The Dresser
Drama
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment  (1983) 118 mins PG

7.6 (1,399 votes)
Five Academy Award Nominations - 1983

The lives and relationships of those within a British traditional touring stage company provide the backdrop for the five-time 1983 Oscar-nominee, The Dresser (Best Picture; Best Actor; Best Supporting Actor; Best Director; Best Screenplay Adaptation). The Dresser is a compelling study of the intense relationship between the leader of the company and his dresser. Sir (Albert Finney), a grandiloquent old man of the theater, has given his soul to his career, but his tyrannical rule over the company is now beginning to crack under the strain of age and illness as he prepares for his two-hundred-twenty-seventh performance of King Lear. Sir's fastidious and fiercely dedicated dresser, Norman (Tom Courtenay), submits to Sir's frequently unreasonable demands, tends to his health, and reminds him of what role he is curren...

Play
Cast and Crew
Albert Finney  ......  Sir
Tom Courtenay  ......  Norman
Edward Fox  ......  Oxenby
Zena Walker  ......  Her Ladyship
Eileen Atkins  ......  Madge
Michael Gough  ......  Frank Carrington
Director  .....  Peter Yates
Producer  .....  Ronald Harwood; Peter Yates
Writer  .....  Ronald Harwood
Notes
Goofs:
Anachronisms: 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. (more)

Trivia:
Ronald Harwood based his play and subsequent screenplay on his experiences as the dresser for the noted Shakespearean actor Donald Wolfit. (more)

Filming Locations:
Alhambra Theatre, Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, UK (more)

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

Awards:
Nominated for 5 Oscars. Another 4 wins & 12 nominations (more)