The Dresser (1983 film)
| The Dresser | |
|---|---|
.jpg) |
|
| Directed by | Peter Yates |
| Produced by | Peter Yates |
| Written by | Ronald Harwood |
| Starring | |
| Music by | James Horner |
| Cinematography | Kelvin Pike |
| Edited by | Ray Lovejoy |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
|
Release date
|
|
|
Running time
|
118 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $5,310,748 |
The Dresser is a 1983 film, with a screenplay by Ronald Harwood, based on his 1980 West End and Broadway play of the same title. It tells the story of an aging actor's personal assistant, who struggles to keep his charge's life together. The film was directed by Peter Yates and produced by Yates with Ronald Harwood. Cinematography was by Kelvin Pike. It stars Albert Finney, Tom Courtenay, Zena Walker, Eileen Atkins, Michael Gough and Edward Fox. Finney and Courtenay were both nominated for Academy Awards, BAFTA Awards and Golden Globe Awards for their performances, with Courtenay winning the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama in a tie with Robert Duvall in Tender Mercies.
The plot is based on Harwood's experiences as dresser to English Shakespearean actor-manager Sir Donald Wolfit, who is the model for the character "Sir".
The film opens with a performance of Othello at a regional theatre in the United Kingdom during World War II. In the title role is an ageing, once-famous Shakespearean actor identified to us only as "Sir" (Albert Finney). He is of the old, bombastic school of British acting, full of grand gestures and fine oratory. As the curtain comes down on the last act, and as the actors line up for their curtain call, Sir lectures them on the mistakes they've made during the performance, showing us that he is the leader of this travelling band of actors bringing Shakespeare to the provinces during wartime.
...
Wikipedia