"The Caretaker (film) The Caretaker (also known as The Guest) is a 1963 British drama film directed by Clive Donner and based on the Harold Pinter play of the same name. It was entered into the 13th Berlin International Film Festival where it won the Silver Bear Extraordinary Jury Prize. While renovating his home in London, Aston, out of pity, allows an old homeless man to live with him while Aston's brother Mick torments the old man. The film was made by a partnership of six people, none of whom took payment: Clive Donner, Donald Pleasence, Alan Bates, Robert Shaw,"
"by Clive Donner. The movie starred Alan Bates as Mick and Donald Pleasence as Davies in their original stage roles, while Robert Shaw replaced Peter Woodthorpe as Aston. First published by both Encore Publishing and Eyre Methuen in 1960, ""The Caretaker"" remains one of Pinter's most celebrated and oft-performed plays. ""A night in winter"" Aston has invited Davies, a homeless man, into his flat after rescuing him from a bar fight (7–9). Davies comments on the flat and criticises the fact that it is cluttered and badly kept. Aston attempts to find a pair of shoes for Davies but Davies"
"""Mac Davies"" (as Pinter designates him ""Davies"" throughout) and that he is actually Welsh and not English, a fact that he is attempting to conceal throughout the play and that motivates him to ""get down to Sidcup"", the past location of a British Army Records Office, to get his identity ""papers"" (13–16). The elements of tragedy occur in Aston's climactic monologue about his shock treatments in ""that place"" and at the end of the play, though the ending is still somewhat ambiguous: at the very end, it appears that the brothers are turning Davies, an old homeless man, out of"
"and complaining still more bitterly about Mick's brother, Aston (70–71). Eventually, Mick takes Aston's side, beginning with the observation ""You get a bit out of your depth sometimes, don't you?"" (71). Mick forces Davies to disclose that his ""real name"" is Davies and his ""assumed name"" is ""Jenkins"" and, after Davies calls Aston ""nutty"", Mick appears to take offence at what he terms Davies' ""impertinent thing to say,"" concludes, ""I'm compelled to pay you off for your caretaking work. Here's half a dollar,"" and stresses his need to turn back to his own ""business"" affairs (74). When Aston comes back"
"Godot"", is particularly farcical: ASTON ""offers the bag to"" DAVIES. MICK ""grabs it"". ASTON ""takes it"". MICK ""grabs it"". DAVIES ""reaches for it"". ASTON ""takes it"". MICK ""reaches for it"". ASTON ""gives it to"" DAVIES. MICK ""grabs it"". ""Pause"". (39) Davies' confusion, repetitions, and attempts to deceive both brothers and to play each one off against the other are also farcical. Davies has pretended to be someone else and using an assumed name, ""Bernard Jenkins"". But, in response to separate inquiries by Aston and Mick, it appears that Davies' real name is not really ""Bernard Jenkins"" but that it is"
"trusts him (23–24), something unexpected by Davies; for, as soon as Aston does leave the room (27), Davies begins rummaging through Aston's ""stuff"" (27–28) but he is interrupted when Mick, Aston’s brother, unexpectedly arrives, """"moves upstage, silently"","" """"slides across the room"""" and then suddenly """"seizes"" Davies' """"arm and forces it up his back"","" in response to which ""DAVIES ""screams"","" and they engage in a minutely choreographed struggle, which Mick wins (28–29), ending Act One with the """"Curtain"""" line, ""What's the game?"" (29). Mick demands to know Davies' name, which the latter gives as ""Jenkins"" (30), interrogates him about how well"
"Mick Travis Michael Arnold ""Mick"" Travis is a fictional English character played by Malcolm McDowell in three films directed by British film director Lindsay Anderson and written by David Sherwin. Travis features not so much as a single character with a character arc, but as an everyman character whose role changes according to the needs of the storyteller. In 1968's ""if..."", his first appearance (and McDowell's film debut), Travis first appears as a disaffected public school boy whose anti-establishment attitude and experiences lead to armed insurrection at a private school. The film was made at Cheltenham College, Lindsay Anderson's old"
