The Servant (1963)

The Servant (1963) (Blu-Ray) (*)

Out of Stock

Screened, competed or awarded at:
BAFTA Awards
Venice Film Festival
Other Film Festival Awards

Language Selections:
English ( Dolby Digital 2.0 )
English ( Dolby DTS-HD Master Audio )
English ( Mono )
English ( Subtitles )
French ( Subtitles )
German ( Dolby Digital 2.0 )
German ( Dolby DTS-HD Master Audio )
German ( Mono )
German ( Subtitles )

Product Origin/Format:
United Kingdom ( Blu-Ray/Region B )

Running Time:
116 min

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen (1.66:1)

Special Features:
Cast/Crew Interview(s)
Interactive Menu
Photo Gallery
Scene Access
Trailer(s)
Black & White
Booklet

Movie filmed in 1963 and produced in:
United Kingdom ( Great Britain, Ireland )

Directed By:
Joseph Losey

Written By:
Robin Maugham
Harold Pinter

Actors:
Dirk Bogarde ..... Hugo Barrett
Sarah Miles ..... Vera
Wendy Craig ..... Susan
James Fox ..... Tony
Catherine Lacey ..... Lady Mounset
Richard Vernon ..... Lord Mounset
Ann Firbank ..... Society Woman
Doris Knox ..... Older Woman
Patrick Magee ..... Bishop
Jill Melford ..... Younger Woman
Alun Owen ..... Curate
Harold Pinter ..... Society Man
Derek Tansley ..... Head Waiter
Brian Phelan ..... Man in Pub
Hazel Terry ..... Woman in Bedroom
Philippa Hare ..... Girl in Bedroom
Dorothy Bromiley ..... Girl in Phone Box
Alison Seebohm ..... Girl in Pub
Chris Williams ..... Cashier in Coffee Bar
Gerry Duggan ..... Waiter
John Dankworth ..... Jazz Band Leader (uncredited)
Harriet Devine ..... Girl (uncredited)
Davy Graham ..... Guitarist (uncredited)
Colette Martin ..... Girl (uncredited)
Joanna Wake ..... Girl (uncredited)
Bruce Wells ..... Sidewalk Painter (uncredited)

Synopsis:

Wealthy wastrel James Fox hires insouciant cockney Dirk Bogarde as a valet. No sooner has he donned his working clothes than Bogarde begins exercising a subtle but insidious control over his master. Suggesting that the house could use a little fixing up, Bogarde nearly bankrupts Fox with expensive new furnishings. But this is just a warm-up session for Bogarde, who by mid-film is calling all the shots in the Fox household, all the while pretending to keep his place. Fox's fiance Wendy Craig sees through Bogarde's game. To keep Craig at arm's length, Bogarde brings his own lady friend Sarah Miles into the house. At Bogarde's insistence, Miles seduces Fox, thereby loosening Craig's hold on the confused young man. And so it goes. The homosexual subtext of The Servant disturbed some of the more hidebound critics of 1963; Harold Pinter based his cryptic screenplay on a novel by Robin Maugham.

The aristocratic Tony moves to London and hires the servant Hugo Barrett for all services at home. Barrett seems to be a loyal and competent employee, but Tony's girlfriend Susan does not like him and asks Tony to send him away. When Barrett brings his sister Vera to work and live in the house, Tony has a brief hidden affair with her. After traveling with Susan for spending a couple of days in a friend's house outside London, the couple unexpectedly returns and finds Barrett and Vera, who are actually lovers, in Tony's room. They are fired and Susan breaks with Tony. Later, Tony meets Barrett alone in a pub and hires him back, and Barrett imposes his real dark intentions in the house, turning the table and switching position with his master.

This film takes a sharp look at British class relations via a dramatic turning of the tables between a dainty Oxbridge twit bachelor and his contemptuous manservant. The servant slowly realizes and exploits his expanding powers over his "master" as the twit steadily loses his authority and becomes enslaved to his own "employee".

This product was added to our catalog on Wednesday 02 October, 2013.