Ein ungleiches Paar (1983)

Ein ungleiches Paar: Directed by Peter Yates. With Albert Finney, Tom Courtenay, Edward Fox, Zena Walker. Personal assistant Norman struggles to get deteriorating veteran actor Sir through a difficult performance of King Lear.

“Based on Harwoodu0026#39;s successful play of 1980, THE DRESSER details the relationship between u0026quot;Siru0026quot; (Albert Finney), an actor/manager of the old school and Norman, his dresser (Tom Courtenay).u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSet largely in and around the streets of Bradford, Yorkshire, Peter Yatesu0026#39; film offers a vivid recreation of performing Shakespeare during an air-raid, when the actors had to announce to the audience that they would continue the play, despite the risk of being hit by a stray bomb. To a man and a woman, the audience stay put to enjoy u0026quot;Siru0026quot; playing King Lear; this was precisely what happened in most theaters. Yates captures the cramped backstage conditions in a Victorian theater (part of the No.1 touring circuit); the dressing- rooms shared by most of u0026quot;Siru0026quot;u0026#39;s company, and the cramped wings where the actors waited for their entrances and exits, while the backstage staff (such as they were) had to provide the sound-effects using primitive materials such as a kettledrum, a wind-machine and a thunder sheet. With little or no real opportunity to purchase new things, the company have to make do and mend: for example, purchasing cornflour to use as impromptu make-up for their Shakespearean repertoire.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBased partly on the experiences of Donald Wolfit – who was not a u0026#39;hamu0026#39; actor (as some reviewers have suggested), but a performer of the old school – THE DRESSER shows u0026quot;Siru0026#39;su0026quot; dedication to continue touring, despite being manifestly unable to do so. Tormented by the ghosts of actors past, he believes that he can no longer give of his best; the only way he can be patched up to go onstage is through Normanu0026#39;s continual promptings. Finney captures the monstrous egotism of the man – who can be downright cruel to his fellow-actors yet in the next moment behave like a baby needing comfort from his carers. u0026quot;Siru0026#39;su0026quot; acting-style can best be described as full-on, complete with extravagant gestures and meaningful pauses. It might seem exaggerated to modern viewers, but to wartime audiences in England his productions provided much-needed respite from the strains of having to survive. The production design (by Stephen Grimes) owes a lot to Wolfitu0026#39;s inspiration; u0026quot;Siru0026#39;su0026quot; costume as Lear, and the settings are both based on the designs used in the actor/manageru0026#39;s stage production, which played from 1943 to 1953.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAs Norman, Tom Courtenay is a protean figure – at once solicitous, angry, kind, vain, jealous and loyal. His entire life revolves around u0026quot;Siru0026quot;; however much he might object to his employeru0026#39;s behavior. At the end he is bereft, as Sir passes away, and Norman wrings his hands and wails u0026quot;What am I going to do?u0026quot; Like the loyal stage-manager Madge (Eileen Atkins), he has been working in this touring company for a long time with no real thanks; and the fact that his name has been omitted from Siru0026#39;s dedication in the opening paragraph of his (unfinished) autobiography proves especially galling for the Dresser. On the other hand, both Norman and Madge emphasize the strong sense of loyalty that dominated the old touring companies; despite meager salaries, poor living-conditions and indifferent treatment from their employer, they refused to do anything else, in the belief they were part of u0026quot;one big happy family.u0026quot; u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe casting of minor roles in THE DRESSER has been carefully thought out. Lockwood West makes an endearing Geoffrey, an elderly actor pitchforked into playing the role of Learu0026#39;s Fool, although manifestly unsuited to the role. His equally elderly colleague Horace Brown is played by Llewellyn Rees, whose previous employment included a spell as Donald Wolfitu0026#39;s company manager in the early Fifties. Edward Fox turns in a malicious performance as Oxenby, a lame actor with a barely-suppressed hatred for Siru0026#39;s authority.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAlthough three decades old, THE DRESSER remains a highly entertaining piece, as well as being a valuable recreation of an important moment in British theatrical history which remains comparatively neglected by scholars.”