The Entertainer (1960)

Director:

Tony Richardson

Writers:

John Osborne (screenplay) and
Nigel Kneale (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

2 December 1960 (Denmark)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

As the applause grew fainter ... As the spotlight grew dimmer ... His women were younger!

Plot:

Archie Rice, an old-time British vaudeville performer sinking into final defeat, schemes to stay in show business.

Plot Keywords:

Vaudeville | Father Son Relationship | Generation | Morecambe England | Bankrupt

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 2 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Laurence Olivier	...	Archie Rice
Brenda de Banzie	...	Phoebe Rice
Roger Livesey	...	Billy Rice
Joan Plowright	...	Jean Rice
Alan Bates	...	Frank Rice
Daniel Massey	...	Graham
Albert Finney	...	Mick Rice
Shirley Anne Field	...	Tina Lapford
Thora Hird	...	Mrs. Ada Lapford
Miriam Karlin	...	Soubrette
Geoffrey Toone	...	Harold Hubbard
MacDonald Hobley	...	Himself - the TV star (as McDonald Hobley)
Anthony Oliver	...	Interviewer
Max Bacon	...	Charlie Klein
George Doonan	...	Eddie Trimmer
James Culliford	...	Cobber Carson (as James Cuillford)
Gilbert Davis	...	Brother Bill
Charles Gray	...	Columnist
Gwen Nelson
Hope Jackman	...	Morecambe Mother
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Nigel Davenport	...	Theatre Manager (uncredited)
Angie Dean	...	Alhambra Sister (uncredited)
Debbie Dean	...	Alhambra Sister (uncredited)
Jo Linden	...	Gloria (uncredited)
Tony Longridge	...	Mr. Wilfrid Lapford (uncredited)
Roger Manvell	...	Bit Part (uncredited)
Shirli Scott-James	...	Girl (uncredited)
Tony Selby	...	Teddy Boy (uncredited)
James Thornhill	...	Stage Door Keeper (uncredited)
Vicky Travers	...	Nude (uncredited)
Mercia Turner	...	Britannia (uncredited)
Constance Wells	...	Scots Singer (uncredited)
Hermon Wells	...	Scots Singer (uncredited)

Directed by
Tony Richardson

Writing credits
John Osborne		(screenplay) and
Nigel Kneale		(screenplay)
John Osborne		adaptation

Produced by
John Croydon	....	associate producer
Harry Saltzman	....	producer

Original Music by
John Addison

Cinematography by
Oswald Morris

Film Editing by
Alan Osbiston

Casting by
Maude Spector		(uncredited)

Art Direction by
Ralph W. Brinton		(as Ralph Brinton)

Costume Design by
Jocelyn Rickards

Makeup Department
Bill Griffiths	....	hairdresser
Tony Sforzini	....	makeup artist

Production Management
R.L.M. Davidson	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Michael Stevenson	....	third assistant director
Peter Yates	....	assistant director
Roy Millichip	....	second assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Ted Marshall	....	assistant art director
Basil Mannin	....	scenic artist (uncredited)
Tony Woollard	....	draughtsman (uncredited)

Sound Department
Chris Greenham	....	sound editor
Peter Handford	....	sound
Bob Jones	....	sound
Norman Bolland	....	sound maintenance (uncredited)
Des Edwards	....	sound camera operator (uncredited)
Ken Ritchie	....	boom operator (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Denys N. Coop	....	camera operator (as Denys Coop)
Ginger Gemmel	....	second camera operator (uncredited)
Ronnie Maasz	....	focus puller (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Barbara Gillett	....	wardrobe (as Barbara Gillette)

Music Department
John Addison	....	conductor
Ronald Cass	....	associate musical director (as Ronnie Cass)
William Blezard	....	music arranger: Chopin (uncredited)

Other crew
Honor Blair	....	stager
Maggie Shipway	....	continuity (as Margaret Shipway)
Maggie Unsworth	....	continuity (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Woodfall Film Productions

Distributors

• Bryanston Films (1960) (UK) (theatrical) (in association with)
• British Lion Film Corporation (1960) (UK) (theatrical)
• Continental Distributing (1960) (USA) (theatrical)
• Better Television Distribution (2006) (worldwide) (TV)
• Criterion Collection, The (USA) (laserdisc)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

