Movies:
The Entertainer
DVD Release
- Release Date: 2001
- English: mono
- French & Spanish language subtitles
- Rating:
- Genre: Drama
- Movie Type: Psychological Drama, Family Drama
- Themes: Fathers and Daughters, All Washed Up
- Director: Tony Richardson
- Main Cast: Laurence Olivier, Brenda de Banzie, Joan Plowright, Roger Livesey, Alan Bates, Albert Finney
- Release Year: 1960
- Country: UK
- Run Time: 97 minutes
Plot
Laurence Olivier recreates his stage role of Archie Rice in this in-your-face film adaptation of John Osborne's play. The son of a legendary music hall comedian (Roger Livesey), Archie is strictly a third-rater, headlining a tacky music hall revue in a seedy seaside resort town. Archie can't admit that he's a failure, and his grim insouciance destroys everyone around him. Archie finagles his dying father into financing one last revue; he cheats shamelessly on his alcoholic wife (Brenda De Banzie); and he all but forces one of his sons (Albert Finney) to run off to join the army, only to die in the Suez. Through all his personal crises, Archie jigs and jabbers before his ever-diminishing audience, but by the end of the film he isn't even entertaining himself. Joan Plowright, who married Olivier shortly after completing The Entertainer, plays the film's one sympathetic character: Archie's daughter, whose love for her father blinds her to his flaws. The Entertainer was remade for television in 1976, with Jack Lemmon as Archie Rice and original songs by Marvin Hamlisch. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie GuideReview
Bitter, grey, and offering no chance of redemption for its characters, The Entertainer was a dour reflection of the angry, cynical sentiments that defined post-war Britain. Co-written and directed by John Osborne and Tony Richardson, two of the most eloquent Angry Young Men of the era, it was a repudiation of earlier films that portrayed entertainers and their industry as one long parade of sunshine and good will. Instead of a parade, The Entertainer was a funeral, and inherent in the film's depiction of dwindling glory was an indictment of Britain's dying prestige. The film also marked a turning point for Laurence Olivier, whose performance as Archie Rice was an effective departure from the romantic roles of his youth. His portrayal was thoroughly devastating: Rice's self-delusion, hypocrisy, misanthropy, and frank lack of talent make his titular label a cruel joke. In Olivier's brilliant performance, we see a mirror for the desperate arrogance and misplaced confidence of a wounded society. Through their unforgiving portrait of Rice and his surroundings, Osborne and Richardson leveled an attack at this society, picking at its wounds with savage accuracy. The Entertainer was one of their most successful collaborations, and it remains an accusatory reminder of a time that many would just as soon forget. ~ Rebecca Flint, All Movie GuideCast
- Laurence Olivier - Archie Rice
- Brenda de Banzie - Phoebe Rice
- Joan Plowright - Jean Rice
- Roger Livesey - Billy Rice
- Alan Bates - Frank Rice
- Albert Finney - Mick Rice
Daniel Massey - Graham; Miriam Karlin - Soubrette; Shirley Ann Field - Tina Lapford; Thora Hird - Ada Lapford; Macdonald Hobley - Film Star; Charles Gray - Columnist; Geoffrey Toone - Harold Hubbard; Gilbert Davis - Brother Bill; Anthony Oliver - Interviewer; Max Bacon - Charlie Klein; George Doonan - Eddie Trimmer; Roger Manvell; James Culliford - Cobber Carson
