Isadora

When filming "the Russian dance sequence" in a theater filled with unsuspecting extras, Dame Vanessa Redgrave duplicated a real-life incident in the life of Isadora Duncan by ripping off the top of her dress and dancing bare-breasted. The extras were not told that she would do this, thus providing the desired audience-aghast reaction shots that director Karel Reisz wanted.

NBC broadcast the complete roadshow version over two nights twice in the early 1970s. While that broadcast was missing (1) the Intermission music, (2) the lovemaking scene between Redgrave and James Fox, and (3) a snippet of nudity in the "Marche Slav" sequence, much new footage was added. Karel Reisz's 153-minute Director's Cut from 1987 is very close to what was seen on NBC. What is missing are some early establishing scenes of:

• The Duncan Family taking a transatlantic cattleboat to Europe in dreadful weather.
• The Duncan Family checking into Claridge's Hotel as "The O'Gormans" and sneaking out the next day without paying the bill

-Young Isadora and her brother Raymond improvising dances in autumn leaves in Kensington Garden -Many of the Jason Robards/Paris Singer sequences were longer and a tad more intricate. The later trimmings tightened things up a bit. -One additional dance performance sequence The Roadshow's intermission came after Isadora reveals the circumstances involving the death of her children, coming at the 2-hour mark. Russia and her death in Nice followed the Intermission and made up the film's last hour. Generally, the roadshow version differs from the Director's Cut in the overall rhythmic feel of the film. The Riviera/Nice sequences were more of the film's "spine" and the hallucinations of Isadora's children and their funerals begin as a mystery. They intersect more frequently, only very gradually revealing themselves to the viewer. By the time Isadora sits down to document her loss in the harrowing centerpiece, the audience has begun to put the puzzle pieces together.

Featured in Merci Docteur Rey (2002)