The History of Production of the Works of Harold Pinter
Butley (1974)
Butley (1973)
| Budget (GBP) | 0 |
| Distribution Company |
American Film Theatre (Distributor | Est. Unknown) |
| Release Date | 21 January 1974 |
| Black and White | No |
| Regional Release | No |
| Release Notes | USA 21 January 1974 (Los Angeles, California); USA 11 March 1974 (Cleveland, Ohio); USA 8 April 1974 (New York City, New York); UK April 1976; France 24 November 1976; Spain 9 August 1982 (TV premiere); Portugal 12 April 1994 (TV premiere); UK 9 April 2003 (London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival). |
| Description | Film adaptation of Simon Gray's 1971 stage play, directed by Pinter (who also adapted the screenplay). Ben Butley (Alan Bates) is an embittered English professor whose male lover leaves him on the same day his estranged wife (Susan Engel) asks him for a divorce. To make matters worse, Butley must also haggle with his spinsterish colleague (Jessica Tandy) and face the downward spiral of a once-promising career. As his life crumbles around him, Butley fights back with the only weapon at his disposal: his razor-sharp wit. |
| Language | English |
Linked Productions
No linked Production have been added to this production record yet.
Linked People
Harold Pinter (1930 - 2008)
Creative | Director
Ely A. Landau (1920 - 1993)
Production | Producer
Otto Plaschkes (1929 - 2005)
Production | Executive Producer
Henry T. Weinstein (1924 - 2000)
Production | Executive Producer
Robert A. Goldston (1929 - 2017)
Production | Supervising producer
Gerry Fisher (1926 - 2014)
Creative | Cinematographer
Malcolm Cooke (1929 - 2008)
Creative | Film Editor
Carmen Dillon (1908 - 2000)
Creative | Art Director
Joyce James
Creative | Hairdresser
Eddie Knight
Creative | Makeup Artist
Donald Toms
Production | Production Manager
Ted Sturgis (1927 - 1988)
Creative | First Assistant Director
George Richardson
Creative | Assistant Art Director
Leslie Hodgson (1925 - 2003)
Technical | Dubbing editor
Bob Jones (1925 - 1985)
Technical | Dubbing mixer
Ivan Sharrock (1941)
Technical | Sound Mixer
Bill Chitty
Technical | Gaffer
Bernard Ford (1930)
Technical | Camera operator
George Whitear
Technical | Still Photographer
Jimmy Smith
Technical | Wardrobe
Rita Wakely
Technical | Wardrobe
Christopher Kelly
Technical | Assistant editor
Edward Anhalt (1914 - 2000)
Production | Story consultant
Pamela Davies
Production | Continuity
Doreen Landy
Production | Publicist
Lana Stephens
Production | Production secretary
Robin Fraser-Paye
Creative | Costume Consultant
Simon Gray (1936 - 2008)
Creative | Playwright
Linked Organisations
No Linked organisations have been added to this production record yet.
Characters
Ben Butley (Age: Not Specified, Male)
Performer: Alan Bates (1934 - 2003)
Carol Heasman (Age: Not Specified, Female)
Performer: Georgina Hale
Reg Nuttall (Age: Not Specified, Male)
Performer: Michael Byrne (1943)
Anne Butley (Age: Not Specified, Female)
Performer: Susan Engel (1935)
Gardner (Butler) (Age: Not Specified, Male)
Performer: Simon Rouse (1951)
Joey Keyston (Age: Not Specified, Male)
Performer: Richard O'Callaghan (1940)
Edna Shaft (Age: Not Specified, Female)
Performer: Jessica Tandy
Man In The Tube (Butley) (Age: Not Specified, Male)
Performer: Oliver Maguire
First Student (Butley) (Age: Not Specified, Male)
Performer: Darien Angadi
Second Student (Butley) (Age: Not Specified, Male)
Performer: Colin Haigh
Female Student (Butley) (Age: Not Specified, Female)
Uncredited.
Performer: Lindsay Ingram
Female Student (Butley) (Age: Not Specified, Female)
Uncredited.
Performer: Patti Love (1947)
Female Student (Butley) (Age: Not Specified, Female)
Uncredited.
Performer: Belinda Low
Irishman in Pub (Butley) (Age: Not Specified, Male)
Uncredited.
Performer: Derrick O'Connor (1941 - 2018)
James (Butley) (Age: Not Specified, Male)
Uncredited.
Performer: John Savident
Female Student (Butley) (Age: Not Specified, Female)
Uncredited.
Performer: Susan Wooldridge (1950)
Linked Awards
No award have been added to this production record yet.
Linked Places
Shepperton Studios, Shepperton
Production studio
Resources
Paul D. Zimmerman, 'Angry Old Chap', Newsweek, 20 May 1974, p. 106 (Paper-based)
Type: Review
'Bates Talks About Acting and the ‘Butley’ Character', The New York Times (URL)
Type: Article
External Link: https://www.nytimes.com/1972/10/27/archives/bates-talks-about-acting-and-the-butley-character.html
Alan Bates discusses his role as Butley. Oct, 1972.
Butley Trailer, 1974 (URL)
Type: Trailer
External Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXpcAILCXWw
Original trailer.
Publicity poster (Image)
Type: Poster
Sources
BFI Screenonline
http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/452576/index.html
URL
Profile of Alan Bates on BFI Screenonline.
IMDB
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071260/
URL
Sharp Cut: Harold Pinter's Screenplays and the Artistic Process
Steven H. Gale, Harold Pinter's Screenplays and the Artistic Process (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2003)
Academic book
Contains chapters on each of Harold Pinter's filmed screenplays and includes a bibliography of reviews of films up to 1999.