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IMDbPro

The Dresser

  • 1983
  • PG
  • 1h 58m
IMDb RATING
7.5/10
5.5K
YOUR RATING
The Dresser (1983)
Home Video Trailer from Columbia Tristar
Play trailer2:38
1 Video
29 Photos
Drama

Personal assistant Norman struggles to get deteriorating veteran actor Sir through a difficult performance of King Lear.Personal assistant Norman struggles to get deteriorating veteran actor Sir through a difficult performance of King Lear.Personal assistant Norman struggles to get deteriorating veteran actor Sir through a difficult performance of King Lear.

  • Director
    • Peter Yates
  • Writer
    • Ronald Harwood
  • Stars
    • Albert Finney
    • Tom Courtenay
    • Edward Fox
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    7.5/10
    5.5K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Peter Yates
    • Writer
      • Ronald Harwood
    • Stars
      • Albert Finney
      • Tom Courtenay
      • Edward Fox
    • 46User reviews
    • 20Critic reviews
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 5 Oscars
      • 5 wins & 17 nominations total

    Videos1

    The Dresser (1983)
    Trailer 2:38
    Watch The Dresser (1983)

    Photos29

    Tom Courtenay in The Dresser (1983)
    Grande Movie Poster
    The Dresser (1983)
    The Dresser (1983)
    The Dresser (1983)
    Albert Finney and Tom Courtenay in The Dresser (1983)
    Albert Finney in The Dresser (1983)
    Albert Finney and Tom Courtenay in The Dresser (1983)
    Albert Finney in The Dresser (1983)
    Tom Courtenay in The Dresser (1983)
    Albert Finney and Tom Courtenay in The Dresser (1983)
    Albert Finney and Tom Courtenay in The Dresser (1983)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Albert Finney
    Albert Finney
    • Sir
    Tom Courtenay
    Tom Courtenay
    • Norman
    Edward Fox
    Edward Fox
    • Oxenby
    Zena Walker
    Zena Walker
    • Her Ladyship
    Eileen Atkins
    Eileen Atkins
    • Madge
    Michael Gough
    Michael Gough
    • Frank Carrington
    Cathryn Harrison
    Cathryn Harrison
    • Irene
    Betty Marsden
    • Violet Manning
    Sheila Reid
    Sheila Reid
    • Lydia Gibson
    Lockwood West
    Lockwood West
    • Geoffrey Thornton
    Donald Eccles
    Donald Eccles
    • Mr. Godstone
    Llewellyn Rees
    • Horace Brown
    Guy Manning
    • Benton
    Anne Blackman
    • Beryl
    • (as Anne Mannion)
    Kevin Stoney
    Kevin Stoney
    • C. Rivers Lane
    Ann Way
    Ann Way
    • Miss White
    John Sharp
    John Sharp
    • Mr. Bottomley
    Kathy Staff
    Kathy Staff
    • Bombazine Woman
    • Director
      • Peter Yates
    • Writer
      • Ronald Harwood
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Ronald Harwood based his play "The Dresser", and this movie's subsequent screenplay, on the biography "Sir Donald Wolfit CBE: His life and work in the Unfashionable Theatre", and on his own experiences as an actor and dresser for renowned Shakespearian actor Donald Wolfit. Harwood's repertory ensemble, Shakespeare Company, frequently performed Shakespeare's plays, and Harwood was Wolfit's dresser between 1953 and 1958.
    • Goofs
      After Sir and Norman leave the marketplace, they're passed by a Routemaster bus. These buses were first used in London in 1954, and weren't used outside London until the 1970's.
    • Quotes

      Sir: The critics? No, I have nothing but compassion for them. How can I hate the crippled, the mentally deficient, and the dead?

    • Connections
      Edited into The Clock (2010)
    • Soundtracks
      (We're Going To Hang Out) The Washing the Siegfried Line
      (uncredited)

      Music by Michael Carr

      Lyrics by Jimmy Kennedy

      Sung by Tom Courtenay (as Norman)

    User reviews46

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    9/10
    Brilliant and illuminating and moving
    Albert Finney and Tom Courtenay are brilliant as Sir and his Dresser. Of course the play is brilliant to begin with and nothing can compare with the immediacy and collegiality of theatre, and I think you listen better in theatre; but on the screen we become more intimate, we're 'up-close' more than we are in the theatre, we witness subtle changes in expression, we "see" better as well as listen. Both the play and the movie are wondrous: moving, intelligent, illuminating--of the backstage story of the company, of historical context, of the two main characters, and of the parallel characters in "Lear" itself. If you cannot get to see it in a theatre (I don't imagine it's produced much these days) then, please, do yourself a favor, and get the video.
    helpful•19
    3
    • jcamera
    • Sep 5, 2005

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • December 6, 1983 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United Kingdom
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Garderober
    • Filming locations
      • York Railway Station, Station Road, York, North Yorkshire, England, UK(on location)
    • Production companies
      • Columbia Pictures
      • Goldcrest Films International
      • World Film Services
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

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    • Budget
      • £1,456,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $5,310,748
    • Gross worldwide
      • $5,310,748
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 58 minutes
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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