The Guest (1963)
"The Caretaker" (original title)

Aston (Robert Shaw), a quiet, reserved man, lives alone in a top-floor cluttered room of a small abandoned house in a poor London district. He befriends and takes in Mac Davies (Donald ... See full summary »

Director:

Clive Donner

Writer:

Harold Pinter

Stars:

Alan Bates, Donald Pleasence, Robert Shaw

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview:
Alan Bates	...	Mick
Donald Pleasence	...	Mac Davies / Bernard Jenkins
Robert Shaw	...	Aston

Storyline

Aston (Robert Shaw), a quiet, reserved man, lives alone in a top-floor cluttered room of a small abandoned house in a poor London district. He befriends and takes in Mac Davies (Donald Pleasence), an old derelict who has been fired from a menial job in a café. In time Aston offers him a job as caretaker of the house. Aston's brother, Mick (Alan Bates) - a taunting, quasi-sadist - harasses the derelict when his brother is away, countermanding his orders. Eventually Aston, himself irritated by the cantankerous old man, puts him out.

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Plot Keywords:

independent film

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 April 1964 (Denmark)

Also Known As:

The Guest

Filming Locations:

31 Downs Road, Hackney, London, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Caretaker Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Did You Know?

Trivia

The original Broadway production of "The Caretaker" by Harold Pinter opened at the Lyceum Theater in New York on October 4, 1961, ran for 165 performances and was nominated for the 1962 Tony Award for the Best Play. Alan Bates, Donald Pleasence and Robert Shaw recreated their Broadway roles in this filmed production. The author wrote both the play and the screenplay for the movie version.

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Quotes

Mick: I could turn this place into a penthouse. For instance this room. This room could have been the kitchen. Right size, nice window, sun comes in. I'd have I'd have teal-blue, copper and parchment linoleum squares. I'd have those colours re-echoed in the walls. I'd offset the kitchen units with charcoal-grey worktops. Plenty of room for cupboards for the crockery. We'd have a small wall cupboard, a large wall cupboard, a corner wall cupboard with revolving shelves. You shouldn't be short of ...

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Connections

Version of Viceværten (1971)

User Reviews

"Barely an adaptation" summarizes it

Someone said in a comment that this is "barely an adaptation" and I have to second that. Though the cast list has names of characters other than the main three, that's because there's a minute or two where the film is outside so there were a few extras who got credit.

If you like the play (seeing it or reading it, whichever) you will love this interpretation of it. I can't believe this was made in 1963-the acting is passable even by today's standards and amazing for back then.

There are a few lines that are switched around, very very few that are removed altogether, and certain parts of scenes are set outside of the attic-otherwise it stays true to the original version.

I suppose if you know nothing of the play then this could still suit you, however, it has a strange premise, and is generally a bizarre movie altogether. The focus is mostly on character development and unusual dialogue, with monologues every three minutes, one of which is easily one of the best absurdist monologues of all time (Aston's bit at the end of act 2).

Personally I would buy it just for Aston's monologue, but the movie has many other virtues, and for the standards of its day I'd feel uncomfortable giving it anything other than a 10/10