''An Englishman Abroad'' is a 1983

BBC television drama BBC television dramas have been produced and broadcast since even before the public service company had an officially established television broadcasting network in the United Kingdom. As with any major broadcast network, drama forms an importa ...

film based on the true story of a chance meeting of actress

Coral Browne Coral Edith Browne (23 July 1913 – 29 May 1991) was an Australian-American stage and screen actress. Her extensive theatre credits included Broadway productions of '' Macbeth'' (1956), '' The Rehearsal'' (1963) and '' The Right Honourable Gent ...

with

Guy Burgess Guy Francis de Moncy Burgess (16 April 1911 – 30 August 1963) was a British diplomat and Soviet agent, and a member of the Cambridge Five spy ring that operated from the mid-1930s to the early years of the Cold War era. His defection in 1951 ...

, a member of the

Cambridge spy ring The Cambridge Spy Ring was a ring of spies in the United Kingdom that passed information to the Soviet Union during World War II and was active from the 1930s until at least into the early 1950s. None of the known members were ever prosecuted for ...

who spied for the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

while an officer at

MI6 The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...

. The production was written by

Alan Bennett Alan Bennett (born 9 May 1934) is an English actor, author, playwright and screenwriter. Over his distinguished entertainment career he has received numerous awards and honours including two BAFTA Awards, four Laurence Olivier Awards, and two ...

and directed by

John Schlesinger John Richard Schlesinger (; 16 February 1926 – 25 July 2003) was an English film and stage director. He won the Academy Award for Best Director for ''Midnight Cowboy'', and was nominated for the same award for two other films ('' Darling'' an ...

. Browne stars as herself.

Plot

The film is set in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

in 1958, after Burgess had defected to the

in 1951 with Donald Maclean when it became apparent that Maclean was about to be investigated by British intelligence. Burgess barges into Browne's dressing room in the interval of a touring

Shakespeare Memorial Theatre The Royal Shakespeare Theatre (RST) (originally called the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre) is a grade II* listed 1,040+ seat thrust stage theatre owned by the Royal Shakespeare Company dedicated to the English playwright and poet William Shakesp ...

production of ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

'', in which she portrayed Gertrude, and charms her. Later on she is invited to his Moscow flat, finding it with some difficulty, to measure him for a suit that he would like ordered from his London tailor. On returning to London, she visits several high-class gentlemen's outfitters to purchase his requirements.

Film cast

* Alan Bates as Guy Burgess *

as herself * Charles Gray as 'Charles' playing Claudius *

Harold Innocent Harold Sidney Innocent (18 April 1933 – 12 September 1993) was an English actor who appeared in many film and television roles. After attending Broad Street Secondary Modern School in Coventry, Innocent worked for a short time as an office c ...

as Rosencrantz *

Vernon Dobtcheff Vernon Dobtcheff (born 14 August 1934) is a British actor, best known for his roles on television and film, he has acted in numerous stage productions. Biography Dobtcheff was born in Nîmes, France, of Russian descent. He attended Ascham Pre ...

as Guildenstern * Czeslaw Grocholski as general * Matthew Sim as boy *

Mark Wing-Davey Mark Wing-Davey (born 30 November 1948) is a British actor and director. He portrayed Zaphod Beeblebrox in the radio and television versions of ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy''. Early life and career The son of actor and actress Pete ...

as Hamlet * Faina Zinova as hotel receptionist *

Douglas Reith Douglas Reith is a British actor and teacher. He is best known for his role as Lord Merton in the television series ''Downton Abbey'' (2010-2015), as well as its two follow-up films. Early life Reith was born in Melton, Suffolk. He studied acti ...

as Toby *

Peter Chelsom Peter Chelsom (born 20 April 1956) is a British film director, writer, and actor. He has directed such films as ''Hector and the Search for Happiness'', ''Serendipity'', and '' Shall We Dance?'' Peter Chelsom is a member of the British Academ ...

