The Dresser
by Peter Yates
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Albert Finney, Edward Fox, Eileen Atkins, Tom Courtenay, Zena WalkerDirector: Peter Yates
Brand: FINNEY,ALBERT
Cinematographer: Kelvin Pike
Producer: Peter Yates
Editor: Ray Lovejoy
Producer: Nigel Wooll
Producer: Ronald Harwood
Writer: Ronald Harwood
DVD: Region Code 99
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 1.0; English (Subtitled); Japanese (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 1.0
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: Anamorphic Widescreen, 1.85:1
Running Time: 118 minutes
Published: 2004-04-01
DVD Release Date: 2004-04-06
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Movie Reviews of The Dresser
Movie Review: STOP THAT TRAIN!
Summary: 5 Stars
[As a train is leaving a station]
Sir: Stop that train!
[The train stops at once]
This scene demonstrates the power of acting. Sir (Albert Finney), the head of a Shakespearean acting troupe in Britain, used the authority in his voice that comes from playing King Lear in 227 performances and various other kings and characters an equal number, to stop a train in its tracks. Norman (Tom Courtenay), Sir's dresser, had begged the conductor to wait for just a moment, and was told in no uncertain terms to "sod off." The train left the station on schedule. But then the command to stop that train from the regal voice of Sir stopped the train at once.
'The Dresser' gives a fascinating look behind the scenes, at the backstage drama--the drama behind the drama. Sir may have a voice that can stop trains, but trying to keep a Shakespeare company on tour during war time Britain is quite a chore. All the young and able bodied actors are away fighting, and it is hard to keep an audience enthralled when you are interrupted by air raid sirens and there is the very real possibility that the theater will be bombed. What is troubling Sir? Is it the critics?
Sir: The critics? No, I have nothing but compassion for them. How can I hate the crippled, the mentally deficient, and the dead?
Thank you, Sir, for that heart felt vote of confidence. I will try not to disappoint you. In spite of his criticism of critics, Sir is a master thespian, and he knows whereof he speaks:
Sir: Keep your teeth in!
Geoffrey: It's only when I'm nervous
Sir: You will be nervous. I guarantee it.
Though Norman, a shy and effeminate dresser, is not much use when it comes to stopping trains, Sir relies on him to the utmost. Sir, like King Lear, the character he is portraying, is getting old and loosing his mind. The stage manager and other cast members doubt that he will even be able to perform. There was an incident earlier in the day that showed that Sir was totally insane. He went berserk and was rescued by the dresser, who knew exactly what to say and how to handle him. Backstage, getting ready, he keeps forgetting which play they are doing and Norman has his hands full getting him on track. He even quotes 'Macbeth' which is a very unlucky thing to do according to thespian superstitions, and requires a whole ritual to undo the damage.
Sir: 227 Lears... and I can't remember the first line.
Norman remembers them, and he cues Sir, and on with the show. You get the feeling that Norman remembers not just the first lines, but all the lines. He hovers backstage during the performance, cuing Sir from time to time if he gets stuck. Why then isn't Norman an actor?
Norman: My memory is like a policeman. It is never there when you want it.
Exactly. He is great at feeding Sir his lines from backstage, but put him up there and he would freeze like a deer in the headlights. There is a great scene where Norman must make an announcement, and he reluctantly does it, standing on the corner of the stage with a rag in his pocket, barely able to quell the pre show chatter and get the audience's attention. He blows his line, he is supposed to say "anyone who wants to leave" because of the bombing and the air raid but instead says "anyone who wants to live" which is the worst sort of mistake you can make under the circumstances.
Oblivious to how much he stunk; he later asks the cast members how he did. Great, they all reply very insincerely, which Norman accepts without question, due to an ego protecting suspension of disbelief.
Sir also has his fears though, and when they must ask if Oxenby (Edward Fox), one of the actors, will help backstage operating a wind machine for the big storm scene in King Lear, he makes Norman do it. Norman has no trouble in situations like this, drawing power from Sir, even though Sir himself is afraid to do it. Oxenby feels it is beneath his station, and refuses; though later, caught up in the drama, he does help out after all. They all make a supreme effort, and storm up a storm, but does Sir appreciate it?
Sir: WHERE... WAS... THE STORM?
Ronald Harwood based his play and subsequent screenplay on his experiences as the dresser for the noted Shakespearean actor Donald Wolfit. Harwood has created an excellent script for a brilliant cast. You really get a sense of the human frailty, ambition, desire, vanity, and weakness behind the masks. It is a really different view of the theater, backstage and through the eyes of the person who knows firsthand the reality behind the play, the dresser.
Peter Yates also directed 'Breaking Away,' 'Krull,' 'Bullitt,' and 'Mother, Jugs, & Speed;' but I would venture to guess that 'The Dresser' is his best work, as cast and story combined to reveal not only the mortality of man, but also the immortality of great art.
SELECTED ROLES OF ALBERT FINNEY
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007) .... Charles Hanson
Erin Brockovich (2000) .... Ed Masry
Under the Volcano (1984) .... Geoffrey Firmin
Shoot the Moon (1982) .... George Dunlap
Tom Jones (1963) (1963) .... Tom Jones
SELECTED ROLES OF TOM COURTENAY
The Golden Compass (New Line Platinum Series Two-Disc Widescreen Edition) (2007) .... Farder Coram
Nicholas Nickleby (2002) .... Newman Noggs (and Edward Fox was Sir Mulberry Hawk)
Last Orders (2001) .... Vic
Doctor Zhivago (1965) .... Pasha
The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962) .... Colin Smith
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Norman: [to the ambitious young Irene] Never mind the young Cordelia, ducky. He wants a *light* Cordelia!... It's not youth or talent or star quality he's after, ducky, but a moderate eater!
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Summary of The Dresser
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 close and touching relationship as the dresser remains in the background while enabling the once great actor to continue his work. Albert Finney (Big Fish, Annie). 5 Academy AwardŽ nominations ? 1983 Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Director, Best Screenplay Adaptation.Similar DVD Movies
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