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It's life in the Theatre with a capital T in this film adaptation of the London and Broadway hit by Ronald Harwood. Though we see other people, the film is really a duet between Sir (Albert Finney), an aging actor-manager who runs his own theatre company, and Norman (Tom Courtenay), his dresser, who gets him into costume and, ultimately, into shape to go on stage each night. Sir is on his last legs; Norman is alternately his cheerleader, his parent, and his whipping boy--whatever it takes to get Sir up to performance level each night. Finney perfectly captures the vainglorious insecurity of this aging ham, whose career has never quite matched his expectations but who has to convince himself each night (with Norman's help) that a performance in the provinces is as big a deal as treading the boards in the West End. The film lives and dies, however, with Courtenay's neatly nuanced performance as Norman. No man is a hero to his valet--but Courtenay finds the affection along with the disdain that are part of this character. A great backstage tale. --Marshall Fine
Synopsis
Albert Finney stars as the head of a Shakespearean acting troupe touring Europe during World War II. A senile drunk, Finney is looked after by his dresser, Tom Courtenay. The film details their closeand touching relationship as the dresser remains in the background while enabling the once great actor to continue his work.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
37 of 37 people found the following review helpful
By A. S. Lodge
Format:DVD
What do you get when you mix some of the UK's cinema greats such as Tom Courtenay, Albert Finney, Edward Fox and Eileen Atkins? A film to make you laugh, cry and feel just a little uneasy. The story centre's on an ageing Shakesperian actor/manager (Finney) and his company in war torn Britain of the 1940's. In an era when, in the middle of an air raid, the addage of "the show must go on" we see the curtain rise on a production of King Lear. The touring company stage a different Shakespeare play everynight and pivotal to Finney's character is the rather camp Norman (Courtenay)who is the dresser to the leading man known to all (without exception) as "Sir". Norman has served Sir for years and knows every intimate detail about him. To compliment Norman's mothering of Sir is the rather more down to earth Madge (Atkins) who has served Sir and the company as stage manage for more years than she would care to mention. When it is obvious to all, except Norman, that Sir is loosing his mind it is to the ever resourceful Madge whom everyone turns to.
There are no particular twist or turns to this story - that is not the point of it - what it is is a masterpiece of pathos, comedy and tragedy : reflecting the essence of the plays they perform.
The disc is a good print with language options and scene selections only and has a worthy place in anyone's collection of British cinema.
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
By Numero Uno
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
It is wartime in England. A visiting troupe of actors is to give a performance of "King Lear" in a town in the provinces but the director and leading actor is mentally at the end of his tether. His Dresser wants the show to go on at all costs while the Stage Manager is much more reticent...I had never much appreciated Finney before but this performance in a play by Sir Donald Wolfit's former dresser suits him perfectly: it is an outstanding impersonation of the often grandiloquent, pompous and hammy Wolfit, who was also, at his best, a great actor, despite his rather awful troupe.
Finney and Courtenay (an actor I have always liked), in the role of the actor's dresser, strike sparks off one another and the result is deeply moving, a sort of meditation on the failures and rewards of a lifetime's devotion to the theatre as death approaches.
The wartime atmosphere and the theatres of "Old England" are beautifully caught and the courage and tenacity of the characters in the theatre is a paradigm of the general mood in Britain at that time. It is also fascinating to observe the tensions behind the scenes between members of the troupe over whether or not the show will go on. I should add that this is a work of fiction and not a biography: Sir Donald Wolfit did not die until twenty years after the war and was in full control of his faculties to the end. I bought this for a friend - now I'm wishing I had bought it for myself!
P.S. Four years later, I did indeed buy a second copy of this DVD - for myself this time.
Finney and Courtenay (an actor I have always liked), in the role of the actor's dresser, strike sparks off one another and the result is deeply moving, a sort of meditation on the failures and rewards of a lifetime's devotion to the theatre as death approaches.
The wartime atmosphere and the theatres of "Old England" are beautifully caught and the courage and tenacity of the characters in the theatre is a paradigm of the general mood in Britain at that time. It is also fascinating to observe the tensions behind the scenes between members of the troupe over whether or not the show will go on. I should add that this is a work of fiction and not a biography: Sir Donald Wolfit did not die until twenty years after the war and was in full control of his faculties to the end. I bought this for a friend - now I'm wishing I had bought it for myself!
P.S. Four years later, I did indeed buy a second copy of this DVD - for myself this time.
13 of 15 people found the following review helpful
By H C Hopper
Format:DVD
This is a brilliant film. The acting by Finney and Courtenay is superb, as is the screenplay by Ronald Harwood. As well as a funny and deep drama, it's also a fascinating look into the world of touring theatre companies of the wartime period. We watch this film several times a year!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant Star product.
The superb evocation of period, wartime, shortages, cold, poverty and difficult travel conditions is a joy. Read more
Published 23 days ago by Frank Macdonald Wood
5.0 out of 5 stars
A touching comedy
"Stop that train!" bellows Albert Finney, playing the part of the director of a motley crew of actors unfit or unsuitable for call-up during the last war. Read more
Published 29 days ago by J. P. Boot
5.0 out of 5 stars
MARVELLOUS!
great acting, wonderful screenplay - and Tom Courtenay (whose timing is impeccable) really fabulous as the effeminate dresser. a delicious treat! really loved it. Read more
Published 2 months ago by The Cosmic Whelk
5.0 out of 5 stars
Civilised?
I felt sick with disgust when I discovered that Amazon treat their employees like southern state plantation slave owners treated blacks before the Civil War - the only difference... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Sceptical humanist
5.0 out of 5 stars
Superb
Just brilliant acting, no wonder it got so much acclaim. Good plot, There is very little one can say about a classic film such as this.
Published 5 months ago by Carole
5.0 out of 5 stars
All stars
The Dresser is a 1983 film which tells the story of an aging actor's personal assistant, who struggles to keep his charge's life together. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Dr René Codoni
5.0 out of 5 stars
Superb
The Dresser is one of the greatest British movies of the 80s' in my humble opinion, along with 'Defence of the Realm' and 'Withnail and I'. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Nicholas B. Gibbs
4.0 out of 5 stars
Theater and movie
A few weeks ago I sow the Dresser in the Piccolo theatre in Milan. Fascinated from the story I ordered immediately the movie. Read more
Published 16 months ago by UGraesslin
1.0 out of 5 stars
An OK Play becomes an awful film - a 'big name cast' cannot save it
A film of a play about a group of players in a play.
Big names do not a good film make
Somebody had trouble understanding this:- let me spell it out. Read more
Big names do not a good film make
Somebody had trouble understanding this:- let me spell it out. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Renzo
5.0 out of 5 stars
Classic.
I watched The Dresser years ago and enjoyed it so much I had to buy it when I saw it on Amazon. It is snapshot of life. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Mrs. J. Hirst
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