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68% Critic Match
The Dresser
“What happens backstage is always true drama. And often pure comedy.”
6.8 / 10• 1983• 1h 58m•PG• English
Drama
Storyline
In a touring Shakespearean theater group, a backstage hand - the dresser - is devoted to the brilliant but tyrannical head of the company. He struggles to support the deteriorating star as the company struggles to carry on during the London Blitz. The pathos of his backstage efforts rival the pathos in the story of Lear and the Fool that is being presented on-stage, as the situation comes to a crisis.
Cast & Crew
Albert Finney
Sir
Lead
Tom Courtenay
Norman
Edward Fox
Oxenby
Zena Walker
Her Ladyship
Eileen Atkins
Madge
Michael Gough
Frank Carrington
Cathryn Harrison
Irene
Betty Marsden
Violet Manning
What People Are Saying
4.0
“A staggering achievement of craft and ambition. Peter Yates's vision lands with breathtaking precision.”
3.0
“Every frame feels alive. The Dresser is the rare release that takes its audience seriously.”
