''The Bespoke Overcoat'' is a 1956 British black and white
short film
A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...
directed by
Jack Clayton
Jack Isaac Clayton (1 March 1921 – 26 February 1995) was a British film director and producer who specialised in bringing literary works to the screen.
Overview
Starting out as a teenage studio "tea boy" in 1935, Clayton worked his way up ...
, based on a 1953 play of the same name by
Wolf Mankowitz
Cyril Wolf Mankowitz (7 November 1924 – 20 May 1998) was an English writer, playwright and screenwriter. He is particularly known for three novels— '' Make Me an Offer'' (1952), '' A Kid for Two Farthings'' (1953) and ''My Old Man's a Dustm ...
. The story is an adaptation of
Nikolai Gogol
Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol; uk, link=no, Мико́ла Васи́льович Го́голь, translit=Mykola Vasyliovych Hohol; (russian: Яновский; uk, Яновський, translit=Yanovskyi) ( – ) was a Russian novelist, ...
's short story ''
The Overcoat
"The Overcoat" (russian: Шине́ль, translit. Shinyél’; sometimes translated as "The Cloak") is a short story by Russian author Nikolai Gogol, published in 1842. The story has had a great influence on Russian literature. Eugène-Mel ...
'' with the action moved from
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
to the
East End of London
The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have uni ...
. In this version the protagonists are poor Jews working in the clothing trade, played by
Alfie Bass
Alfie Bass (born Abraham Basalinsky, 10 April 1916 – 16 July 1987) was an English actor. He was born in Bethnal Green, London, the youngest in a Jewish family with ten children; his parents had left Russia many years before he was born. He a ...
and
David Kossoff
David Kossoff (24 November 1919 – 23 March 2005) was a British actor. In 1954 he won the BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles for his appearance as Geza Szobek in '' The Young Lovers''. He played Alf Larkin in TV sit ...
. It won an
Oscar
Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to:
People
* Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms.
* Oscar (Irish mythology), ...
at the
29th Academy Awards in 1957 for
Best Short Subject (Two-Reel).
Plot
The film titles run as a funeral takes place. A coffin is placed in the grave. We then see an overcoat being thrown on the coffin, before the grave is infilled. Morrie a Jewish tailor, speaks to himself in the mirror. He is then joined by the dead Fender. They debate the art of tailoring.
Fender is a lowly clerk in the warehouse of clothing manufacturers Ranting and Co. He complains to his boss, Mr Ranting that it is cold, and he wishes he had a good coat. Ranting ridicules him and says he will never be able to afford £20 for a good coat. He goes to a tailor friend, Morrie, to make a
bespoke
The word ''bespoke'' () has evolved from a verb meaning 'to speak for something', to its contemporary usage as an adjective. Originally, the adjective ''bespoke'' described tailor-made suits and shoes. Later, it described anything commissioned t ...
overcoat
An overcoat is a type of long coat (clothing), coat intended to be worn as the outermost garment, which usually extends below the knee. Overcoats are most commonly used in winter when warmth is more important.
They are sometimes confused with ...
. They discuss the materials and the cost, which is agreed at £10.
As the coat progresses he goes for a fitting. The coat has no arms, and looks very big, but he says it is too tight under the arms. They agree that Fender will pay £2 at this stage. Ranting fires Fender. He goes to Morrie. They drink brandy by candlelight and Fender cries as he says he must cancel the order. Morrie says he will finish the coat nevertheless.
Fender lies in bed and regrets not fighting for his job, or fighting for a
sheepskin coat
Shearling coats are made from processed lambskin, sheepskin, or pelt. This "shearing" process creates a uniform depth of the wool fibers for a uniform feel and look. Shearling coats and garments are made from pelts by tanning them with the woo ...
. He coughs and coughs. He dies in his sleep. His ghost speaks to Morrie, who gives him the completed coat. However he still wants a sheepskin coat from Ranting's warehouse. The pair drink more brandy and go to the warehouse. Morrie asks if he can walk through the wall but Fender wishes to use the door.
They enter and find a rail of jackets. They agree Morrie's work is better but "Ranting owes me" he says. Fender wishes Morrie a long life and says "pray for me", as he slowly walks away into eternity. Back at his house, Morrie puts on a black skullcap and says a Jewish prayer.
Cast
*
Alfie Bass
Alfie Bass (born Abraham Basalinsky, 10 April 1916 – 16 July 1987) was an English actor. He was born in Bethnal Green, London, the youngest in a Jewish family with ten children; his parents had left Russia many years before he was born. He a ...
as Fender (Ghost)
*
David Kossoff
David Kossoff (24 November 1919 – 23 March 2005) was a British actor. In 1954 he won the BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles for his appearance as Geza Szobek in '' The Young Lovers''. He played Alf Larkin in TV sit ...
as Morrie
*
Alan Tilvern
Alan Tilvern (5 November 1918 – 17 December 2003) was an English actor. He was known for usually playing "tough-guy" roles.
Life
Tilvern was born 5 November 1918 in Whitechapel, in the East End of London, to Jewish-Lithuanian parents, who c ...
as Ranting
* Alf Dean as Gravedigger (uncredited)
Reception
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 ...
called ''The Bespoke Overcoat'' "one of the best short-story films ever made".
Stage play
The play was performed at the
Arts Theatre
The Arts Theatre is a theatre in Great Newport Street, in Westminster, Central London.
History
It opened on 20 April 1927 as a members-only club for the performance of unlicensed plays, thus avoiding theatre censorship by the Lord Chamberl ...
in London with
Kossoff and
Bass and was directed by
Alec Clunes
Alexander Sheriff de Moro Clunes (17 May 1912 – 13 March 1970) was an English actor and theatrical manager.
Among the plays he presented were Christopher Fry's ''The Lady's Not For Burning''. He gave the actor and dramatist Peter Ustinov h ...
. The supporting cast was
Harold Kasket
Harold Kasket (26 July 1926 – 20 January 2002) was an English actor in theatre, films and later television from the 1940s. Kasket usually played Arabs or mainland European types in many films and TV programmes such as ''Maigret'', ''The Saint ...
and
Oscar Quitak
Oscar Morris Quitak (born 10 March 1926) is a British stage, film and television actor.
Quitak's stage work includes roles at the Old Vic and the National Theatre; as well as the original West End and Broadway productions of the musical '' Pi ...
.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bespoke Overcoat, The
1956 films
1956 short films
1956 drama films
1950s ghost films
British black-and-white films
British ghost films
British drama short films
Films about Jews and Judaism
Films about poverty
Films based on The Overcoat
Films directed by Jack Clayton
Films set in London
Live Action Short Film Academy Award winners
Films with screenplays by Wolf Mankowitz
1950s English-language films
1950s British films