The Tales of Hoffmann

Metropolitan opera star Robert Rounseville plays Hoffmann, a university student who is spectacularly unlucky in affairs of the heart. Each of his love affairs with Olympia (Moira Shearer), an animated doll, Venetian courtesan Giulietta (Ludmila Tcherina) and singer's daughter Antonia (Ann Ayars) is doomed to failure due to circumstances far beyond our hero's control. The entire film is shaped by Offenbach's score, given a rousing rendition by The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, under the baton of the legendary Sir Thomas Beecham. (StudioCanal UK)