LAURENCE OLIVIER JOAN PLOWRIGHT TONY RICHARDSON ALAN BATES
ALBERT FINNEY AND BRENDA de BANZIE
star in
THE ENTERTAINER
DVD - Region 4 - PAL - NEW and SEALED - Never played!! -PG-rated - Black-and-White - 1960-release - 99-minutes - Original DVD release in Australia
On the far side of middle age, Archie Rice (Sir Laurence Olivier) lives in a British seaside resort with his father, retired successful vaudevillian Billy Rice (Roger Livesey), second wife Phoebe Rice (Brenda de Banzie), and doting son Frank Rice (Sir Alan Bates).
Following in retired Billy's footsteps, Archie is a song-and-dance music hall headliner, with Frank supporting his dad as his shows' stage manager.
The waning popularity of Archie's type of shows, a dying form of entertainment, is not helped by Archie's stale second rate material, which brings in small unappreciative crowds.
Archie clings to his long-held lifestyle, including heavy drinking and chronic infidelity, of which Phoebe is aware.
What Archie has not told his offspring is that Phoebe was his mistress while he was still married to their now deceased mother.
His want to be a music hall headliner is despite his financial problems, he an undischarged bankrupt who now signs Phoebe's name to everything.
Phoebe wants them to escape this life to something more stable, such as the offer from her relations to manage a hotel in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, while Archie, always one step ahead of his creditors for his current show, wants to mount another for the winter season.
Long-suffering Phoebe often drowns her sorrows with booze.
One person in their immediate family who has somewhat escaped their life is Archie's daughter, Jean Rice (Dame Joan Plowright), an art school teacher in London, she who is still trying to find her place in the world.
Her pre-engagement boyfriend Graham (Daniel Massey) wants her to move to Africa with him for a job, which she is reluctant to do if only because of not yet being ready to leave her dysfunctional family behind, they who she still feels to need to watch over.
Unlike Archie, Jean is more concerned about the fact that her brother Mick Rice (Albert Finney) has just been shipped overseas to fight in the Suez Crisis.
Archie's steps in his determination to mount that new show, seemingly at any cost, may break the family apart once and for all.
"The Entertainer" is a fascinating film based on the play by John Osborne ("Look Back in Anger"); Osborne co-wrote the screenplay.
Olivier plays Archie Rice, a fading entertainer in a fading medium (music halls) in a fading empire (the Suez crisis of
1956 figures into the action).
Archie's speech to his daughter (Joan Plowright), onstage in an empty theater, about being dead behind his eyes, is
especially memorable.
Along with other fine actors, Alan Bates and Albert Finney as his sons flesh out this film, which is a must-see for fans of
any of these actors.