The Dresser (1983) on Netflix
Norman has been dresser to Sir, an aging Shakespearean actor leading a touring company in wartime Britain. In Bradford, Sir is to play King Lear, and his memory is slipping.
- Netflix4.4/5
- IMDb7.4/106,451 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes100%
Trailer
Plot summary
Britain, near the end of World War II. A Shakespearean company tours the provinces under Sir, an aging actor given to grand gestures and fine oratory. Norman, his dresser of sixteen years, waits backstage with a brandy bottle in his pocket and knows the old man's every whim. The troupe travels to Bradford, where Sir is to perform King Lear. There Norman's worry grows, because Sir's mind is going. A confused, almost violent rant in a town square puts the actor in the hospital. Sir then appears at the theater, exhausted and disoriented, having discharged himself. Norman argues down the stage manager's wish to cancel and begins getting Sir ready.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Dresser (1983)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Ronald Harwood based The Dresser on his own years working as dresser to the English Shakespearean actor-manager Sir Donald Wolfit, who became the model for the film's ageing actor, known only as "Sir".
- Albert Finney's line "227 Lears and I can't remember the first line" from The Dresser is sampled at the end of "P.C.P.", the closing song on the Manic Street Preachers' 1994 album The Holy Bible.
