Offenbach - Les Contes d'Hoffmann / The Tales of Hoffmann (Shearer, Helpmann, Rounseville) (Powell and Pressburger, Thomas Beecham) [1951, Opera (Feature), DVD9]

The Tales of Hoffmann is a 1951 British film adaptation of Jacques Offenbach's opera The Tales of Hoffmann, written, produced and directed by the team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger working under the umbrella of their production company, The Archers.
The film stars Moira Shearer, Robert Helpmann, and Léonide Massine, and features Robert Rounseville, Pamela Brown, Ludmilla Tchérina, and Ann Ayars.
It uses a soundtrack recorded for the film conducted by Sir Thomas Beecham; principal singers are Bond, Ayars, Grandi, Rounseville, and Dargavel; the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra plays.
The film's production team includes cinematographer Christopher Challis and production and costume designer Hein Heckroth, who was nominated for two 1952 Academy Awards for his work.
Plot
In a tavern in Nuremberg, the young Hoffmann (Robert Rounseville) tells three stories of past loves—Olympia, Antonia and Giulietta (played by Moira Shearer, Ann Ayars and Ludmilla Tchérina).
He recounts the stories during the interval of a ballet, which stars his new love Stella (also played by Shearer).
Léonide Massine and Robert Helpmann have roles in each story.
Olympia is an automaton or robot created by scientist Spellanzi, which Hoffmann falls for, ignorant of its artifice.
Antonia Crespel is a doomed virtuoso soprano suffering from an incurable illness, who succumbs to the malady, breaking the heart of Hoffmann and her father, Crespel.
In Venice, Hoffmann falls for Giulietta, a courtesan, but she does not love him, and is also a confidence trickster.
Due to a double-cross from one of Hoffmann's adversaries, Dr Miracle, she dies at the end of the third act. Finally, in Nuremberg, Hoffmann explains that all three women are aspects of a ballet dancer named Stella.
However, it is artistic inspiration which drives Hoffmann, and a muse, Nicklausse, who has supported him throughout his romantic intervals, leads him to recognise this. Stella is then rejected by Hoffmann, but goes off with Count Lindorf while several students enter the bar for drink and entertainment.