Butley [Blu-ray]

Director: Harold Pinter Harold Pinter

Overview

Alan Bates is the whole show in this American Film Theater presentation of the London stage success by Simon Gray, brought to the screen by Harold Pinter, the famed British playwright in his film-directing debut. Bates is an embittered English teacher who, in one day, loses his wife to another teacher, discovers his male lover has left him for another man, and learns that a long-in-the-works manuscript by a female colleague that Butley has continually disparaged through the years has been accepted for publication -- while his own project lies dormant and unfinished.

Product Details

Release Date:	08/27/2019
UPC:	0738329239084
Original Release:	1974
Rating:	R
Source:	Kino Classics
Region Code:	A
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Language:	English
Time:	2:10:00
Sales rank:	46,262

Special Features

Interview with Alan Bates; Interview with Edie Landau; "Ely Landau: In Front of the Camera," a promotional film for the American Film Theatre; Gallery of trailers for the American Film Theatre

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Alan Bates	Ben Butley
Jessica Tandy	Edna Shaft
Richard O'Callaghan	Joey Keyston
Susan Engel	Anne Butley
Michael Byrne	Reg Nuttall
Georgina Hale	Miss Heasman
Simon Rouse	Mr. Gardner
John Savident	James
Oliver Maguire	Train Passenger
Colin Haigh	Male Student
Darien Angadi	Male Student
Susan Wooldridge	Female Student
Lindsay Ingram	Female Student
Patti Love	Female Student
Belinda Low	Female Student
Cohn Haigh	Male Student

Technical Credits

Harold Pinter

Simon Gray

Simon Ward

Ely A. Landau	Producer,Producer
Harold Pinter	Director,Screenwriter
Otto Plaschkes	Executive Producer,Producer
Simon Gray	Screenwriter
Simon Ward	Screenwriter
Henry Weinstein	Producer
Ivan Sharrock	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

Butley is not a satisfying film experience, but it is valuable for capturing the electric and captivating performance of star Alan Bates in the title role. Bates gives a tour de force performance, but one in which the actor is at all times serving the character and the needs of the material rather than simply using a flashy part to show off his considerable range and skill. Bates is firmly onscreen throughout and is called upon to create a presence that can hold the entire film together; to make things more difficult, he is given a not very likeable character, self-centered and given to barrages of cruel (if terribly witty and amusing) insults. That Bates makes the audience interested in the character, and even care for him to a sufficient extent, without making Butley sympathetic, is an incredible achievement. A bold, edgy, at times scary performance, it makes the film worth watching, despite flaws such as pedestrian direction that does not do enough to disguise the film's stage origins, an over-extended length, and a cast of characters that often compete with each other for unpleasantness. The supporting cast is excellent, but even as accomplished an actress as Jessica Tandy must take a back seat to Bates' astonishing performance.