as Giles * Judy Gridley as Tessa *

Bibs Ekkel Bibs Ekkel (born 11 January 1946 in Brighton) is one of few exponents of the balalaika outside Russia. Ekkel is of a mixed Polish-English background. His career as a professional balalaika player has included concerts, cabaret, recordings, film ...

as scarf man *

Alexei Jawdokimov Alexey, Alexei, Alexie, Aleksei, or Aleksey (russian: Алексе́й ; bg, Алексей ) is a Russian and Bulgarian male first name deriving from the Greek ''Aléxios'' (), meaning "Defender", and thus of the same origin as the Latin Al ...

as Tolya * Molly Veness as Mrs Burgess *

Denys Hawthorne Denys Vernon Hawthorne (9 August 1932 – 16 October 2009) was an actor from Northern Ireland who was known for his work in theatre, film, television and radio. Life Denys Hawthorne was born into an upper middle-class Protestant family in Portad ...

as tailor * Roger Hammond as shoe shop assistant *

Charles Lamb Charles Lamb (10 February 1775 – 27 December 1834) was an English essayist, poet, and antiquarian, best known for his '' Essays of Elia'' and for the children's book '' Tales from Shakespeare'', co-authored with his sister, Mary Lamb (1764� ...

as George *

Trevor Baxter Trevor Baxter (18 November 1932 – 16 July 2017) was a British actor and playwright. He was educated at Dulwich College and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Early years A postal worker's son, Baxter was born in Lewisham, London, England, an ...

as pyjama shop manager Charles Gray's character was simply named 'Charles' but in the real events on which the play is based, his character would have been the actor

Mark Dignam Cuthbert Mark Dignam (20 March 1909 – 29 September 1989) was a prolific English actor. Born in London, the son of a salesman in the steel industry, Dignam grew up in Sheffield, and was educated at the Jesuit College, where he appeared in num ...

. During the film, Burgess refers to one of the actors in the version of 'Hamlet' he's just seen, playing the part of Laertes. "I like the look of Laertes. He goes rather well in to tights" says Burgess. "That's what he thinks" replies Browne, to which Burgess responds: "Looks like he put a couple of King Edward's down there". The actor they were discussing would have been

Edward Woodward Edward Albert Arthur Woodward, OBE (1 June 1930 – 16 November 2009) was an English actor and singer. After graduating from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, he began his career on stage. Throughout his career, he appeared in productions ...

in the Moscow production.

Michael Redgrave Sir Michael Scudamore Redgrave CBE (20 March 1908 – 21 March 1985) was an English stage and film actor, director, manager and author. He received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in ''Mourning Becomes Elec ...

Dorothy Tutin Dame Dorothy Tutin, (8 April 19306 August 2001) was an English actress of stage, film and television. For her work in the theatre, she won two Olivier Awards and two ''Evening Standard'' Awards for Best Actress. She was made a CBE in 1967 and ...

Julian Glover Julian Wyatt Glover (born 27 March 1935) is an English classical actor with many stage, television, and film roles since commencing his career in the 1950s. He is a recipient of the Laurence Olivier Award and has performed many times for the ...

, Anthony Nicholls,

Eileen Atkins Dame Eileen June Atkins, (born 16 June 1934), is an English actress and occasional screenwriter. She has worked in the theatre, film, and television consistently since 1953. In 2008, she won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress and the Emmy Aw ...

Ian Holm Sir Ian Holm Cuthbert (12 September 1931 – 19 June 2020) was an English actor who was knighted in 1998 for his contributions to theatre and film. Beginning his career on the British stage as a standout member of the Royal Shakespeare Company ...

and

Edward de Souza Edward James de Souza (born 4 September 1932) is a British character actor and graduate of RADA, who is of Portuguese-Indian and English descent. Early life De Souza was the only child of Annie Adeline Swift (née Calvert) and Edward Valentine De ...

were all members of the Shakespearean troupe involved with this tour of Russia, but they play no part in Bennett's storyline.

