The Turning Point

 On this date in 1977, "The Turning Point" was released.

The movie was inspired by the real life story of friends of director Herbert Ross and his ex-ballerina wife Nora Kaye. Ross has said: [They were] "A dancer named Kelly Brown, who was so marvelous in "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" (1954), and a ballerina named Isobel Miro, a distant relative of Nora's. They met, married, gave up ballet, and opened a dance school in Phoenix. They had four children. The marriage eventually dissolved (though it doesn't in the film), and Isobel and the kids moved to New York, where they could study ballet. Over the years, she'd send us pictures of the kids, and Nora and I would talk about the family."

Grace Kelly was on the board of directors at 20th Century-Fox and the script treatment was sent to her for her reaction. Director Herbert Ross said: "Grace loved the story, and said she'd come out of retirement to play the ballet dancer who opts for marriage. Then Grace showed the script to Prince Rainier and he told her he didn't want her to go back to work."

In one scene, Anne Bancroft throws a drink in Shirley MacLaine's face. The moment was scrupulously rehearsed by director Herbert Ross, up to the point where Bancroft throws the drink into MacLaine's face. During rehearsal he had the actress set the glass down on the counter without tossing its contents every time; then continuing with the scene. When everything was ready, Ross took the shot in one take -- the scene you see on film, where Bancroft throws the drink into MacLaine's face. Having only been hit the one time, the look of shock on MacLaine's face is real.

"The Turning Point" was the first of two Academy Award Best Picture nominees to receive 11 nominations without winning any Oscars. This film jointly holds the record with "The Color Purple" (1985) for the film with most Oscar nominations without a single win.