage.

- Yes, there is.

Come to the party. Relax, Sevilla.

What's the point of doing a perfect arabesque

for audiences who don't know the difference?

I was terrible tonight.

I'm going home to soak in a hot bath.

You are no fun, Sevilla. I'll put you in a taxi.

No, thanks, love. My limo's waiting.

- Where are the showers?

- Over that way, I think.

Deedee?

- Freddie.

- Baby, how are you?

Freddie. Oh, I'm so glad to see you.

Meet our kids.

This is Emilia, Janina and Ethan.

You lookjust great.

Deedee.

...instead of four.

- Yes. And he loops that part, so...

Hello, Adelaide.

Well.

You've held up very well, dearie.

- So've you.

- Running this company keeps me trim.

You could lose a few pounds, Deedee.

So you always said.

- No cakes or candy tonight at the party.

- Not a cookie, cookie.

Deedee?

It's Michael.

Michael Cooke.

It's Michael.

Wayne? Wayne, Michael's here.

Michael...

- Hi, Wayne.

- Look at you.

- Damn, you look impressive, sir.

- So impressive Deedee didn't recognize me.

You weren't the world's greatest

choreographer when we left.

- Wasn't I? I thought I was.

- He'd done Anna Karenina.

Hey, come on.

- From bar four on?

- Yes. But then I think it's gotta build.

- Towards the end.

- Tonight it was slow.

We should speed it up.

That's how it should go. It shouldn't be any

slower than that. I feel like I'm on point for...

Here you are. Oh, God.

- You were wonderful.

- Oh, I wasn't wonderful.

- I wanted to be, but I wasn't.

- Yes, you were.

- I loved your flowers. Thanks so much.

- You were fabulous.

No, I wasn't.

You know my foot was acting up. I wrote you.

You couldn't notice it. I couldn't tell at all.

- I was so nervous because you were here.

- You were wonderful.

- I wasn't.

- Yes, you were.

You really were, Emma.

Oh, Wayne.

Oh, Wayne.

You moved me like you always did.

Thanks.

- Oh, Wayne, it's been too long.

- Yeah, it sure has.

Well... how would you like to see

your godchild? Emilia, come over here.

Oh, my God.

- Isn't she somethin'?

- Oh, my God.

Last time I saw you, I could pick you up.

Oh, she's lovely.

She's lovely, Deedee.

She is.

Janina.

- Janina, yes.

- Hi.

- And...

- Ethan.

Ethan. Hi.

OK.

He's a little dangerous.

Look at you.

They don't know how fast time goes, do they?

No. They don't.

Oh, Deedee.

Oh, Deedee...

Still disgustingly neat.

I was always such a total slob, wasn't I?

I only minded when you borrowed

my eyeliner and didn't return it.

To its proper place.

Oh, Emma. You don't travel

with this picture everywhere you go?

That and Mother. The rest appear

and disappear into a scrapbook.

- Oh, sweetheart.

- Did you really wear this hat to my wedding?

I love that hat.

God, can you believe how young we looked?

- I look like sh*t.

- Well, we all did next to Wayne.

- God, he's beautiful.

- Even in those pleated pants.

No wonder the whole company wanted him.

It's a good thing you had your eye elsewhere.

- You mean on Michael.

- No, I mean on the ball.

Tell me something, Emma.

What's it like to be you now?

I dance.

I take class, I rehearse, I perform.

I go home to my hotel.

Some cities are better than others.

So are some nights.

I thought I was good tonight.

I wanted to be, for you.

You couldn't help being good.

- Still?

- Yes.

You're an artist.

- Now what are you doing?

- I hate this picture.

I'll send you a new one.

How many bedrooms?

You've seen them all.

Wanna see the cellar? We don't have one.

I bet Momma would have been

a much better Anna Karenina. Emma stinks.

You're so stupid.

Mark, you know what this

fantastic little Russian's gonna do?

He's going to make it respectable

for American boys to be dancers.

See, on a good day I can do

entrechat sixes with double cabrioles.

- You beat me to it.

- Nice of her to have brought it.

- It's all she drinks now.

- You haven't talked to her yet.

I've been busy with the rest of the company.

Wayne, I love the company.

I don't want 'em to ever leave.

I wanna go with 'em. I miss 'em. I want...

Oh, what the hell. Your eyes.

Your ass.

Emma? Anybody seen Emma?

With all that experience

you're really a professional.

Would you like to take class

with the company in the morning?

Emilia, it's pointless to be shy.

You must know what you want

and say it.

- I know some things I want.

- Such as?

To take class with the company.

Had I understood 38 years ago

what I was getting myself into,

I'd never have started

this bloody ballet company.

I had just one thought.

"We need a first-class American company."

- But you've got a lot of foreigners in yours.

- Dance is international.

My company's almost gone under five times.

But here we are,

the best ballet company in the world.

Well, in this country, anyway.

- Is that the way you were brought up?

- Yes.

Your mother.

Well, I want her and your father

to introduce me to some rich oil folk.

They have a ballet school, dearie,

and that always means

a half a dozen rather lumpy little girls

with very rich daddies.

Now, I won't interfere

with their business, Janina.

I know how to handle the rich.

You give them hope, they give you money.

Don't put that ham away.

Save the commercial, Adelaide.

Janina hasn't got a penny.

- She should open a restaurant.

- Thank you.

It's a choreographer's prerogative

to keep his ideas to himself.

But, Arnold, must you be so secretive? Tell

us a little something about your new ballet.

There won't be a swan onstage.

- That's a little something.

- But not enough to guarantee you'll do it?

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Arthur Laurents

Arthur Laurents (July 14, 1917 – May 5, 2011) was an American playwright, stage director and screenwriter.After writing scripts for radio shows after college and then training films for the U.S. Army during World War II, Laurents turned to writing for Broadway, producing a body of work that includes West Side Story (1957), Gypsy (1959), and Hallelujah, Baby! (1967), and directing some of his own shows and other Broadway productions. His early film scripts include Rope (1948) for Alfred Hitchcock, followed by Anastasia (1956), Bonjour Tristesse (1958), The Way We Were (1973), and The Turning Point (1977). more…

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Submitted on August 05, 2018

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    "The Turning Point" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Nov. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/the_turning_point_22370>.

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