The History of Production of the Works of Harold Pinter
The Birthday Party (1968)
The Birthday Party [film screenplay] (1968)
| Budget (GBP) | 0 |
| Distribution Company |
Continental Distributing (Distributor | Est. Unknown) |
| Release Date | 9 December 1968 |
| Black and White | No |
| Regional Release | No |
| Release Notes | USA 9 December 1968; UK 1970; Spain 31 March 1976 (TV premiere); Italy November 2003 (Torino Film Festival); Greece 20 October 2006 (Panorama of European Cinema). |
| Description | A man in his late 30s named Stanley is staying at a seaside boarding house, when he is visited by two menacing and mysterious strangers, Goldberg and McCann. Stanley's neighbour, Lulu, brings him a parcel, which contains a boy's toy drum, presented to Stanley as his "birthday present." Goldberg and McCann offer to host Stanley's birthday party after his landlady, Meg, tells them that it is Stanley's birthday, although Stanley protests that it is really not his birthday. Through the course of the party, the actions of Goldberg and McCann eventually break down Stanley, and they take him away from the house, purportedly to get medical attention (from "Monty") in their car. Meg's husband Petey (who did not attend the party because he was out playing chess) calls after Stanley: "Stan, don't let them tell you what to do". Meg, still somewhat hung over, is unaware that Stanley has been taken away, since Petey has not told her, and she tells him that she was "the belle of the ball." Pinter adapted his play as a screenplay for this film production. |
| Language | English |
Linked Productions
No linked Production have been added to this production record yet.
Linked People
William Friedkin (1935)
Creative | Director
Harold Pinter (1930 - 2008)
Creative | Screenplay
Max Rosenberg (1914 - 2004)
Production | Producer
Edgar J. Scherick
Production | Executive Producer
Milton Subotsky
Production | Producer
Denys Coop
Creative | Director Of Photography
Anthony Gibbs
Creative | Film Editor
Edward Marshall
Creative | Art Director
Eddie Knight
Creative | Makeup Artist
Betty Sherriff
Creative | Hairdresser
Teresa Bolland (1917 - 1989)
Production | Production Manager
Andrew Grieve
Creative | Assistant Director
Gerry Harrison
Creative | Second Assistant Director
Martin Atkinson
Creative | Assistant Art Director
Norman Bolland
Technical | Sound Recordist
Alan Patillo
Technical | Sound Editor
Jim Roddan
Technical | Sound Editor
Alan Ballard
Technical | Special Still Photographer
Alan Hall
Technical | Camera operator
Maurice Gillett
Technical | Supervising Electrician
Dulcie Midwinter
Technical | Wardrobe supervisor
John Hackney
Technical | Assistant editor
Brian Mann
Technical | Assistant editor
Stanley Smith
Technical | Associate editor
Kay Rawlings
Production | Continuity
Linked Organisations
No Linked organisations have been added to this production record yet.
Characters
Stanley (The Birthday Party) (Age: late thirties, Male)
Performer: Robert Shaw (1927 - 1978)
Goldberg (Age: fifties, Male)
Performer: Sydney Tafler (1916 - 1979)
Meg (Age: sixties, Female)
Performer: Dandy Nicols (1907 - 1986)
Petey (Age: sixties, Male)
Performer: Moultrie Kelsall (1901 - 1980)
Lulu (Age: twenties, Female)
Performer: Helen Fraser
McCann (Age: 30, Male)
Performer: Patrick Magee (1922 - 1982)
Linked Awards
New York Film Critics' Circle Award
Unknown
Nominated: Best Screenwriting
Linked Places
7 Eriswell Road, Worthing, West Sussex
Boarding house scene
Shepperton Studios, Shepperton
Production studio
Resources
Harold Clurman, 'Review', The Nation, 6 January 1969, p. 29 (URL)
Type: Review
External Link: https://www.unz.com/print/Nation-1969jan06-00029/
PDF currently unavailable.
Philip T. Hartung, 'The Screen'. Commonweal, 7 February 1969, p. 591 (URL)
Type: Review
External Link: https://www.unz.com/print/Commonweal-1969feb07-00591/
PDF currently unavailable.
Stanley Kauffmann, 'On Films: Bergman and Pinter', The New Republic, January 4, 1969, p. 24 (URL)
Type: Review
External Link: https://www.unz.com/print/NewRepublic-1969jan04-00024/
PDF currently available.
Hollis Alpert, 'The Birthday Party' Saturday Review, 7 December 1968, p. 68 (URL)
Type: Review
External Link: https://www.unz.com/print/SaturdayRev-1968dec07-00068/
PDF available
New Republic, 4 January 1967, p. 34 (Paper-based)
Type: Review
New York Times, 10 December 1968, p. 54 (Paper-based)
Type: Review
New Yorker, 21 December 1968, p. 90-91; 13 February 1971, p. 52 (Paper-based)
Type: Review
Newsweek, 23 December 1968, p. 89-90. (Paper-based)
Type: Review
Vogue, 1 January 1969, p. 66 (Paper-based)
Type: Review
Nation, 6 January 1969, p. 29-30 (Paper-based)
Type: Review
Holiday, March 1969, p. 30 (Paper-based)
Type: Review
Time, 22 February 1971, p. 52 (Paper-based)
Type: Review
Sources
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.
BFI Profile
https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6a53878a
URL