"luck with Mick when he observes negative things about Aston, like the idea that he ""doesn't like work"" or is ""a bit of a funny bloke"" for ""Not liking work"" (Davies' camouflage of what he really is referring to), leading Mick to observe that Davies is ""getting hypocritical"" and ""too glib"" (50), and they turn to the absurd details of ""a small financial agreement"" relating to Davies' possibly doing ""a bit of caretaking"" or ""looking after the place"" for Mick (51), and then back to the inevitable call for ""references"" and the perpetually necessary trip to Sidcup to get Davies'"
"Higgins, and directed by Iqbal Khan. The character of the matchseller appeared on the stage, played by Jamie Beamish. A Slight Ache A Slight Ache is a tragicomic play written by Harold Pinter in 1958 and first published by Methuen in London in 1961. It concerns a married couple's dreams and desires, focusing mostly on the husband's fears of the unknown, of growing old, and of the ""Other"" as a threat to his self-identity. One of the main themes involves one's insecurity about threats to one's self-identity embodied in the character of the matchseller, of whom one of the other"
"in May 1998; as Jerry in ""Betrayal"" at the Royal National Theatre's Lyttelton Theatre, in November 1998; and as Aston in ""The Caretaker"" at the Comedy Theatre in November 2000, co-starring Michael Gambon (Davies) and Rupert Graves (Mick), directed by Patrick Marber – for which he was nominated for an Olivier Award. Hodge admired Pinter and has spoken and written very highly of the man and his work, and offered himself as a ""birthday present"" on his 70th birthday, among many other things offering ""My own complete friendship, loyalty and thanks. Manners, civility, celerity, precision, class and clarity."" As his"
"Giles Davis ""Belle Chrystall"" played Molly Davis ""Gladys Young"" played Mrs Boyle ""Richard Williams"" played Major Metcalf ""Raf De La Torre"" played Mr Paravicini ""Allan McClelland"" played Christopher Wren ""Lewis Stringer"" played Detective-Sergeant Trotter ""Lydia Sherwood"" played Mrs Lyon Other parts were played by Marjorie Westbury, David Kossoff and Duncan McIntyre Three Blind Mice (radio play and short story) Three Blind Mice is the name of a half-hour radio play written by Agatha Christie and broadcast on the BBC Light Programme at 8.00pm on Friday 30 May 1947. It was part of an evening of programmes in honour of the"
"Evil III"", ""The Bill"", ""At Home with the Braithwaites"", ""Burnside"", ""Steel River Blues"", ""New Tricks"", ""Where the Heart Is"", ""Holby City"", ""Spaced"" and ""Rocket Man"", as well as playing Steve Lewis in BBC Wales' ""Belonging"". In 2017 he appeared in the new musical Everybody’s Talking About Jamie at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield. Charles Dale Charles Dale (born 4 February 1963, in Tenby, Pembrokeshire) is an actor who is well known for playing Dennis Stringer in ""Coronation Street"", Gary ""Chef"" Alcock in ""The Lakes"", Clive Eustace in ""The Eustace Bros."" & Big Mac in ""Casualty"". From November 2007 until June 2016,"
"Aston and then by Mick, he begins to ingratiate himself with Mick, who acts as if he were an unwitting accomplice in Davies' eventual conspiracy to take over and fix up the flat without Aston's involvement (64) an outright betrayal of the brother who actually took him in and attempted to find his ""belongings""; but just then Aston enters and gives Davies yet another pair of shoes which he grudgingly accepts, speaking of ""going down to Sidcup"" in order ""to get"" his ""papers"" again (65–66). Davies brings up his plan when talking to Aston, whom he insults by throwing back"
"he slept the night before (30), wonders whether or not Davies is actually ""a foreigner""—to which Davies retorts that he ""was"" indeed (in Mick's phrase) ""Born and bred in the British Isles"" (33)—going on to accuse Davies of being ""an old robber […] an old skate"" who is ""stinking the place out"" (35), and spinning a verbal web full of banking jargon designed to confuse Davies, while stating, hyperbolically, that his brother Aston is ""a number one decorator"" (36), either an outright lie or self-deceptive wishful thinking on his part. Just as Mick reaches the climactic line of his diatribe"
"Mick's work in ""the building trade"" and Davies ultimately discloses that the bag they have fought over and that he was so determined to hold on to ""ain't my bag"" at all (41). Aston offers Davies the job of Caretaker, (42–43), leading to Davies' various assorted animadversions about the dangers that he faces for ""going under an assumed name"" and possibly being found out by anyone who might ""ring the bell called Caretaker"" (44). THE LIGHTS FADE TO BLACKOUT. THEN UP TO DIM LIGHT THROUGH THE WINDOW. ""A door bangs"". ""Sound of a key in the door of the room""."
