I miss the 1970s. When production value and broadcasting allowed for quiet pause and contemplation. Today the world moves much too fast for comprehension. From the instant gratification of social media and its dumbing down comforts of instant gratification. Newcomers under 40s have no idea what they missed.

@mortalclown3812

22 күн бұрын

I get it. And thank you. It's quite nice to read a comment that's simply nostalgic without laying waste to new art, music, etc. Though I'm their age and beyond, I mean those who transmit the equivalent of, well Luddites. (Albeit ones who have no qualms using technology that enables them to complain at warp speed.) Here's to irony. And, because they suddenly popped into my head, here's to the scent of violets, the sound of old trains, hand fans and pinwheels just for the sparkling non-electric joy of it. Paz y luz ✨️

@grahamblack1961

3 күн бұрын

In those days TV was still in it's infancy and was highly influenced by theatre. These early TV shows do have a live theatrical quality to them. TV now is completely it's own medium. I do love the dramatic sense of these old shows but there's been some amazing TV made in the last years as well.

I could watch Malcolm McDowell in anything. Such a unique actor.

@laurallama73

3 күн бұрын

He always made me a bit uneasy…in the best way. It’s hard to explain. Love his acting.🧐🎥🤩✨✨✨

I loved the bit about the slum and the snail. Olivier must have had to rehearse that a lot before he could deliver it without bursting out laughing!

I've never seen Malcolm or Helen this young, Everyone is so good looking. TALENTED. Pinter has such a unique voice, flair.

@MagesseT1

7 ай бұрын

Helen Mirren was NEARLY this young in Excalibur a few years after this. She was a hottie!

@CatElse

6 ай бұрын

Still is

@CatElse

6 ай бұрын

In her way.

@hellbooks3024

6 ай бұрын

She was in a BBC production of Midsummer Night’s Dream in 1968. It was broadcast in the US at that time. It’s on KZread.

@AndriyValdensius-wi8gw

4 ай бұрын

Helen Mirren was the sex 💣 bomb of the Royal Shakespeare Company. She was a great presence on the stage before moving into TV and film.

It’s a bit astounding that great drama like this used to be par for the course on British TV. We’ve fallen a long way. Strictly Baking, anyone?

@oscarwilde5473

3 ай бұрын

douglasmilton2805 ... do you feel, as I, that the dirty masses, broadly speaking, are being kept in their place by distraction - their heads filled with so much detritus to sift, they don't know which way is up? I'm certain that it's been broadly discussed in broadcasting circles for some time that, to give the masses astute and reasoned subjects to understand, makes them dangerous. To quote Jack Nicholson in Easy Rider, "You start telling people they ain't free, that's when they start killing and maiming".

@oscarwilde5473

3 ай бұрын

douglasmilton2805 ... do you feel, as I, that the dirty masses, broadly speaking, are being kept in their place by distraction - their heads filled with so much detritus to sift, they don't know which way is up? I'm certain that it's been broadly discussed in broadcasting circles for some time that, to give the masses astute and reasoned subjects to understand, makes them dangerous. To quote Jack Nicholson in Easy Rider, "You start telling people they ain't free, that's when they start killing and maiming".

@oscarwilde5473

3 ай бұрын

douglasmilton2805 ... do you feel, as I, that the dirty masses, broadly speaking, are being kept in their place by distraction - their heads filled with so much detritus to sift, they don't know which way is up? I'm certain that it's been broadly discussed in broadcasting circles for some time that, to give the masses astute and reasoned subjects to understand, makes them dangerous. I've also found my comments sometimes disappear with an algorithm, just in case.

Four great actors giving four terrific performances.

In the end, we only believe what we want to believe. A superb and thought provoking production.

@maymalone1505

5 ай бұрын

Some people!!! It's a tough world, no matter how much a person's head is in the sand they still know.

Malcolm McDowell again proves he’a one of the greatest actors of all time. He and Alan Bates both deserve reappraisals of their entire careers.

@CoopyKat

Жыл бұрын

@Super Amanda Malcom McDowell was really good in Time After Time (1979) a movie I discovered about a year ago. Alan Bates is a good actor too, he was great in The Rose (1979).

@Lee-nh5bb

Жыл бұрын

@@CoopyKat " Rack jobbers rule! " 👍

@socialmeaslesinpartnership1252

8 ай бұрын

That would have to include all the absolute stinkers he did in 'ollywood. I've no idea why.

@superamanda

8 ай бұрын

@@CoopyKat I love Time after Time! Alan Bates is fantastic in GEORGEY GIRL and Ken Russell’s WOMEN IN LOVE too!

@superamanda

8 ай бұрын

@@socialmeaslesinpartnership1252 his later career is like almost any other actor. Like John Gielgud, they keep working.

Omg Alan was so very good looking

The thing about Pinter is he used to write all his best lines on the bus. Either he overheard them or he made them up himself. I know this for a fact because I used to cut his hair. When he wasn’t looking...

