The Bespoke Overcoat
| The Bespoke Overcoat | |
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Film poster
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| Directed by | Jack Clayton |
| Produced by |
George K. Arthur Jack Clayton |
| Written by |
Nikolai Gogol Wolf Mankowitz |
| Starring |
Alfie Bass David Kossoff |
| Cinematography | Wolfgang Suschitzky |
| Edited by | Stan Hawkes |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
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Release date
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Running time
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33 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | £5,000 |
The Bespoke Overcoat is a 1956 British short film directed by Jack Clayton, based on a 1953 play of the same name by Wolf Mankowitz. The story is an adaptation of Gogol's short story The Overcoat with the action moved from Russia to the East End of London. In this version the protagonists are poor Jews working in the clothing trade. It won an Academy Award at the 29th Academy Awards in 1957 for Best Short Subject (Two-Reel). The play was performed at the Arts Theatre in London with Kossoff and Bass and was directed by Alec Clunes. The supporting cast was Harold Kasket and Oscar Quitak.
Fender is a lowly clerk in the warehouse of clothing manufacturers Ranting and Co. His one ambition is to have an overcoat of his own. Refused one by the cold hearted Ranting he asks a tailor friend, Morry, to make him one instead, but dies of cold before he can take delivery of it. Unwilling to give up his only desire even in death, he returns as a ghost to persuade Morry to steal him the overcoat he so coveted in life.
Pauline Kael called The Bespoke Overcoat "one of the best short-story films ever made".
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Wikipedia