"Barry Foster as Albert Stokes, Harold Pinter as Seeley, and Vivien Merchant, Pinter's first wife, as the Girl. (Full production details and ""Radio Review"" accessible at www.haroldpinter.org.) Its performance on television a month later, on 24 April 1960, was Pinter's first big success as a playwright in that medium. As presented on ABC Television's ""Armchair Theatre"", it was viewed by 6.4 million households, at that time a record for a single television drama. Some other ABC production details (full cast and credits accessible at BFI Screenonline): A Night Out (play) A Night Out is a play written by Harold Pinter"
"has convinced himself that he is really going to resolve his problems relating to his lack of identity papers, even though he appears too lazy to take any such responsibility for his own actions and blames his inaction on everyone but himself. Aston believes that his dream of building a shed will eventually reach fruition, despite his mental disability. Mick believes that his ambitions for a successful career outweigh his responsibility to care for his mentally damaged brother. In the end however all three men are deceiving themselves. Their lives may continue on beyond the end of the play just"
"into the apartment, the brothers face each other,"" """"They look at each other. Both are smiling, faintly"""" (75). Using the excuse of having returned for his ""pipe"" (given to him earlier through the generosity of Aston), Davies turns to beg Aston to let him stay (75–77). But Aston rebuffs each of Davies' rationalisations of his past complaints (75–76). The play ends with a """"Long silence"""" as Aston, who """"remains still, his back to him [Davies], at the window"", apparently unrelenting as he gazes at his garden and makes no response at all to Davies' futile plea, which is sprinkled with"
"was a source.' To English ears,"" Billington continues, ""Sidcup has faintly comic overtones of suburban respectability. For Davies it is a Kentish Eldorado: the place that can solve all the problems about his unresolved identity and uncertain past, present and future"" (122). About directing a production of ""The Caretaker"" at the Roundabout Theatre Company in 2003, David Jones observed: Hickling writes in this review of a production directed by Mark Babych in March 2009: Pinter's own comment on the source of three of his major plays is frequently quoted by critics: Aston Davies Mick The language and plot of ""The"
"first. I want to build that shed out in the garden"" (54–57). Critics regard Aston's monologue, the longest of the play, as the ""climax"" of the plot. In dramaturgical terms, what follows is part of the plot's ""falling action"". Davies and Mick discuss the flat. Mick relates ""(""ruminatively"")"" in great detail what he would do to redecorate it (60). When asked who ""would live there,"" Mick's response ""My brother and me"" leads Davies to complain about Aston's inability to be social and just about every other aspect of Aston's behaviour (61–63). Though initially invited to be a ""caretaker,"" first by"
"at the Harold Pinter Theatre, London starring Toby Jones (who reprised the role of Stanley after his 2016 performance for BBC Radio 3), Stephen Mangan, Zoe Wanamaker and Pearl Mackie, 9 January - 14 April 2018. The Birthday Party (play) The Birthday Party (1957) is the second full-length play by Harold Pinter. It is one of his best-known and most frequently performed plays. In the setting of a rundown seaside boarding house, a little birthday party is turned into a nightmare on the unexpected arrival of two sinister strangers. The play has been classified as a comedy of menace, characterised"
"Kin"" (1974), by John Hopkins; ""Blithe Spirit"" (1976), by Noël Coward; ""The Innocents"" (1976), by William Archibald; ""Circe and Bravo"" (1986), by Donald Freed; ""Taking Sides"" (1995), by Ronald Harwood; and ""Twelve Angry Men"" (1996), by Reginald Rose. Pinter was the author of 29 plays and 15 dramatic sketches and the co-author of two works for stage and radio. He was considered to have been one of the most influential modern British dramatists, Along with the 1967 Tony Award for Best Play for ""The Homecoming"" and several other American awards and award nominations, he and his plays received many awards"
"geared to put the old tramp off balance—""Who do you bank with?"" (36), Aston enters with a ""bag"" ostensibly for Davies, and the brothers debate how to fix the leaking roof and Davies interrupts to inject the more practical question: ""What do you do . . . when that bucket's full?"" (37) and Aston simply says, ""Empty it"" (37). The three battle over the ""bag"" that Aston has brought Davies, one of the most comic and often-cited Beckettian routines in the play (38–39). After Mick leaves, and Davies recognises him to be ""a real joker, that lad"" (40), they discuss"
"to his sister's horse, substances (unknown to him) adulterated with poison by his butler. He is accused by the local police constanble of alienating his wife's affections. In the event, as in most good farces, matters are cheerfully resolved. In 1935 it was adapted into the film ""Dandy Dick"", directed by William Beaudine and starring Will Hay as the principal character. The play was last seen in the West End at the Garrick Theatre in 1973, starring Alastair Sim and Patricia Routledge. In 2001 the play was revived in an amateur production, directed by Olive Smith, at the Wick Theatre,"