@user-vz5om5jm9l

18 күн бұрын

That's funny 😂

10/2023:Most interesting. I've always thought that Helen is lovely. This is the youngest that I have seen her I think. I first saw Malcolm in Clockwork Orange, the nite before I entered the USAF back in 1972. One of my favourite movies of all time. Very Good Acting by all. Thank You for posting this excellent play. Something new for me to enjoy. Best Regards.

@jmharris251

Ай бұрын

Yes a young Macolm. I thought Helen was sexy, great figure. But not as pretty as she was.

Heaven on a Sunday morning......thanks to Mr Pinter. Excellent cast as well. Mr. Bates looking quite handsome.

In this dramatic classic masterpiece, the 4 actors make up a perfect square of acting genius,but it all goes back to Mr Pinter's theatrical writing in which the language captivates the listener more than the events acted out .Such a nice chance to see some of the greatest actors in British theatre ,TV and film.

@billyleroy2465

Жыл бұрын

I agree its a real treat!

@barbarapalmer8224

6 ай бұрын

Very well said indeed

@sheepsick

Ай бұрын

love Pinter

Great play. Great cast. Can't get much better on this one!

@tacman1974

7 жыл бұрын

Indeed!! Absolutely!!

@curtchildress7160

7 жыл бұрын

+tacman1974 I've always wanted to see a good stage production of this film. A very similar film/play is titled "The Shadowbox" and I've seen the great film with Joann Woodward and Christopher Plummer and several stage adaptations of it...and I suggest this film to you since you like this film here. ...And this film here is an excellent teleplay by these excellent actors here in this film who are also known for their great stage work.

I'm usually acutely attentive to every word of Harold Pinter's and grateful that he makes no attempt to soothe me, to reassure me. We humans are so generous with the complex misunderstandings we have, i.e. lies we tell ourselves. I am grateful for all the works of Harold Pinter and his Collection.

Sunday afternoon and a Pinter play. The only thing better would be the same production Monday through Saturday. Thank you for this. RIP Alan Bates.

@lavanderflo

6 жыл бұрын

I'm watching this on a Sunday afternoon as well.

@dr.elizabethmartin7118

4 жыл бұрын

@@lavanderflo Zoom, I watched this yesterday - a Friday. Does it matter?

@tacman1974

2 жыл бұрын

Absolutely!!

I ADORE watching Pinters plays….so damn entertaining…love the bit about the slim and the snail! cannot imagine people speaking like that today

This was actually shown on CBS. Can you even imagine that today? At the time Olivier said this was "the most beautiful" piece he'd ever been involved with. A TV production professor I knew used it in his classes; he'd introduce it by saying "I don't know how to define great acting, but here's some."

@helenlauer9545

4 жыл бұрын

right, exactly. But Robyn Daniels says it's tosh, and that's a selfproclaimed Mensa genius. So we all must go home dismayed.

@ajs41

3 жыл бұрын

@@helenlauer9545 Who's Robyn Daniels?

What a pleasure being in this must have been for the actors; all that delicious dialogue, and all those delicious...pauses! Thanks for posting.

A true masterpiece by the master.

The most powerful (and uncomfortable) part of this play was how the power (and menace) of each character fluctuated throughout; incredible to think tension can be created and maintained this way

Frig me, Bates, McDowell, and Olivier ! What a cast !

Nothing like this today. Something of the brilliant stuff of the 1970s. Lucky those who experienced that time.

@cynthialyman2636

7 жыл бұрын

I came of age in these years so remember them fondly, minus the harsher events of those times. Like any other era, it was good and bad mixed, but I have to say the language still had some elegance when it came to most literature and theater and people, for the most part, behaved a trifle more civilized for lack of a better descriptor. Certainly not this Brave New World.

@brucerobbins3584

7 жыл бұрын

Pinter is for sophisticated, intelligent people. Others will not like him, not enough violence, action, or understand what he is doing. I hate to sound so prissy, but it is true.

@giovanna722

4 жыл бұрын

@@brucerobbins3584 Wow, there's plenty of violence. It's all psychological, though. All the microaggressions of "polite" talk. Really love this play. Superb performances.

@mckavitt13

4 жыл бұрын

Bruce Robbins So it is!

@mckavitt13

4 жыл бұрын

cohenhaywood10 Twat. He is simply, incontrovertibly right.

Never seen this before. Thanks to whoever uploaded it .

The genius of Pinter! All those subtle lines...the amazing bit about the newspaper! The incredible subtle magnificence of the lines about the olives! And the character of Bill saying for the umpteenth time, "I'll tell you what REALLY happened". The suspense! I can't take this level of great writing, it is too much for my little average mind!

@FrancisF23

6 жыл бұрын

Ah well, you see, that's the GENIUS of Pinter! Shame he didn't mention that they were Kalamata olives. (Yawn...)

@helenamaria710

4 жыл бұрын

Maybe I can't take it because it is below my above average mind? Think I'll head over to Roald Dahl! Much more fun :)

@wildflowerred6323

2 жыл бұрын

Roald Dahl?…puhleez. Yes, head on over to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory…

@juleshammond5652

2 жыл бұрын

Metaphorical olives? Black or green? Or stuffed? Ah, the pointlessness of life!!!

