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{{Short description|1983 television film directed by John Schlesinger}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2014}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2012}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}
{{Infobox television
{{Infobox television
| show_name = An Englishman Abroad
| image = An Englishman Abroad dvd.jpg
| image =
| caption =
| caption =
| genre =
| genre =
| writer = [[Alan Bennett]]
| writer = [[Alan Bennett]]
| director = [[John Schlesinger]]
| director = [[John Schlesinger]]
| presenter =
⚫
| starring = [[Alan Bates]]<br>[[Coral Browne]]<br>[[Charles Gray (actor)|Charles Gray]]
⚫
| presenter =
| composer = [[George Fenton]]
⚫
| starring = [[Alan Bates]]<br>[[Coral Browne]]<br>[[Charles Gray (actor)|Charles Gray]]
| composer = [[George Fenton]]
| country = United Kingdom
| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
⚫
| executive_producer =
| language = [[English language|English]]
⚫
| producer = Innes Lloyd
⚫
| executive_producer =
| producer = Innes Lloyd
| editor =
| editor =
| location =
| location =
| cinematography =
| cinematography =
| runtime = 60 min.
| runtime = 60 min.
| company = BBC
| company = BBC
| channel = [[BBC One|BBC 1]]
| distributor =
| first_aired = {{Start date|1983|11|29|df=yes}}
| channel = [[BBC One|BBC 1]]
| related =
| picture_format =
| audio_format =
| first_run =
| first_aired = {{Start date|df=yes|1983|11|29}}
| related =
| website =
| website_title =
| production_website =
}}
}}
'''''An Englishman Abroad''''' is a 1983 [[BBC television drama]] film, based on the true story of a chance meeting of actress [[Coral Browne]], with [[Guy Burgess]] ([[Alan Bates]]), a member of the [[Cambridge Five|Cambridge spy ring]] who spied for the [[Soviet Union]] while an officer at [[MI6]]. The production was written by [[Alan Bennett]] and directed by [[John Schlesinger]]; Browne stars as herself.
'''''An Englishman Abroad''''' is a 1983 [[BBC television drama]] film based on the true story of a chance meeting of actress [[Coral Browne]] with [[Guy Burgess]], a member of the [[Cambridge Five|Cambridge spy ring]] who spied for the [[Soviet Union]] while an officer at [[MI6]]. The production was written by [[Alan Bennett]] and directed by [[John Schlesinger]]. Browne stars as herself.


==Plot==
The film is set is [[Moscow]] in 1958, after Burgess had defected to the [[Soviet Union]] in 1951 with [[Donald Maclean (spy)|Donald Maclean]] when it became apparent that Maclean was about to be investigated by British intelligence. Burgess barges into Browne's dressing room in the interval of a touring [[Elisabeth Scott#Shakespeare Memorial Theatre|Shakespeare Memorial Theatre]] (which became one of the bases of the [[Royal Shakespeare Company]]) production of ''[[Hamlet]]'', in which she portrayed [[Gertrude (Hamlet)|Gertrude]], and charms her. Later on she is invited to his Moscow flat, finding it with some difficulty, to measure him for a suit that he would like ordered from his [[London]] tailor.
The film is set in [[Moscow]] in 1958, after Burgess had defected to the [[Soviet Union]] in 1951 with [[Donald Maclean (spy)|Donald Maclean]] when it became apparent that Maclean was about to be investigated by British intelligence. Burgess barges into Browne's dressing room in the interval of a touring [[Elisabeth Scott#Shakespeare Memorial Theatre|Shakespeare Memorial Theatre]] production of ''[[Hamlet]]'', in which she portrayed [[Gertrude (Hamlet)|Gertrude]], and charms her. Later on she is invited to his Moscow flat, finding it with some difficulty, to measure him for a suit that he would like ordered from his London tailor. On returning to London, she visits several high-class gentlemen's [[outfitter]]s to purchase his requirements.