"rejects all the offers. Once he turns down a pair that doesn't fit well enough and another that has the wrong colour laces. Early on, Davies reveals to Aston that his real name is not ""Bernard Jenkins"", his ""assumed name"", but really ""Mac Davies"" (19–20, 25). He claims that his papers validating this fact are in Sidcup and that he must and will return there to retrieve them just as soon as he has a good pair of shoes. Aston and Davies discuss where he will sleep and the problem of the ""bucket"" attached to the ceiling to catch dripping"
"Harold Pinter Harold Pinter (; 10 October 1930 – 24 December 2008) was a Nobel Prize-winning British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. One of the most influential modern British dramatists, his writing career spanned more than 50 years. His best-known plays include ""The Birthday Party"" (1957), ""The Homecoming"" (1964), and ""Betrayal"" (1978), each of which he adapted for the screen. His screenplay adaptations of others' works include ""The Servant"" (1963), ""The Go-Between"" (1971), ""The French Lieutenant's Woman"" (1981), ""The Trial"" (1993), and ""Sleuth"" (2007). He also directed or acted in radio, stage, television, and film productions of his own and"
"ending. Pinter responded, ""I don't know. Just do it."" Harold Pinter: Cecily in ""The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde: Old Times Old Times is a play by the Nobel Laureate Harold Pinter. It was first performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company at the Aldwych Theatre in London on 1 June 1971. It starred Colin Blakely, Dorothy Tutin, and Vivien Merchant, and was directed by Peter Hall. The play was dedicated to Hall to celebrate his 40th birthday. Peter Hall also directed the Broadway première, which opened at the Billy Rose Theater in New York City on 16 November"
"Indiana University at Bloomington; the Mandeville Special Collections Library, Geisel Library, at the University of California, San Diego; the British Film Institute, in London; and the Margaret Herrick Library, Pickford Center for Motion Picture Study, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Beverly Hills, California. Harold Pinter Harold Pinter (; 10 October 1930 – 24 December 2008) was a Nobel Prize-winning British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. One of the most influential modern British dramatists, his writing career spanned more than 50 years. His best-known plays include ""The Birthday Party"" (1957), ""The Homecoming"" (1964), and ""Betrayal"" (1978), each of"
"Anthony Lewis (actor) Anthony Lewis (born 31 March 1983) is an English actor. Lewis began acting at 9 years old with roles in television shows including ""Heartbeat"", ""A Touch Of Frost"" and ""Cracker"" as well as in the film ""Girls' Night"". Regular roles in ""Children's Ward"" (as Scott Morris for three series) and ""Adam's Family Tree"" (as Adam for two series) followed, as well as the lead in the show ""My Dad's a Boring Nerd"". He went on to the soap opera ""Emmerdale"", where Lewis played Marc Reynolds for four years. After leaving the show, Lewis performed in ""Broken Voices"""
"Charles Dale Charles Dale (born 4 February 1963, in Tenby, Pembrokeshire) is an actor who is well known for playing Dennis Stringer in ""Coronation Street"", Gary ""Chef"" Alcock in ""The Lakes"", Clive Eustace in ""The Eustace Bros."" & Big Mac in ""Casualty"". From November 2007 until June 2016, Dale portrayed a porter (later Emergency Care Assistant and then Healthcare Assistant), called Big Mac in the long-running BBC TV series ""Casualty"". In June 2016 it was announced that Dale had quit Casualty after over eight years. He has also made appearances in ""Lovejoy"", ""Soldier Soldier"", ""Bramwell"", ""A Touch of Frost"", ""Touching"
"Phil Daniels Philip William Daniels (born 25 October 1958 in Islington) is an English actor, most noted for film and television roles as Londoners such as the lead role of Jimmy Cooper in ""Quadrophenia"", Richards in ""Scum"", Stewart in ""The Class of Miss MacMichael"", Danny in ""Breaking Glass"", Mark in ""Meantime"", Billy Kid in ""Billy the Kid and the Green Baize Vampire"", Kevin Wicks in ""EastEnders"", DCS Frank Patterson in ""New Tricks"", and Grandad Trotter in the ""Only Fools and Horses"" prequel ""Rock & Chips"". He is also known for featuring on Blur's 1994 hit single ""Parklife"". Daniels went to"
"(172–74), an absurd conclusion, given the tangible evidence of the down-and-out Davies before Mick (and the audience). Pinter's friend the late film and stage director David Jones, who directed the play for the Roundabout Theatre, in New York City, in 2003 (having previously directed Pinter's 1983 film of ""Betrayal"", as well as other works by or featuring him), reminds his audience that Pinter himself said, in a widely quoted statement, that ""The Caretaker"" is only ""funny, up to a point"" and that ""beyond that point"" is why he wrote it: There is always mischief lurking in the darkest corners. The"
"Davis as Wilfrid Brambell. The drama is based upon the actors' on-and-off-screen relationship during the making of the BBC sitcom ""Steptoe and Son"", and is based on interviews with colleagues, friends and family of the actors, and the ""Steptoe"" writers, Ray Galton and Alan Simpson. The screenplay was written by Brian Fillis, also responsible for the similarly themed 2006 drama ""Fear of Fanny"", which is about television personality Fanny Cradock off-screen. The 66-minute film is directed by Michael Samuels and produced by Ben Bickerton. Both ""When Steptoe Met Son"" and ""The Curse of Steptoe"" were considered inaccurate by writers Galton"