Tom Jones
The Entertainer
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Tom Jones
Directed by Tony Richardson.
With Albert Finney, Susannah York, David Warner.
UK, 1963, 35mm, color, 121 min.
Print source: HFA
John Osborne and Tony Richardson lightened up quite a bit from their heady works of 'kitchen sink' realism with this rousing adaptation of Henry Fielding's novel. Abandoned as an infant, Tom Jones (Finney) is raised by a wealthy squire and grows up to become a charming man, beloved by all except the squire's rightful heir (Warner). Eschewing societal pressure to behave in a gentlemanly manner, Tom follows his libido through a series of romantic liaisons. The film was a big winner at the 1964 Academy Awards, including prizes for Richardson and Osborneóquite surprising given the film's bawdy content.
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The Entertainer
Directed by Tony Richardson.
With Laurence Olivier, Joan Plowright, Alan Bates.
UK, 1960, 35mm, black & white, 96 min.
Print source: HFA
Writer John Osborne and director Tony Richardson became two of the strongest voices of the British working class with their string of 'kitchen sink' realist films of the late 1950s and early 1960s. All the more surprising, then, was the news that Shakespearean actor Laurence Olivier would take on the role of the less-than-regal Archie Rice, an aging vaudevillian who will stop at nothing to keep his career alive. As he pours his heart out on stage, his personal life is in shambles: he cheats on his alcoholic wife and coerces his son to join the military. The arrival of his estranged daughter provides the only hope for Archie's redemption. Joan Plowright, who would later marry Olivier, made her screen debut as Archie's daughter.
Part of film series
Screenings from this program
Ballad of a Soldier / The Forty-First
Nightfall / Great Day in the Morning
Verboten! / Dead Pigeon on Beethoven Street
I'll Never Forget What's 'is Name / The Jokers
Hearts of the World / True Heart Susie
Anna Christie / The Long Voyage Home
Suddenly Last Summer / The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone
Quiet Days in Clichy / Henry and June
The Freshman / The Sin of Harold Diddlebock
The Sheep Has Five Legs / The Law is the Law
Hobson's Choice / Sidewalks of London
I Know Where I'm Going / Outcast of the Islands
An Inspector Calls / The Belles of St. Trinian's
Mother Joan of the Angels / Thérèse
Dawn of the Dead / Strange Behavior
