DowntonR1 The film is about the decline, of a man's career, the music hall and the British Empire, with the Suez Crisis a big part of the movie's background. The acting of course is top notch, as well as Olivier the standout performances come from Joan Plowright, Brenda DeBanzie and Roger Livesey. The location filming, the theatre, the beach, the holiday camp, mostly filmed in Blackpool and Morecombe is a star in its own right.

Leofwine_draca THE ENTERTAINER is another kitchen sink drama based on a play by John Osborne. It's of note thanks to a towering central performance from an against-type and all but unrecognisable Laurence Olivier playing a seedy, sleazy end-of-pier music hall entertainer in the dying days of the industry. Olivier's character is completely horrid but also oddly enthralling; much like a train or car wreck you can't help but watch to see what unfolds.The film is bolstered by the usual effective performances from the supporting cast members, all of whom are naturalistic and engaging in their various parts. The black and white photography brings out the coastal locations quite neatly and the film has an undercurrent of suspense that builds to a fittingly downbeat climax. For a '70s version of the same story, try Reg Varney in THE BEST PAIR OF LEGS IN THE BUSINESS.

ianlouisiana So wrote John Osborne in his Note to the First Edition of his play "The Entertainer" published in 1957.It was intended as a metaphor for the decline of this country as both a colonial and world power which was hastened by Eden's ill - judged invasion of the Canal - Zone of Egypt in response to Col.Nasser's closing of the Suez Canal itself. Written in response to Olivier's request for a play to"turn away from a trivial voguish theatre slanted to please the upper middle class" it initially caused Osborne some doubt about casting the theatrical knight in a play where criticism of the Government's handling of the Suez crisis was implicit."It seemed as dangerous as exposing the Royal Family to politics". Archie Rice is a second - rate Music Hall comedian,a "stand - up" in that awful modern phrase.In the years before television became omnivorous a comic could tour the country for decades with what was essentially the same act,a situation that would be familiar to both him and his father who had been a headliner in his day,a position Archie had never and would never occupy. In contrast to the orthodox theatre,Music Hall depended on the flow of action and response across the footlights,the audience forming a symbiotic relationship with the performer rather than passively watching an immutable series of events take place on the stage.In "The Entertainer" this difference is realised by setting Rice's stage performances between sequences involving his family and other events in his "real" life. Osborne was a huge fan of Max Miller although he always denied Rice was based on him."I loved Max because he embodied a kind of theatre I admired most.His method was danger....danger he might go too far". Archie Rice was no Max Miller,he was crude and loud where Miller was querulous and childishly innocent. The possibility that Olivier may once have been a daring actor has probably never occurred to an audience brought up on his mainly underwhelming movie performances from the last 30 or so years. To see him rage against the machine in "The Entertainer" will be a salutary experience,I promise. Rice is a stubborn,prejudiced,bathetic,vain and superficial man He is a would - be serial adulterer,a seducer of impressionable girls and an opportunist.But for all these shortcomings he is a human being. He and his family squabble and fuss and try to ignore the outside world until it forces itself on them when the son is killed at Suez. As Archie Rice he bellows at the Balcony,shouts at his family,schmoozes a beauty contestant to get access to her rich mothers purse strings. It is a bravura show,and one that has come to be recognised as his signature performance away from the Bard. Olivier displays the manic energy of the man "Born in a Trunk" who has known no other life,indeed fears any other kind of life. However,"The Entertainer" is by no means a one - man - show. The Rice Family are played as a true ensemble with the dynamics immediately recognisable to anyone who has shared a home with siblings and parents.The great Roger Livesey has dignity and authority as Archie's father,the former headliner with a reputation in the profession his son can never aspire to.He vainly tries to keep his brood together as everything descends into chaos. There is a brief appearance by Miss Shirley Anne Field,daughter of the great British Music Hall comedian Sid Field,a small irony in itself. Miss Field,a woman of unusual beauty and talent,seemed about to embark on a glittering movie career especially after appearing opposite Steve McQueen in "The War Lover",but it didn't happen.It is one of the many small tragedies of the British Cinema. The late Thora Hird plays her mother,the woman Rice wants to back his show "Rock 'n'Roll Newd Look".She rarely played a totally sympathetic part and it is a tribute to her strength of purpose and sense of self that she became a genuine Brtitish Institution. But the movie is now remembered as Olivier's "The Entertainer" rather than Osborne's,and the image that remains in the mind's eye is Snowdon's iconic photograph of the actor with his little grey bowler,bow tie and crumpled jacket,his face a horror mask of manic laughter.

MartinHafer This film is about a not especially talented vaudeville-style actor (played by Olivier) who sings a little and does some comedy--but not especially well. It's set in some British town by the sea (probably Brighton) and is set in 1956--when this sort of low-brow entertainment was on its way out and during the Suez Incident (the younger son is sent there soon after the film begins). This actor is pretty obnoxious and brings misery to his family since he's basically no good and selfish. The film switches from his viewpoint to his daughter's (played by Olivier's soon wife-to-be, Joan Plowright). She sees again and again that he's a jerk but despite everything, she is strangely loyal to this rogue. The rest of the family is pretty much living in Olivier's shadow and caters to his every obnoxious whim. The only exception is Olivier's father--an excellent character study of a man who tries to do the right thing by everyone.Technically speaking, this is a very good film--the actors all did a fine job and the writing was pretty good as well. The problem for me was that I just didn't feel much of a connection, as it was hard to care about any of them. Now this isn't a complaint so much as saying that this type of character study may apply to some, it's not a film that will appeal to a wide audience. I guess my problem is that I have known people like the jerk Olivier played in the film and I felt irritated with him and his family for accepting his obnoxious behaviors. Sure, this is true to life--there are people like the one Olivier played who are users and ne'r do wells and there are many family members that put up with the lies and mistreatment. In some ways, I could see the film as being very therapeutic for some--it just wasn't something I particularly enjoyed or needed to see.