''Butley'' is a 1974 American-British

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Harold Pinter Harold Pinter (; 10 October 1930 – 24 December 2008) was a British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. A Nobel Prize winner, Pinter was one of the most influential modern British dramatists with a writing career that spanne ...

and starring Alan Bates,

Jessica Tandy Jessie Alice Tandy (7 June 1909 – 11 September 1994) was a British-American actress. Tandy appeared in over 100 stage productions and had more than 60 roles in film and TV, receiving an Academy Award, four Tony Awards, a BAFTA, a Golden Globe ...

Richard O'Callaghan Richard O'Callaghan (born Richard Brooke, 7 March 1940, London) is an English film, stage and television character actor. He is the son of actors Patricia Hayes and Valentine Brooke, whose stage name was Valentine Rooke. As a boy actor he was ...

Susan Engel Susan Engel (born 25 March 1935) is a British actress. She was born in Vienna, Austria. Career Theatre Engel's work in theatre includes: ''Angels in America'' (1992), ''Richard III'', ''King Lear'' (1990), '' The Good Person of Sezuan'', '' W ...

, and Michael Byrne. It is an adaptation from

Simon Gray Simon James Holliday Gray (21 October 1936 – 7 August 2008) was an English playwright and memoirist who also had a career as a university lecturer in English literature at Queen Mary, University of London, for 20 years. While teaching at Q ...

's 1971 play of same name. It was produced by

Ely Landau Ely Abraham Landau (January 20, 1920 – November 4, 1993) was an American producer and production executive best remembered for films of plays in the American Film Theatre series. Landau began working in television as a director and producer i ...

and released through Landau's

American Film Theatre From 1973 to 1975, using approximately 500 movie theaters across the US, The American Film Theatre presented two seasons of film adaptations of well-known plays. Each film was shown only four times at each theatre. By design, these were not films ...

Plot

The title character, a literature professor and longtime T. S. Eliot scholar with a recently developed interest in

Beatrix Potter Helen Beatrix Potter (, 28 July 186622 December 1943) was an English writer, illustrator, natural scientist, and conservationist. She is best known for her children's books featuring animals, such as ''The Tale of Peter Rabbit'', which was he ...

, is a

suicidal Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and subs ...

alcoholic Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomin ...

, who loses his wife and his male lover on the same day. The

dark comedy Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discus ...

encompasses several hours in which he bullies students, friends, and colleagues, while falling apart at the seams. Apart from an opening sequence of Butley waking in his flat with a hangover and taking the Underground and occasional shots in the corridor and the pub at lunchtime, the entire film takes place in Butley's office. In his introduction to the trade edition of the play, the film's director

wrote:

Cast

Production

The film was shot at

Shepperton Studios Shepperton Studios is a film studio located in Shepperton, Surrey, England, with a history dating back to 1931. It is now part of the Pinewood Studios Group. During its early existence, the studio was branded as Sound City (not to be confused w ...

. The Executive Producer was

Otto Plaschkes Otto Plaschkes (13 September 1929 – 14 February 2005) was a British film producer. Early life Plaschkes was born in Vienna. His father, a butcher, was from Bratislava and his mother from Budapest. Plaschkes left for England at the age of ten, a ...

and the cinematographer was

Gerry Fisher Gerry Fisher, B.S.C. (23 June 1926 – 2 December 2014) was an English cinematographer. Biography He was born in London in 1926. Early employment by Kodak and De Havilland Aircraft was followed by service in the Royal Navy during WW II. Fish ...

References

External links

* *{{ibdb show , id=2315, show=Butley 1974 films American drama films American LGBT-related films Bisexuality-related films British drama films British LGBT-related films Canadian drama films Films about educators American films based on plays Films produced by Ely Landau 1974 LGBT-related films LGBT-related drama films 1974 drama films Films set in universities and colleges Canadian LGBT-related films 1970s English-language films 1970s American films 1970s Canadian films 1970s British films

Plot

Cast

Production

See also

References

External links