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The Caretaker

Play trailer Poster for The Caretaker 1964 1h 45m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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86% Tomatometer 7 Reviews 68% Popcornmeter 100+ Ratings
Naive and lonely Aston (Robert Shaw) rescues the homeless and manipulative Davies (Donald Pleasence), inviting him to stay at his rundown family home. Aston's brother and guardian, Mick (Alan Bates), dislikes the shiftless Davies, but comes to see him as someone to unload the house onto when Aston proposes that Davies become its caretaker. Mick, fed up with his responsibilities, hopes Davies' duties as caretaker will extend to caring for his brother as well.

Critics Reviews

View All (7) Critics Reviews
John Russell Taylor Sight & Sound Alan Bates and Donald Pleasence are familiar in their roles, but at the same time so fresh that one would never guess how often they had played them on the stage, and Robert Shaw is, for British audiences at least, a revelation. Apr 8, 2020 Full Review Variety Staff Variety Basically, it's a one-set play, and that made it a tough assignment for director Clive Donner. His fluent treatment, however, makes the most of the macabre verbal exchanges, and overcomes many of the static handicaps of the subject. Feb 23, 2012 Full Review Joan Didion Vogue What goes on in a dark room on an immense luminous screen is quite a different proposition from what goes on in a semi-darkened theatre. Mar 11, 2020 Full Review Rob Aldam Backseat Mafia A triumph which deserves to be discovered by a new generation. Apr 10, 2019 Full Review Penelope Gilliatt Observer (UK) Every line in it involved the most delicate decisions of film-making, and all three actors are even better than they were on stage. Mar 20, 2018 Full Review Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews More a theater experience than a cinema one. Rated: A- May 11, 2013 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Alain E Frankly, this today is boring despite the excellent credentials. The audio has not been restored, so it’s hard to understand what they say and the subtitles are all over the place, one word after another, not separating the speakers. There are also a few scratches on the image itself. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 12/19/24 Full Review Blobbo X Play by Harold Pinter put to celluloid. Blobbo not know if emperor has clothing this time or not but lacks suffient patience to find out. Long long and talky talky. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 08/23/24 Full Review Martin B I can't imagine three more annoying characters. This is not entertainment it's works watching it. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 07/23/24 Full Review Audience Member A fine record of the original cast (Robert Shaw had taken over from Peter Woodthorpe on Broadway) in Pinter's blackly comic three-way power play, given extra resonance from being filmed in an actual attic in Hackney during the bitter winter of 1962. The temptation to overplay the baroque menace is resisted - Shaw in particular plays it very straight - and the result is funny, edgy and nuanced - with tight cinematography from Nic Roeg and a subtle underscore by Ron Grainer. Clive Donner's best work. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/27/23 Full Review Audience Member Not as powerfully tense as the play, but still has a handful of real striking moments/monologues. All of the performances really carry the film, an adaptation that easily could have fallen into stagnation otherwise considering it all takes place in just one room. Roeg does a great job of making you feel like you need to duck your head just watching this film, it feels so cramped. Donald Pleasence and Alan Bates are the real standouts, Robert Shaw really delivers where it counts but I found him to be overall a bit spottier. All in all, one of the more effective stage to film adaptations. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/06/23 Full Review Audience Member Spot on performances (Bates standard) definitely do the dialogue justice and mixed with the sparse setting deliver an amusing and menacing piece with a dark undertone of menace most horrors struggle to achieve. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/28/23 Full Review Read all reviews
The Caretaker

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The Caretaker

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Movie Info

Synopsis Naive and lonely Aston (Robert Shaw) rescues the homeless and manipulative Davies (Donald Pleasence), inviting him to stay at his rundown family home. Aston's brother and guardian, Mick (Alan Bates), dislikes the shiftless Davies, but comes to see him as someone to unload the house onto when Aston proposes that Davies become its caretaker. Mick, fed up with his responsibilities, hopes Davies' duties as caretaker will extend to caring for his brother as well.
Director
Clive Donner
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Runtime
1h 45m