The Entertainer

Directed by Tony Richardson

Life in Britain during the 1956 Suez crisis is seen here through the prism of fast-fading music hall turn Archie Rice (Olivier) and the tangled relationships he has with his deeply dysfunctional family.

Based on John Osborne’s second stage play, and directed, like Look Back in Anger before it, by Tony Richardson, The Entertainer was partly filmed on location in Morecambe. It’s built around a career-reviving performance by Olivier, alongside a variety of British screen talent including Joan Plowright, Alan Bates, Albert Finney and Thora Hird, vividly conjuring up a post-war world of tensions and fractured dreams.

Duration:
128 minutes

Languages:
English

Country of origin:
Great Britain

Year of production:
1960