Directed by:
Tony RichardsonCinematography:
Oswald MorrisComposer:
John AddisonCast:
Laurence Olivier, Brenda De Banzie, Roger Livesey, Joan Plowright, Alan Bates, Daniel Massey, Albert Finney, Shirley Anne Field, Thora Hird, James Culliford (more)VOD (1)
Plots(1)
Laurence Olivier plays Archie Rice, a mediocre music hall artist upholding a dying tradition in an English seaside town. Tony Richardson originally directed Laurence Olivier as Rice in the Royal Court's theatre production, and did so again in this, his second feature. The seedy world which Archie Rice occupies could be seen to represent the general malaise of post-war Britain, previously explored by writer John Osborne in his play 'Look Back in Anger', adapted for the screen by Nigel Kneale in 1959. Kneale subsequently went on to co-write The Entertainer with Osborne. Olivier is supported by a superb cast including a young Alan Bates as his son, Roger Livesey as his kindly, now retired, always more talented and popular father, and Joan Plowright as his daughter. The remarkable cast also features Daniel Massey, Shirley Anne Field, Thora Hird and Charles Gray. Olivier's portrayal of a man coming undone at the seams and revealing the emptiness inside, is a revelation. It changed the public's perception of him, introducing him to a new younger audience, and garnered him yet another Oscar® nomination. (British Film Institute (BFI))
(more)Cast
Laurence Olivier
UK
Best movies:
Romeo and Juliet (1968)
Sleuth (1972)
Hamlet (1948)
Brenda De Banzie
UK
Best movies:
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)
Hobson's Choice (1954)
The Pink Panther (1963)
Roger Livesey
UK
Best movies:
A Matter of Life and Death (1946)
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943)
The League of Gentlemen (1960)
Joan Plowright
UK
Best movies:
Drowning by Numbers (1988)
Moby Dick (1956)
Dinosaur (2000)
Alan Bates
UK
Best movies:
The Rose (1979)
Alexis Zorbas (1964)
Far from the Madding Crowd (1967)
Daniel Massey
UK
Best movies:
In the Name of the Father (1993)
The Cat and the Canary (1978)
Mary, Queen of Scots (1971)
Albert Finney
UK
Best movies:
The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)
Big Fish (2003)
Corpse Bride (2005)
Shirley Anne Field
UK
Best movies:
Dalziel and Pascoe (1996) (series)
The Kid (2010)
The War Lover (1962)
Thora Hird
UK
Best movies:
A Kind of Loving (1962)
The Magic Box (1951)
Some Will, Some Won't (1970)
James Culliford
Best movies:
The Entertainer (1960)
The Trygon Factor (1966)
Quatermass and the Pit (1967)
Anthony Oliver
UK
Best movies:
H.M.S. Defiant (1962)
Sink the Bismarck! (1960)
The Entertainer (1960)
Tony Selby
UK
Best movies:
Press for Time (1966)
Superman (1978)
Nobody Runs Forever (1968)
Miriam Karlin
UK
Best movies:
A Clockwork Orange (1971)
Room at the Top (1959)
Children of Men (2006)
Gwen Nelson
UK
Best movies:
Doctor Zhivago (1965)
It Shouldn't Happen to a Vet (1975)
A Kind of Loving (1962)
MacDonald Hobley
UK
Best movies:
Scrooge (1951)
The Entertainer (1960)
Geoffrey Toone
Ireland
Best movies:
Producers' Showcase (1954) (series)
The Scarlet Pimpernel (1982) (TV movie)
The King and I (1956)