:''This article is about the film. For the opera see
Les Contes D'Hoffmann .
'' (
1951 ) is a
British Film adaptation of
Jacques Offenbach's opera ''
Les Contes D'Hoffmann '', made by the filmmakers
Powell & Pressburger .
In a tavern in
Nuremburg , the young
Hoffmann (
Robert Rounseville ) tells three stories of past loves (played by
Moira Shearer ,
Ludmilla Tchérina , and
Anne Ayars ). He recounts the stories during the interval of a ballet, which stars his new love Stella (also played by Shearer). Ballet dancers
Léonide Massine and
Robert Helpmann have roles in each story.
This is not just a film of a staged opera, but a truly filmic opera that makes use of cinematic techniques not available to a staged opera.
The production team included cinematographer
Christopher Challis ,
Sir Thomas Beecham as musical director and
Hein Heckroth as production and costume designer. Heckroth was nominated for two 1952
Academy Awards .
:"For the first time in my life I was treated to Grand Opera where the beauty, power and scope of the music was equally matched by the visual presentation." —
Cecil B. DeMille , in a letter to Powell and Pressburger
