The Dresser
“What happens backstage is always true drama. And often pure comedy.”
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.
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Cast
28 people
Albert Finney
Sir
Known for
Big Fish
Erin Brockovich
Tom Courtenay
Norman
Known for
45 Years
The Aeronauts
Edward Fox
Oxenby
Known for
Taboo
Gandhi
Zena Walker
Her Ladyship
Also in
The Prisoner
Danger Tomorrow
Eileen Atkins
Madge
Known for
Cold Mountain
Robin Hood
Michael Gough
Frank Carrington
Known for
Batman Returns
Corpse Bride
Cathryn Harrison
Irene
Known for
Black Moon
Images
Betty Marsden
Violet Manning
Known for
Carry On Camping
Sheila Reid
Lydia Gibson
Known for
Brazil
Benidorm
Lockwood West
Geoffrey Thornton
Known for
I, Claudius
The Satanic Rites of Dracula
Donald Eccles
Mr. Godstone
Known for
The Wicker Man
Young Sherlock Holmes
Llewellyn Rees
Horace Brown
Known for
Withnail & I
Holocaust
Peter Yates Director · Ronald Harwood Screenplay James Horner Composer
Worldwide gross $5.3M · United States release December 6, 1983 · Produced in United Kingdom
Box office
Worldwide gross
$5,310,748
Production
Columbia Pictures
Production · Studio
United Kingdom
Produced in
Languages
Original language
English
Spoken on screen
English
Release dates
United States · December 6, 1983
Theatrical
Czechia
November 17, 2002 · Digital
Hungary
November 7, 1985 · Theatrical
Japan
August 1, 1984 · Theatrical
Netherlands
March 22, 1984 · Theatrical
April 15, 2004 · Physical · DVD
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