The Turning Point is a 1977 American drama film centered on the world of ballet in New York City, written by Arthur Laurents and directed by Herbert Ross.

It stars Shirley MacLaine and Anne Bancroft, along with Leslie Browne, Mikhail Baryshnikov, and Tom Skerritt.

At the party, DeeDee's daughter Emilia, an aspiring dancer who is also Emma's goddaughter, is invited to take class with the company the following day.

Meanwhile, their son, Ethan, gets a scholarship to the company's summer program while Wayne and their other daughter stay in Oklahoma City.

A number of actresses were offered the roles of Emma and DeeDee, including Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly, and Doris Day.

Kaye continued to dance in New York with other companies and became a more prominent figure in the ballet world, while Isabel had stopped performing to marry and have children.

[6] In 1965, an opportunity to run a dance studio opened up, and Kelly Brown decided to move his family to Phoenix, Arizona (changed to Oklahoma City in the film).

Isabel Mirrow Brown was not thrilled to leave her native New York for Arizona, and the move caused strain in their marriage.

Originally, the ballerina Gelsey Kirkland, who was at the height of her fame at the time and dating Mikhail Baryshnikov (Yuri), was offered the role of Emilia.

Their other daughter, Elizabeth Brown (born 1959), was also a dancer, unlike in the film, and was accepted into SAB a year after Leslie.

Arthur Laurents claimed an important subplot regarding Wayne's homosexuality in the original script was cut from the film by Herbert Ross and his wife.

[12] Vincent Canby of The New York Times called the film an "entertaining new movie, an old-fashioned backstage musical transplanted to the world of ballet by three people who not only know it but also love it, sentimental clichés and all.

"[14] Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of four and wrote, "In a movie year that will be remembered as the year of the science-fiction special effect, it is refreshing to see a film such as 'The Turning Point,' which offers another kind of excitement: the pleasure of following a story you can't easily anticipate.

"[15] Charles Champlin of the Los Angeles Times stated, "The performances by Bancroft and MacLaine are stunning, and both are at Academy Award level ... 'The Turning Point' is a handsome, thoughtful, well-spoken and emotionally holding piece of stylish entertainment.

"[16] Gary Arnold of The Washington Post called the film "enormously appealing" and "an authentic breakthrough-throwback: a vividly enacted depiction of the conflicts between strong, capable, conscious, willful women.

"[17] Pauline Kael of The New Yorker wrote, "As a device, the turning point (like that synthetic summer when adolescent heroes grow into men) is so mechanical it's an exposed construction ... [Laurents] writes sodden, expository dialogue in which people are forever revealing truths to each other and then explaining those truths—'The Turning Point' comes with its own footnotes.

The website's consensus reads: "The Turning Point is a handsomely-made resuscitation of Old Hollywood melodramas with a compelling duo at its center, but the formulaic script keeps this story from realizing its symphonic potential.