The comedian
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The comedian |
| Original title | The entertainer |
| Country of production | United Kingdom |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1960 |
| length | 96 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Tony Richardson |
| script |
John Osborne , Nigel Kneale |
| production |
Harry Saltzman , John Croydon |
| music | John Addison |
| camera | Oswald Morris |
| cut | Alan Osbiston |
| occupation | |
| |
The Comedian (Original title: The Entertainer ) is a British feature film by the director Tony Richardson from 1960 . It is a film adaptation of the play The Entertainer, first performed in 1957, by John Osborne , who was also involved in the script. Richardson filmed a play by Osborne for the second time after Looking Back in Anger . The main actor is Laurence Olivier , who also took on this role in the play.
action
The young teacher Jean Rice travels from London to a seaside resort to visit her family. She worries about her relationship with her fiancé, who wants to emigrate with her to Africa, and about the Suez crisis , which affects her brother Mick as a soldier. She notes that the seaside resort is attracting fewer and fewer holidaymakers after its heyday before the war. Her father's performances in the music hall only take place in front of small, disinterested groups of visitors. Your family is broken. Her grandfather, once a celebrated star of the music hall, lives in seclusion with his daughter-in-law and grandson.
She goes to the music room where her father Archie Rice is performing. Although he has no money and the critics and unpaid employees are on his neck, he celebrates the arrival of his daughter with champagne. However, she quickly notices the circumstances in which her father lives. While he has a good relationship with his son and father, his relationship with his wife is strained. He is a womanizer, his wife knows about his affairs, speaks openly about it with the family and develops a serious drinking problem.
When his father's last engagement comes to an end, Archie is desperately looking for a new show for the winter, but has no money to do something himself. When he appears as a juror at a beauty pageant, he ties up with the runner-up and starts an affair with her. Her wealthy parents want her to have a career in show business and offer Archie money for a new show if he lets her daughter appear in it. As the deal takes shape, the radio is reporting Mick's capture by Egyptian troops after a battle at Suez . Archie doesn't seem to notice the news and his family's rift. He is fully focused on his affair and restarting his career.
When Jean becomes aware of the affair, she tells her grandfather about it. Believing that he is doing something good for his son, he goes to the young woman's parents and tells them that his son Archie is already married and broke. The parents immediately break off any relationship with Archie and cut funding for his new show. While Archie is still trying to deal with this new twist, it turns out that the original report about his son's capture was false. In fact, he was killed by the Egyptians and his body is transferred. Mick's hometown commemorates him and he is to be awarded the Victoria Cross . Archie, meanwhile, is still too focused on his career to see his family break up over the events. His brother-in-law tries to help the family by taking them to Canada to run a hotel there. Archie rejects him, however. Instead, he developed the idea of bringing his father back on stage, as he is still very popular and there is a public desire for his return.
However, on the night of the premiere, his father collapses and dies, which seals the estrangement of his family. His wife and son decide to go to Canada after all, while Archie is eager to stay in England even if he has to go to jail there. The film ends with what is probably Archie's last appearance in front of a listless audience.
criticism
"... psychologically subtle, convincing performance and atmospherically dense in the reconstruction of dreary social milieus"
Awards
At the 1961 Academy Awards , Laurence Olivier was nominated for Best Actor . The film also received three BAFTA nominations.
Web links
- The comedian in the Internet Movie Database (English)