The read
Critics rate it 25 points higher than audiences do.
Synopsis
In a touring Shakespearean theater group, a backstage hand - the dresser - is devoted to the brilliant but tyrannical head of the company. He struggles to support the deteriorating star as the company struggles to carry on during the London Blitz. The pathos of his backstage efforts rival the pathos in the story of Lear and the Fool that is being presented on-stage, as the situation comes to a crisis.
Ratings
IMDb7.5/10
Rotten Tomatoes100%
Critics rate it 25 points higher than audiences do.
84 audience votes
Key crew
- Peter YatesDirector
- Ronald HarwoodScreenplay
- James HornerOriginal Music Composer
Cast
- Albert FinneySir
- Tom CourtenayNorman
- Edward FoxOxenby
- Zena WalkerHer Ladyship
- Eileen AtkinsMadge
- Michael GoughFrank Carrington
- Cathryn HarrisonIrene
- Betty MarsdenViolet Manning
- Sheila ReidLydia Gibson
- Lockwood WestGeoffrey Thornton
- Donald EcclesMr. Godstone
- Llewellyn ReesHorace Brown
Stills
Themes
alcoholismbackstagelgbtpost world war iimake updrunkenness