Production

Rather than film in the Soviet Union, Schlesinger used several locations in Scotland. The

Caird Hall Caird Hall is a concert auditorium located in Dundee, Scotland. It is a Category A listed building. History The site currently occupied by the building was occupied by a series of closes and tenements. The foundation stone for the building was ...

and Whitehall Theatre in Dundee stood in for the Moscow theatre, and the grand marble staircase of

Glasgow City Chambers The City Chambers or Municipal Buildings in Glasgow, Scotland, has functioned as the headquarters of Glasgow City Council since 1996, and of preceding forms of municipal government in the city since 1889. It is located on the eastern side of the ...

played the part of the British Embassy. Additional filming was done at Glasgow's St. Andrew's Suspension Bridge ("luckily, in a snowstorm" Bennett later wrote) and the Moss Heights flats in

Cardonald Cardonald ( sco, Cardonal, gd, Cair Dhòmhnaill
) is ...

, which represented Burgess' Moscow apartment.

Writing

Several plot changes were made from the true story told by Browne to Bennett. Burgess in fact threw up in the dressing room of

, who asked for Browne's help. Redgrave documented the incident in his autobiography without mentioning Browne's involvement with the incident. Browne addressed some press speculation that she had in fact plagiarized Redgrave's story in various interviews to promote the film's first broadcast, explaining Bennett's dramatic changes. The play also contained scenes in Moscow's British Embassy and in London shops where Browne encountered resistance to helping Burgess, none of which happened in reality. Bennett gives the date of Browne's meeting with Burgess as 1958 in the introduction to his ''

Single Spies ''Single Spies'' is a 1988 double bill written by the English playwright Alan Bennett. It consists of ''An Englishman Abroad'' and '' A Question of Attribution'', the former an adaptation of a television play the author had written for the BBC i ...

'', which contains the text of ''An Englishman Abroad'' in the stage play version and the text of '' A Question of Attribution'' about Anthony Blunt. The play was also adapted for radio on the BBC World Service in 1994 starring Michael Gambon as Burgess and

Penelope Wilton Dame Penelope Alice Wilton (born 3 June 1946), styled Penelope, Lady Holm between 1998 and 2001, is an English actress. She is known for starring opposite Richard Briers in the BBC sitcom ''Ever Decreasing Circles'' (1984–1989); playing H ...

as Coral Browne. It was subsequently re-broadcast on

BBC Radio 7 BBC Radio 4 Extra (formerly BBC Radio 7) is a British Digital radio in the United Kingdom, digital radio broadcasting, radio station from the BBC, broadcasting archived repeats of comedy, drama and documentary programmes nationally, 24 hours a ...

and BBC Radio 4 Extra, most recently in 2013 as part of BBC Radio 4 Extra's ''Cambridge Spies'' season.

Reception

Both Browne and Bates were winners of the BAFTA awards for acting for their roles in the production. On the

BFI TV 100 The BFI TV 100 is a list of 100 television programmes or series that was compiled in 2000 by the British Film Institute (BFI), as chosen by a poll of industry professionals, with the aim to determine the best British television programmes of any ...

, a list compiled in 2000 by the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery (United Kingdom), National Lot ...

(BFI), chosen by a poll of industry professionals, to determine what were the greatest

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

television programmes of any genre ever to have been screened, ''An Englishman Abroad'' was listed at number 30. The U. S. film critic

Pauline Kael Pauline Kael (; June 19, 1919 – September 3, 2001) was an American film critic who wrote for ''The New Yorker'' magazine from 1968 to 1991. Known for her "witty, biting, highly opinionated and sharply focused" reviews, Kael's opinions oft ...

wrote in 1985 that ''An Englishman Abroad'' "is probably the finest hour of television I've ever seen."Kael, Pauline. "Schoolboys." ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'' (11 Feb. 1985)

References

External links

*
British Film Institute Screen Online
{{DEFAULTSORT:Englishman Abroad, An 1983 television films 1983 films 1983 LGBT-related films BBC television dramas British LGBT-related television films Films scored by George Fenton LGBT-related films based on actual events Films directed by John Schlesinger Films set in 1958 Films set in Moscow Films set in the Soviet Union Films with screenplays by Alan Bennett Cultural depictions of the Cambridge Five Spy drama television films 1980s British films