⚫
Several plot changes were made from the true story told by Browne to Bennett. Burgess, who in fact threw up in the dressing room of [[Michael Redgrave]], asked for Browne's help. Redgrave documented the incident in his autobiography.<ref>Redgrave, Michael. In My Mind's I: An Actor's Autobiography. Viking Press (1983) {{ISBN|0-670-14233-6}}</ref> Browne addressed some press speculation that she had in fact plagiarized Redgrave's story in various interviews to promote the film's first broadcast, explaining Bennett's dramatic changes.<ref>Collis, Rose. Coral Browne: This Effing Lady. Oberon Books Ltd 2007. {{ISBN|978-1840027648}}</ref> The play also contained scenes in Moscow's British Embassy and in London shops where Browne encountered resistance to helping Burgess, none of which happened in reality.<ref>Bennett, Alan. Writing Home. Faber Books 1994. {{ISBN|978-0312422578}}</ref>

⚫
Rather than film in the Soviet Union, Schlesinger used several locations in Scotland. The [[Caird Hall]] and Whitehall Theatre in [[Dundee]] stood in for the Moscow theatre, and the grand marble staircase of [[Glasgow City Chambers]] played the part of the [[Embassy of the United Kingdom in Moscow|British Embassy]].<ref name="herald"/><ref name="scotsman"/> Additional filming was done at Glasgow's St. Andrew's Suspension Bridge ("luckily, in a snowstorm" Bennett later wrote)<ref name="scotsman"/> and the Moss Heights flats in [[Cardonald]], which represented Burgess' Moscow apartment.<ref name="herald"/>

⚫
Both Browne and Bates were winners of the BAFTA awards for acting for their roles in this production.

⚫
Bennett gives the date of Browne's meeting with Burgess as 1958 in the introduction to his ''[[Single Spies]]'', which contains the text of ''An Englishman Abroad'' in the stage play version and the text of ''[[A Question of Attribution]]'' about [[Anthony Blunt]].

⚫
The play was also adapted for radio on the [[BBC World Service]] in 1994 starring [[Michael Gambon]] as Burgess and [[Penelope Wilton]] as Coral Browne. It was subsequently re-broadcast on [[BBC Radio 7]] and [[BBC Radio 4 Extra]], most recently in 2013 as part of BBC Radio 4 Extra's ''Cambridge Spies'' season.

⚫
On the '''[[BFI TV 100]]''', a list compiled in 2000 by the [[British Film Institute]] (BFI), chosen by a poll of industry professionals, to determine what were the greatest [[United Kingdom|British]] television programmes of any genre ever to have been screened, ''An Englishman Abroad'' was listed at number 30.


