Butley (1974)
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54% of users liked it
(724 ratings)
The American Film Theatre has made movies of a number of significant theatrical performances, including Laurence Olivier's Othello. Another of these filmed theatricals is Simon Gray's Butley, which was brought to the screen by playwright Harold Pinter, and which features an astonishing… More The American Film Theatre has made movies of a number of significant theatrical performances, including Laurence Olivier's Othello. Another of these filmed theatricals is Simon Gray's Butley, which was brought to the screen by playwright Harold Pinter, and which features an astonishing performance by Alan Bates. The story focuses on one very bad day in the life of Butley (Bates), a feisty, sharp-tongued, lazy and pathetic professor of English. His professional ascendancy is challenged by a slick, accomplished woman many years his junior; his ex-wife gives him conniptions when she announces her remarriage to someone he cannot bear; and his male lover of several years chooses this time to announce that he is leaving him for a sweeter-tempered but very ordinary man of the sort Butley despises. Bleak though this sounds, Butley's unconquerable wit and biting repartee transform this otherwise tragic tale into something of a celebration of survival. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Directed By
- Harold Pinter
- Genres
- Drama, Art House & International, Classics
- In Theaters
- Jan 1, 1974 Wide
Critic Reviews
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Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com
Alan Butley gives an astounding performance in Simon Gray's scathing British satire, elevating it way above Harold Pinter's mediocre direction.
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Cast
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Alan Bates
as Ben Butley
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Jessica Tandy
as Edna Shaft
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Richard O'Callaghan
as Joey Keyston
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Susan Engel
as Anne Butley
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Michael Byrne
as Reg Nuttall
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Georgina Hale
as Miss Heasman
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Cohn Haigh
as Male Student
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Lindsay Ingram
as Female Student
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Patti Love
as Female Student
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Belinda Low
as Female Student
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Oliver Maguire
as Train Passenger
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Simon Rouse
as Gardner
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John Savident
as James
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Susan Wooldridge
as Female Student