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Butley

  • 19741974
  • RR
  • 1h 34m
IMDb RATING
6.8/10
795
YOUR RATING
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • IMDbPro
Butley (1974)
An English professor finds his life crumbling around him.
Play trailer2:57
1 Video
15 Photos
  • Drama
  • Romance
An English professor finds his life crumbling around him.An English professor finds his life crumbling around him.An English professor finds his life crumbling around him.
IMDb RATING
6.8/10
795
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Harold Pinter
  • Writer
    • Simon Gray(adapted for the screen by)
  • Stars
    • Alan Bates
    • Jessica Tandy
    • Richard O'Callaghan
Top credits
  • Director
    • Harold Pinter
  • Writer
    • Simon Gray(adapted for the screen by)
  • Stars
    • Alan Bates
    • Jessica Tandy
    • Richard O'Callaghan
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 10User reviews
    • 13Critic reviews
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Videos1

    Trailer
    Trailer 2:57
    Trailer

    Photos15

    1 sheet movie poster
    Alan Bates in Butley (1974)
    Alan Bates in Butley (1974)
    Butley (1974)
    Butley (1974)
    Alan Bates, Lee Marvin, Stacy Keach, Glenda Jackson, and Zero Mostel in The Iceman Cometh (1973)
    Butley (1974)
    Butley (1974)
    Alan Bates in Butley (1974)
    Alan Bates in Butley (1974)
    Alan Bates in Butley (1974)
    Alan Bates and Richard O'Callaghan in Butley (1974)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Alan Bates
    Alan Bates
    • Ben Butleyas Ben Butley
    Jessica Tandy
    Jessica Tandy
    • Edna Shaftas Edna Shaft
    Richard O'Callaghan
    Richard O'Callaghan
    • Joey Keystonas Joey Keyston
    Georgina Hale
    Georgina Hale
    • Carol Heasmanas Carol Heasman
    Michael Byrne
    Michael Byrne
    • Reg Nuttallas Reg Nuttall
    Susan Engel
    Susan Engel
    • Anne Butleyas Anne Butley
    Simon Rouse
    Simon Rouse
    • Gardneras Gardner
    Oliver Maguire
    • Man in the Tubeas Man in the Tube
    Colin Haigh
    • First Studentas First Student
    Darien Angadi
    • Second Studentas Second Student
    Jill Goldston
    • Tube Passengeras Tube Passenger
    • (uncredited)
    Lindsay Ingram
    Lindsay Ingram
    • Female Studentas Female Student
    • (uncredited)
    Patti Love
    Patti Love
    • Female Studentas Female Student
    • (uncredited)
    Belinda Low
    • Female Studentas Female Student
    • (uncredited)
    Derrick O'Connor
    Derrick O'Connor
    • Irishman in pubas Irishman in pub
    • (uncredited)
    John Savident
    John Savident
    • Jamesas James
    • (uncredited)
    Susan Wooldridge
    Susan Wooldridge
    • Female Studentas Female Student
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Harold Pinter
    • Writer
      • Simon Gray(adapted for the screen by) (based on the play by)
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
    • All cast & crew

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Leonard Rossiter was cast, but was forced to drop out.
    • Quotes

      Ben Butley: I'm a one-woman man, and I've had mine, thank God.

    User reviews10

    Review
    Top review
    10/10
    10/10
    A movie like this works as a small-setting exercise in actor virtuosity -- Bates grabs the individual words, twirls them around, and pitches them at his enemies with a high-pitched, womanly cackle -- and it works brilliantly on that level. But it also works on a larger level of a man who uses words as an evasive tool. Of course no one really talks like this, no one is this witty, but more than just entertaining dialogue (and some of it is very funny) the writing does serve an emotional purpose. Bates' performance, as a professor who avoids his contemporaries and who tries to dig into the mind of his young male lover, is incredibly good; it's like he's tap-dancing on top of himself with the exuberant joy of performance. And I loved the smart, youthful, innocent-patient tenderness in O' Callaghan's performance as the lover he shares an office with (where the majority of the film takes place).

    Butley the man can't quite be explained, even though certain facets of his personality are obvious -- he's coated in irony, yet that can't hide his failings: he's jealous of the woman who's getting published while he's not, he can't stand students who just want to learn, and he's resentful of the man stealing his boyfriend from him. But yet he desperately goes chasing after people down the hall, just to get the last word in; he almost literally hangs off the doorknob while various characters come into his office; he screeches at the top of his lungs just to see if his leaving visitor will stop and come back. Butley does so often talk in the false hypothetical -- that type of grandstanding where he mentions something abstractly that specifically refers to someone -- that at times it's difficult to pinpoint who, exactly, he's referring to. (When he talks to Reg, the man stealing his boyfriend from him, does he use words like "queer" and "fairy" intending to mock himself to shock Reg, or to mock Reg in the guise of innocently questioning him?) While I didn't quite catch all the literary references -- just about the only drawback for me -- this is one of the most satisfying movies I've seen about the handling of a dying relationship. 10/10
    helpful•29
    6
    • desperateliving
    • Oct 9, 2004

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • April 1976 (United Kingdom)
    • Countries of origin
      • United Kingdom
      • Canada
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Батли
    • Filming locations
      • Shepperton Studios, Shepperton, Surrey, England, UK
    • Production companies
      • Cinévision Ltée
      • The American Film Theatre
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 34 minutes
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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