== Film cast ==
== Film cast ==
<ref name=bbc2>{{cite web|title=An Englishman Abroad|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0074pqk|website=BBC Two|publisher=British Broadcasting Company|accessdate=7 August 2014}}</ref><ref name=bfi>{{cite web|title=An Englishman Abroad (1983)|url=http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2b712307b0|website=BFI Film Forever|publisher=British Film Institute|accessdate=7 August 2014}}</ref>
<ref name=bbc2>{{cite web|title=An Englishman Abroad|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0074pqk|website=BBC Two|publisher=British Broadcasting Company|accessdate=7 August 2014}}</ref><ref name=bfi>{{cite web|title=An Englishman Abroad (1983)|url=http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2b712307b0|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120714033655/http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2b712307b0|url-status=dead|archive-date=14 July 2012|website=BFI Film Forever|publisher=British Film Institute|accessdate=7 August 2014}}</ref>
{{div col}}
* [[Alan Bates]] as Guy Burgess
* [[Alan Bates]] as Guy Burgess
* [[Coral Browne]] as herself
* [[Coral Browne]] as herself
* [[Charles Gray (actor)|Charles Gray]] as Michael Redgrave playing Claudius
* [[Charles Gray (actor)|Charles Gray]] as 'Charles' playing Claudius
* [[Harold Innocent]] as Rosencrantz
* [[Harold Innocent]] as Rosencrantz
* [[Vernon Dobtcheff]] as Guildenstern
* [[Vernon Dobtcheff]] as Guildenstern
Line 58: Line 41:
* [[Mark Wing-Davey]] as Hamlet
* [[Mark Wing-Davey]] as Hamlet
* Faina Zinova as hotel receptionist
* Faina Zinova as hotel receptionist
* Douglas Reith as Toby
* [[Douglas Reith]] as Toby
* [[Peter Chelsom]] as Giles
* [[Peter Chelsom]] as Giles
* Judy Gridley as Tessa
* Judy Gridley as Tessa
* [[Bibs Ekkel]] as scarf man
* [[Bibs Ekkel]] as scarf man
* Alexei Jawdokimov as Tolya
* [[Alexei Jawdokimov]] as Tolya
* Molly Veness as Mrs Burgess
* Molly Veness as Mrs Burgess
* [[Denys Hawthorne]] as tailor
* [[Denys Hawthorne]] as tailor
Line 68: Line 51:
* [[Charles Lamb (actor)|Charles Lamb]] as George
* [[Charles Lamb (actor)|Charles Lamb]] as George
* [[Trevor Baxter]] as pyjama shop manager
* [[Trevor Baxter]] as pyjama shop manager
{{div col end}}

Charles Gray's character was simply named 'Charles' but in the real events on which the play is based, his character would have been the actor [[Mark Dignam]]. During the film, Burgess refers to one of the actors in the version of 'Hamlet' he's just seen, playing the part of Laertes. "I like the look of Laertes. He goes rather well in to tights" says Burgess. "That's what he thinks" replies Browne, to which Burgess responds: "Looks like he put a couple of [[King Edward potato|King Edward's]] down there". The actor they were discussing would have been [[Edward Woodward]] in the Moscow production.<ref>McGivern, Caroline. "Starring Edward Woodward". Independently published (7 December 2014). {{ISBN|978-1549861918}}</ref> [[Michael Redgrave]], [[Dorothy Tutin]], [[Julian Glover]], [[Anthony Nicholls (actor)|Anthony Nicholls]], [[Eileen Atkins]], [[Ian Holm]] and [[Edward de Souza]] were all members of the Shakespearean troupe involved with this tour of Russia, but they play no part in Bennett's storyline.

==Production==
⚫
Rather than film in the Soviet Union, Schlesinger used several locations in Scotland. The [[Caird Hall]] and Whitehall Theatre in [[Dundee]] stood in for the Moscow theatre, and the grand marble staircase of [[Glasgow City Chambers]] played the part of the [[Embassy of the United Kingdom in Moscow|British Embassy]].<ref name="herald"/><ref name="scotsman"/> Additional filming was done at Glasgow's [[Glasgow Green#St. Andrew's Suspension Bridge|St. Andrew's Suspension Bridge]] ("luckily, in a snowstorm" Bennett later wrote)<ref name="scotsman"/> and the Moss Heights flats in [[Cardonald]], which represented Burgess' Moscow apartment.<ref name="herald"/>

===Writing===
⚫
Several plot changes were made from the true story told by Browne to Bennett. Burgess in fact threw up in the dressing room of [[Michael Redgrave]], who asked for Browne's help. Redgrave documented the incident in his autobiography without mentioning Browne's involvement with the incident.<ref>Redgrave, Michael. In My Mind's I: An Actor's Autobiography. Viking Press (1983) {{ISBN|0-670-14233-6}}</ref> Browne addressed some press speculation that she had in fact plagiarized Redgrave's story in various interviews to promote the film's first broadcast, explaining Bennett's dramatic changes.<ref>Collis, Rose. Coral Browne: This Effing Lady. Oberon Books Ltd 2007. {{ISBN|978-1840027648}}</ref> The play also contained scenes in Moscow's British Embassy and in London shops where Browne encountered resistance to helping Burgess, none of which happened in reality.<ref>Bennett, Alan. Writing Home. Faber Books 1994. {{ISBN|978-0312422578}}</ref>

⚫
Bennett gives the date of Browne's meeting with Burgess as 1958 in the introduction to his ''[[Single Spies]]'', which contains the text of ''An Englishman Abroad'' in the stage play version and the text of ''[[A Question of Attribution]]'' about [[Anthony Blunt]].

