A much-loved film that catapulted a Dunfermline-born ballerina to international fame is making a big-screen comeback in her home city. 

The Red Shoes, which made Moira Shearer an overnight sensation in 1948, will be screened at Carnegie Hall on Wednesday, February 28 at 7pm. 

It's being screened as part of Cinema Unbound: The Creative Worlds of Powell + Pressburger, a UK-wide film season supported by National Lottery and BFI Film Audience Network.

Dunfermline Press: Moira Shearer in The Red Shoes.Moira Shearer in The Red Shoes. (Image: © ITV Studios Ltd)

Local film fans can enjoy a lovingly restored print of a film that was widely acclaimed on its re-release in 2009. It will be the first cinema screening in Dunfermline of this remastered version. 

Inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s classic fairy tale, The Red Shoes tells the story of young woman Victoria Page, played by Shearer, who realises her dreams of becoming a leading dancer yet pays a terrible price. 

One of the most influential movies of all time, it inspired artists, including film director Martin Scorsese, singer Kate Bush and choreographer Matthew Bourne. 

Dunfermline Press: Anton Walbrook, Jacques Fath, Michael Powell, Moira Shearer and Emeric Pressburger with the script for The Red Shoes. Anton Walbrook, Jacques Fath, Michael Powell, Moira Shearer and Emeric Pressburger with the script for The Red Shoes. (Image: ITV Global Entertainment/Park Circus)

Moira Shearer King was born on January 17, 1926, at Morton Lodge, Dunfermline. She spent her first few years with her grandfather while her parents were in Sierra Leone. Shearer’s father was a civil engineer in the Colonial Service. In 1931, Moria moved to Africa with her parents, where she attended her first dance lesson. 

On their return to Scotland, 10-year-old Moira joined Flora Fairbairn's School of Theatrical Dance. Shearer was then invited to London to attend Monsieur Nicolas Legat's ballet classes before joining Sadler’s Wells Ballet. 

In 1948, aged 22, Moira achieved worldwide celebrity as the ballerina heroine of The Red Shoes, a film that brought huge new audiences to the world of dance. 

Dunfermline Press: The Red Shoes poster.The Red Shoes poster. (Image: Park Circus/ITV Source - BFI National Archive)

As a principal dancer with Sadler’s Wells, Shearer danced leading roles at the Royal Opera House, second only to Margot Fonteyn. After marrying writer and broadcaster Ludovic  Kennedy in 1950, the couple went on to have four children together – Alastair, Ailsa, Rachel and Fiona. 

Moira Shearer retired from ballet in 1953 but continued to act and write. She died on  January 31, 2006. 

The Red Shoes is at 7pm on Wednesday February 28 – see onfife.com for tickets.