96 min | USA:105 min (TCM print)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Finland:S | Sweden:15 | Australia:PG | Australia:G (TV rating) | UK:PG | UK:X (original rating) | Netherlands:14 (orginal rating)

Filming Locations:

Alhambra Theatre, Morecambe, Lancashire, England, UK

Company:

Woodfall Film Productions

Trivia:

John Osborne wrote his play "The Entertainer" specifically at the request of Laurence Olivier, who wanted the Angry Young Man of the British theater to create a vehicle for him, one of the figures of the British Establishment that Osborne was rebelling against. Olivier hoped that appearing in the Osborne play would make him relevant to a new generation of theater goers. It proved to be one of Olivier's greatest stage successes (The Colonial Theatre in Boston has a plaque on the outside wall commemorating Olivier's appearance there during the US tour of the play), while the film adapted from the play won him the sixth of his ten acting Academy Award nominations. His performance as Archie Rice, as well as his marriage to his young co-star Joan Plowright, one of the leading actresses of the new wave of British thespians, did keep Olivier contemporary with the new leaders of the British theater. Conversely, Olivier's generational contemporaries, including the actors John Gielgud and Ralph Richardson and the playwright Terence Rattigan, would become to seem stout and old-fashioned as they failed to keep up with the theatrical evolution. (Gielgud would counter with the role of Julian in Edward Albee's obscure "Tiny Alice" on Broadway in 1962, but outside of the classical repertoire, he and Richardson did not recover their cachet as actors in contemporary plays until the mid-1970s, in Harold Pinter's "No Man's Land".) Olivier would help shepherd the new generation of actors, directors and playwrights as the head of the National Theatre in the 1960s and early '70s.

Quotes:

Frank Rice:Cheer up love, life isn't as bad as all that, and even if it is, there's nothing we can do about it.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in John Osborne and the Gift of Friendship (2006) (V)

Soundtrack:

I Don't Care Where They Bury My Body

some folks should just stick to Disney

One of the best British films of the sixties, The Entertainer was written as an allegory of Britain's fall from grace by the leading fist-shaker of England's band of Angry Young Men who stormed the London stage with revolutionary new ideas and content, John Osborne. While Look Back In Anger is a more decorated play, this film adaption by Osborne and Nigel Kneale carried the flag of teeth-crunching kicks that the gang of young playwrights hoped to startle the daylights out of England with. Reading the other viewer comments, it is obvious most folks were looking for a Disney story with a Shakespearean performance by Lawrence Olivier. A happier ending? Great Britain forgot to supply one, Andy up there in the mountains somewhere, and the seedy digs were meant to be depressingly seedy, as was the dwindling talent of the family, and its reliance in the end on the grand old name and the grand old accomplishments of the past, as Archie Rice gave his best in replacing his revered father, Billy. Note his offkey performance in singing early on and then the eloquent on key final rendition of "Why Should I Care" as the final performance ends not with a curtain call, but with the hook, as the theater management (those other nations running the world today) angrily demand that Archie get off the stage because he is through, finished, washed up, fired, kaputsky, so long and goodbye. From the direction of Tony Richardson to the selection of grand old places along the sea that Britain once ruled with absolute certainty, everything and every moment of this film are topnotch. The aforementioned slandered scene with Roger Livesey as the Grandfather, Billy Rice, and Brenda de Banzie as Phoebe Rice, involving a misunderstanding over a piece of cake, is one of the most moving and depressingly realistic family arguments ever written. It may not be Olivier's greatest performance ever, but for certain it is the best one ever filmed. It also features the film debut of two actors who would establish themselves among the very best performers Great Britain has offered us, Alan Bates and Albert Finney, along with the introduction of Joan Plowright. As for the unkind comment about Olivier marrying Joan Plowright and this somehow having an ironic similarity to the theme of Archie and his young women; they married in 1961 and REMAINED together until Olivier's death in 1989, which is completely the opposite of the point made in the story. Well anyone is allowed to be in error, but this great film has to rank with our own country's Night of the Hunter as one of the most misunderstood films of all time. Don't miss it,ever, and MGM Vintage Classics has issued an excellent DVD edition.