⚫
The play was also adapted for radio on the [[BBC World Service]] in 1994 starring [[Michael Gambon]] as Burgess and [[Penelope Wilton]] as Coral Browne. It was subsequently re-broadcast on [[BBC Radio 7]] and [[BBC Radio 4 Extra]], most recently in 2013 as part of BBC Radio 4 Extra's ''Cambridge Spies'' season.

==Reception==
⚫
Both Browne and Bates were winners of the BAFTA awards for acting for their roles in the production. The film won the [[British Academy Television Award]] for [[British Academy Television Award for Best Single Drama|Best Single Drama]].

⚫
On the [[BFI TV 100]], a list compiled in 2000 by the [[British Film Institute]] (BFI), chosen by a poll of industry professionals, to determine what were the greatest [[United Kingdom|British]] television programmes of any genre ever to have been screened, ''An Englishman Abroad'' was listed at number 30.

The U. S. film critic [[Pauline Kael]] wrote in 1985 that ''An Englishman Abroad'' "is probably the finest hour of television I've ever seen."<ref>Kael, Pauline. "Schoolboys." ''[[The New Yorker]]'' (11 Feb. 1985)</ref>


==See also==
==See also==
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Englishman Abroad, An}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Englishman Abroad, An}}
[[Category:1983 television films]]
[[Category:1983 television films]]
[[Category:1980s LGBT-related films]]
[[Category:1983 films]]
⚫
[[Category:1983 LGBT-related films]]
[[Category:BBC television dramas]]
[[Category:BBC television dramas]]
[[Category:British LGBT-related television shows]]
[[Category:British LGBT-related television films]]
⚫
[[Category:British television films]]
⚫
[[Category:British films]]
[[Category:Films scored by George Fenton]]
[[Category:Films scored by George Fenton]]
[[Category:LGBT-related films based on actual events]]
[[Category:LGBT-related films based on actual events]]
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[[Category:Films set in Moscow]]
[[Category:Films set in Moscow]]
[[Category:Films set in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Films set in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Screenplays by Alan Bennett]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Alan Bennett]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of the Cambridge Five]]
⚫
[[Category:Spy drama television films]]
[[Category:1980s British films]]

Latest revision as of 13:59, 3 September 2023

An Englishman Abroad
Written byAlan Bennett
Directed byJohn Schlesinger
StarringAlan Bates
Coral Browne
Charles Gray
ComposerGeorge Fenton
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
Production
ProducerInnes Lloyd
Running time60 min.
Production companyBBC
Original release
NetworkBBC 1
Release29 November 1983 (1983-11-29)

An Englishman Abroad is a 1983 BBC television drama film based on the true story of a chance meeting of actress Coral Browne with Guy Burgess, a member of the Cambridge spy ring who spied for the Soviet Union while an officer at MI6. The production was written by Alan Bennett and directed by John Schlesinger. Browne stars as herself.

Plot[edit]

The film is set in Moscow in 1958, after Burgess had defected to the Soviet Union in 1951 with Donald Maclean when it became apparent that Maclean was about to be investigated by British intelligence. Burgess barges into Browne's dressing room in the interval of a touring Shakespeare Memorial Theatre production of Hamlet, in which she portrayed Gertrude, and charms her. Later on she is invited to his Moscow flat, finding it with some difficulty, to measure him for a suit that he would like ordered from his London tailor. On returning to London, she visits several high-class gentlemen's outfitters to purchase his requirements.

