The Turning Point            

By Tom Keogh

Mikhail Baryshnikov made his film debut in this lightweight but entertaining drama about the relationship between a renowned ballerina (Anne Bancroft) and the woman (Shirley MacLaine) who had trained with her but had given up dance to become a wife, mother, and teacher. Between MacLaine's envy over her friend's career and the attention her own ballerina daughter (Leslie Browne) is getting, MacLaine's character goes through a complicated crisis. The two actresses carry the story very well and probably camouflage its thinness; they even make a somewhat condescending climax involving a catfight seem like a good idea. A subplot involving a developing romance between the virginal Browne and Baryshnikov's womanizer makes for pretty window dressing. More memorable are dance sequences featuring each in splendid performance. Baryshnikov's leaps are something to behold.

Academy Awards

The Turning Point received Academy Awards nominations for Best Picture (Herbert Ross - Producer, Arthur Laurents - Producer), Actress (Shirley MacLaine), Actress (Anne Bancroft), Supporting Actor (Mikhail Baryshnikov), Supporting Actress (Leslie Browne), Directing (Herbert Ross), Writing (Best Screenplay written directly for the screen; Arthur Laurents), Art Direction/Set Decoration (Albert Brenner - Art Direction, Marvin March - Set Decoration), Cinematography (Robert L. Surtees), Film Editing (William H. Reynolds) and Sound (Theodore Soderberg, Paul Wells, Douglas O. Williams, Jerry Jost).

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