The Servant (UK, 1963)

[theuofc]

I most certainly was Billy.........watched the film this afternoon for the first time ever, terrific performances from all concerned, the casting was spot on, the print itself was also flawless as was the lighting in the Film, I was totally engrossed with every scene, I can see it was filmed in the Winter of 1963, one of the UK's severest Winter's, couple of little 'goofs' such as Car headlights left on when parked and Car window left open in another scene, plus the arm of the record player left on the record, but who's complaining, Cleo Laine has fine silky singing voice!



The look on Wendy Craig's face near the end just before she slaps Dirk Bogarde spoke volumes, plus there was a lot of symbolism throughout the film such as the dripping Tap (Fawcett) and the dead Flowers



10 out of 10 isn't nearly enough to rate this masterpiece......

Total agreement, MarkO. It's one of Losey's finest films and definitely one of the finest Bogarde-Losey collaborations with King and Country (1964) and Accident (1967) giving it real competition. All three are fine, fine films. Bogarde won a BAFTA for his portrayal of Barrett in The Servant.



Barbara

[Anthony Baker]

'I would really like to restore all the scenes which were cut. They do still exist.' That is what Joseph Losey said to Tom Milne (LOSEY ON LOSEY, BFI, 1967). Should not someone (Criterion? Eureka?) do what Losey never did and, since he was so categoric, not make the scenes dvd extras but incorporate them in the body of the film - producing what might be called a posthumous director's cut. (The result, it seems, would be some twenty minutes longer.) And of course we (meaning the deafish) need THE SERVANT with subtitles

[cornershop15]

Good evening, Anthony. I don't have Losey on Losey but am aware of the book. There is another allusion to the missing scenes in Conversations with Losey, published just after he died, in 1984, but which took place between 1976 and 1979. It's very similar to Francois Truffaut's interviews with Alfred Hitchcock, with "French film critic and historian" Michel Ciment asking the questions:



Ciment: There were things cut from The Servant.



Losey: Nobody cut anything out of The Servant except me. Reginald Mills, my editor, and I thought that it was too long. It was originally two hours and twenty minutes, and eventually it turned out to be two hours and two minutes, or something like that. There were certain sequences that seemed to be slightly repetitive, mostly in terms of Harold. He was writing in a very personal way - but sometimes one scene was rather like another.



I shot and then cut almost twenty minutes which included a sequence which is one of the best I've ever done in my life*, about the servant's private life when he was not in the house but living with the keeper of a boarding-house in the South side of London. I also cut a couple of repetitive scenes toward the end of the picture. A supper with Tony and a few other things.



I wonder who was cast as the owner of the boarding-house?



*This statement is almost identical to something I remember William Wyler saying about his film The Collector (but can't find on the Internet). I think he said "Some of the best footage I ever shot was for The Collector but it ended up on the cutting room floor." (?)



Another director who chopped interesting sequences out of his own film was Charlie Chaplin with A Woman in Paris. The DVD I have has the version he unwisely re-edited when he was about 84, which included some fantastic - and quite haunting - images. I couldn't believe he left them out when I first saw the film. It would be one of my favourite Silents otherwise. There's still a chance to put it back though! Mr. Losey was probably right to cut The Servant down from an epic 2 hours 20 but I'd still like to see that footage one day, if only as an Extra.

[doojeen]

I think I've read somewhere that the house is No. 30 Royal Avenue.

[theuofc]

I think I've read somewhere that the house is No. 30 Royal Avenue.

I've put a photo and more information on the house used for filming The Servant in the Bogarde thread:

http://www.britmovie.co.uk/forums/ac...ml#post1985980

All best,

Barbara

[James Fox]

A couple of nights ago I watched The Servant with a friend who said, "Oh, no! A

Pinter film?" ???

Your friend is clearly an idiot.

I love Pinter and "The Servant."

[theuofc]

....I love Pinter and "The Servant."

[Elaine]

Just one thing to say about The Servant. Fantastic!!!!!!!!!!

[doojeen]

I regularly pass Royal Avenue - I'll take a photo of No. 30 and post it here shortly...

[theuofc]

I regularly pass Royal Avenue - I'll take a photo of No. 30 and post it here shortly...

Terrific! I've seen it, but I don't have a pic of it.

[doojeen]

[doojeen]

[doojeen]

A couple of nights ago I watched The Servant with a friend who said, "Oh, no! A Pinter film?" ???

Your friend is clearly an idiot.

I agree - nobody with any kind of remotely informed interest in film over the past 40 years could be unaware that Pinter had written many film scripts...however, having said that I have a horrible feeling that a lot of people of my acquaintance have never heard of Pinter.

[theuofc]

Hello, doojean,

An excellent closeup of the blue plaque at No. 29 for Joe Losey.

Did you manage to get a photo of No. 30? I would love to see it.

Many thanks,

Barbara

[doojeen]

Not yet - thanks for your compliment on my photo (autofocus!).

[theuofc]

Not yet - thanks for your compliment on my photo (autofocus!).

A crystal-clear image. Do you shoot a Canon or Leica?

Thanks again.

[Elaine]

I can remember Collis Browns mixture people bought it for coughs and colds ect, people soon got addicted to it and would drink a bottle fairly quickly, a bit later another cough mixture was Benalyn which had much the same effect if you downed the lot, then of course you could buy a Vic inhaler for the Benzedrine it contained all good stuff in those days

I remember kiolin and morphine, a regular tonic when I was small. I never had to be persauded to take it, it was lovely.

[Elaine]

Barbara. Is there a house with a blue plack that says Dirk Bogarde lived here, and the date?

[doojeen]

A crystal-clear image. Do you shoot a Canon or Leica? Thanks again.

It's a Samsung I bought 2nd hand for £70 - 10.5 megapixels, I think - seems to do the job alright.

[theuofc]

Barbara. Is there a house with a blue plack that says Dirk Bogarde lived here, and the date?

You dear woman, thinking about a blue plaque for Dirk! Not that it hasn't kept me up nights conniving.

English Heritage has these criteria:

• a figure must have been dead for twenty years, or have passed the centenary of their birth, whichever is the earlier.
• a building associated with the figure must survive in London.

Dirk has been dead 20 years, in fact today would be his 90th. So in ten years, he'll have passed the centenary mark.

I think the quandry may be in which location to place a DB blue plaque: his Chelsea flat is the logical place. There's his early and briefly-held flat on Chester Row, ditto the short time he and Tony spent in their Kensington home.

But the Chelsea flat is where Dirk lived, wrote his books, and died in once he made the melancholy journey back from France with Tony. Yet, it may be that current residents prefer a low profile and would hesitate at the attention of Bogarde admirers noting the building. Dirk himself guarded his privacy, so perhaps he would cringe at the thought as well. *sigh*

I hope one day to see a Bogarde blue plaque. Maybe The Connaught Hotel, where Dirk kept a permanent suite for his earlier halycon days up in London, would let us place a blue plaque outside!

All best,

Barbara

Bogarde's London home-away-from-home in earlier days: The Connaught