Film cast[edit]

[1][2]

Charles Gray's character was simply named 'Charles' but in the real events on which the play is based, his character would have been the actor Mark Dignam. During the film, Burgess refers to one of the actors in the version of 'Hamlet' he's just seen, playing the part of Laertes. "I like the look of Laertes. He goes rather well in to tights" says Burgess. "That's what he thinks" replies Browne, to which Burgess responds: "Looks like he put a couple of King Edward's down there". The actor they were discussing would have been Edward Woodward in the Moscow production.[3] Michael Redgrave, Dorothy Tutin, Julian Glover, Anthony Nicholls, Eileen Atkins, Ian Holm and Edward de Souza were all members of the Shakespearean troupe involved with this tour of Russia, but they play no part in Bennett's storyline.

Production[edit]

Rather than film in the Soviet Union, Schlesinger used several locations in Scotland. The Caird Hall and Whitehall Theatre in Dundee stood in for the Moscow theatre, and the grand marble staircase of Glasgow City Chambers played the part of the British Embassy.[4][5] Additional filming was done at Glasgow's St. Andrew's Suspension Bridge ("luckily, in a snowstorm" Bennett later wrote)[5] and the Moss Heights flats in Cardonald, which represented Burgess' Moscow apartment.[4]

Writing[edit]

Several plot changes were made from the true story told by Browne to Bennett. Burgess in fact threw up in the dressing room of Michael Redgrave, who asked for Browne's help. Redgrave documented the incident in his autobiography without mentioning Browne's involvement with the incident.[6] Browne addressed some press speculation that she had in fact plagiarized Redgrave's story in various interviews to promote the film's first broadcast, explaining Bennett's dramatic changes.[7] The play also contained scenes in Moscow's British Embassy and in London shops where Browne encountered resistance to helping Burgess, none of which happened in reality.[8]

Bennett gives the date of Browne's meeting with Burgess as 1958 in the introduction to his Single Spies, which contains the text of An Englishman Abroad in the stage play version and the text of A Question of Attribution about Anthony Blunt.

The play was also adapted for radio on the BBC World Service in 1994 starring Michael Gambon as Burgess and Penelope Wilton as Coral Browne. It was subsequently re-broadcast on BBC Radio 7 and BBC Radio 4 Extra, most recently in 2013 as part of BBC Radio 4 Extra's Cambridge Spies season.

Reception[edit]

Both Browne and Bates were winners of the BAFTA awards for acting for their roles in the production. The film won the British Academy Television Award for Best Single Drama.

On the BFI TV 100, a list compiled in 2000 by the British Film Institute (BFI), chosen by a poll of industry professionals, to determine what were the greatest British television programmes of any genre ever to have been screened, An Englishman Abroad was listed at number 30.

The U. S. film critic Pauline Kael wrote in 1985 that An Englishman Abroad "is probably the finest hour of television I've ever seen."[9]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "An Englishman Abroad". BBC Two. British Broadcasting Company. Retrieved 7 August 2014.
  2. ^ "An Englishman Abroad (1983)". BFI Film Forever. British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 14 July 2012. Retrieved 7 August 2014.
  3. ^ McGivern, Caroline. "Starring Edward Woodward". Independently published (7 December 2014). ISBN 978-1549861918
  4. ^ a b Andrew Young (1 February 1983). "An Englishman Abroad in Glasgow". Glasgow Herald.
  5. ^ a b "John Schlesinger - obituary". The Scotsman. 28 July 2003.
  6. ^ Redgrave, Michael. In My Mind's I: An Actor's Autobiography. Viking Press (1983) ISBN 0-670-14233-6
  7. ^ Collis, Rose. Coral Browne: This Effing Lady. Oberon Books Ltd 2007. ISBN 978-1840027648
  8. ^ Bennett, Alan. Writing Home. Faber Books 1994. ISBN 978-0312422578
  9. ^ Kael, Pauline. "Schoolboys." The New Yorker (11 Feb. 1985)

External links[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=An_Englishman_Abroad&oldid=1173605186"