The Entertainer

Released Oct 3, 1960

1h 37m

Drama

List

80%

15 Reviews

Tomatometer

74%

1,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

London schoolteacher Jean Rice (Joan Plowright) returns to her seaside resort hometown at a time of personal crisis. Her father, Archie (Laurence Olivier), is a star on the music hall circuit, but, in the television age, that old-fashioned entertainment is dying out. His second wife, Phoebe (Brenda De Banzie), is openly contemptuous of her husband's many affairs, and his son, Mick (Albert Finney), is a soldier fighting in the Suez. Despite Archie's unflagging optimism, tragic events unfold.

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Michael Antony A

Mikey's Movie Review: The Entertainer (1960) Laurence Olivier as an alcoholic, womanizing, third rate Music Hall performer, turns in a career best performance in this otherwise slow moving kitchen sink drama. Played by a more than capable cast (including fellow thespian legends Roger Livesey, Joan Plowright and Albert Finney), every word of John Osbourne and Nigel Kneale's script bites. The static, simple Direction betrays its theatrical roots and ultimately the film doesn't engage as cinematically as it could/should. However as an early 60's, quintessentially English, realism curio, it's one of the very best. And Larry is mesmerizing. Mikey's Movie Rating: 4/5*

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/21/24

Full Review

C n

We made the mistake of going to a boardwalk at the Shore after watching this. Kept thinking that Archie would be just around the corner with his "winning smile".

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

08/27/23

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paul r

This gem is one of those films that any film buff should see. It is a fantastic look at England in the late 50s and Early 60s and those who were in the Entertainment Industry at that time.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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steve d

There is NOTHING that works in this mess.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Fantastic cast to watch . Really enjoyed it all .

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

04/06/20

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Audience Member

The decline of the British Empire in the world is exemplified through this film.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/16/23

Full Review

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Tony Richardson

Director

Laurence Olivier

Archie Rice

Brenda De Banzie

Phoebe Rice

Albert Finney

Mick Rice

Joan Plowright

Jean Rice

Roger Livesey

Billy Rice

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Penelope Houston

Sight & Sound

This kind of purposeful acting is something encouragingly new on the British screen; and the cinema cannot be allowed to imagine it can continue to do without it.

Jan 11, 2020

Full Review

Roger Moore

Movie Nation

Olivier is brilliant, the very embodiment of a hustling, bullying, bantering “music hall comic,” from his painted eyebrows to his “MY” “show must go on” ethos.

Rated: 4/4

Feb 16, 2024

Full Review

Sean Axmaker

Stream on Demand

Olivier gives his all as the gap tooth vaudevillian living in the shadow of his music hall legend father Billy Rice (Roger Livesey), spitting out pithy wisecracks and mugging pathetically for bored audiences in seaside dives.

Jan 7, 2023

Full Review

Clyde Gilmour

Maclean's Magazine

Customers who expect all British films to be either sunny or funny will get a nasty jolt, but Olivier's Archie Rice is a brilliant exploit.

Oct 31, 2019

Full Review

Dwight MacDonald

Esquire Magazine

Rarely have I seen so disorganized a film; nothing seems to lead to anything; there's a lot of fancy cutting and camera angles, but each attempt at cinematic effect merely confuses things still more.

Jul 16, 2019

Full Review

MFB Critics

Monthly Film Bulletin

The changes just aren't ruthless enough; the play's inherent difficulties haven't really been solved.

Jan 31, 2018

Full Review

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Synopsis

London schoolteacher Jean Rice (Joan Plowright) returns to her seaside resort hometown at a time of personal crisis. Her father, Archie (Laurence Olivier), is a star on the music hall circuit, but, in the television age, that old-fashioned entertainment is dying out. His second wife, Phoebe (Brenda De Banzie), is openly contemptuous of her husband's many affairs, and his son, Mick (Albert Finney), is a soldier fighting in the Suez. Despite Archie's unflagging optimism, tragic events unfold.

Director: Tony Richardson
Screenwriter: Nigel Kneale, John Osborne, John Osborne
Distributor: Criterion Collection, Continental Distributing Inc.
Production Co: Woodfall Film Productions
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 3, 1960, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 29, 2016
Runtime: 1h 37m
Sound Mix: Stereo, Mono
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.66:1)

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