@martinworld7214

Жыл бұрын

@@helenamaria710 I was thinking this was on the lines of 'Tales Of The Unexpected'

Fantastic production. Michael Apted's direction is terrific.

Thank You for this fine film.great performances by all including the great Helen Mirren

So many revealed, spoken and unspoken thoughts, vulnerabilities and emotions. What a marvellous cast to show us them all. Cruelty, control, provocation and domination are central motivations. The baton of power gets passed from character to character at different times. I thoroughly enjoyed it although feel Bates' character's concession in the final scene was totally incongruous.

@stuartwray6175

7 ай бұрын

He was looking to Helen Mirren's character to draw a line under the wretched episode, but she wasn't willing to bring closure: out of spite, duplicity, connivance, vulnerability, pride? - The vicious cycle continues. Irresolution seems an apt conclusion.

@penelopegurney5635

7 ай бұрын

Conceding that let him off the hook 😅

That's what I call a piece of art.

So enlightening to see MM becoming an all round versatile actor since his earlier parts in If and A Clockwork Orange.

@user-rl3bn4ub7o

8 ай бұрын

A Clockwork Orange was horrifyingly violent and sadistic. Wish Id never seen it.

@shauntaylor6040

6 ай бұрын

And then unfortunately disappear down the Hollywood Hole.

@ValeskaTruax

6 ай бұрын

​@@user-rl3bn4ub7oagree

The old man really was a magician!!!

Thank You for having posted this rare gem.

It's a shame Harold Pinter didn't write the screenplay for Eyes Wide Shut.

Harold Pinter has the gift of presenting the emptiness and pretence of human importance in speech and actions in so many varieties of forms. Indeed, it seems that our present civilization with a claim to high evolution, remains much in the control of childish men proud of wealth and professional status, merely a collection of people, rather than of unique personal individuation.

Great programme! I had to laugh when, 'Whitney Houston' rang the boutique! xxxx

@douglasmilton2805

7 ай бұрын

@twinkle3026: It’s actually Whitney-Newsome, but yes, it gave me a chortle too.

@russcooke5671

5 ай бұрын

I thought I was hearing things I was about to google her career then I thought I would check the comments first and now I know the truth. 😂

Absolutely marvellous! Thank you uploader.

Thanks for uploading this little masterpiece

Last few lines: "we just talked about it... For two hours... Did nothing". That was this play! "You didn't do anything did you?". Right! I've spent an entire hour watching superb acting about... NOTHING.

@richardscott6716

4 жыл бұрын

Mr Richie Kaye Yeah. Beats the he’ll out of Seinfeld.

@timopheim5479

4 жыл бұрын

The play isn't about NOTHING. The last lines imply a lack of trust

@ginomazzei1076

Жыл бұрын

Pinter…becket…Stoppard Plus the progressed version of the angry young Englishmen. Yup Nothing

@giovanna722

Жыл бұрын

@@timopheim5479 Lack of trust and honesty. A devastating play. How words deceive.

@2msvalkyrie529

Жыл бұрын

Read : The Emperor's New Clothes. . by H C Andersen. It will explain everything.

Love Pinter: so funny. Very many thanks for this.

What an absolutely amazing cast and great playwright/play, just wish the direction was a bit better. But wow, what a brilliant cast - Olivier, Mirren, Bates, McDowell, all together! Superb!

thank you for sharing this, it's the best thing one could hope for

This play is just fucking perfect.

Olivier was often quoted as saying that this is the best play I have bèn in.

HM has been stunning all her life in whatever guise

Many thanks for posting, I missed this at the time. Granada TV at its finest. A filmic quality on video.

Thanks so much for posting

Many thanks for uploading this Pinter gem.

Thank you for uploading this excellent piece!

Pinter never wrote it down as a 'creation'. He and Olivier met by chance in a Salzburg hotel lobby and talked about it for two hours.

"Slum slug" lol my new favourite insult!

Beautiful Malcolm. ❤❤❤

Alan and Helen are in Gosford Park. Written by Julian Fellowes. Directed by Robert Altman. The whole cast is incredible.

Brilliant! Hilarious in a passive aggressive oh so English way. The humour of the whole production!

@TheOmegaman1911

Жыл бұрын

It Could be described as a comedy with menace ....

This is the only Pinter play that I've managed to watch all the way through! Probably because of the great actors rather than the actual material.

@dafunkfiend

4 жыл бұрын

Really? What about the 'Caretaker'? If this appealed to you, I'm sure that would.

@dr.elizabethmartin7118

4 жыл бұрын

@@dafunkfiend Thanks, da - that is next on my list!

@robertsvorinich890

4 жыл бұрын

@@dr.elizabethmartin7118 I believe Pinter was a man of the Left. He's not as good as Tennessee Williams.

@Woodman-Spare-that-tree

7 ай бұрын

@@dafunkfiend. The Caretaker was awful! I did watch it all the way through but only because it’s a classic, so I thought I ought to see it at least once, from an educational point of view.

there's a little Pinter in Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm. The language games, the torture. "I'll bet you're a wow at parties." "I wouldn't say I'm a wow."

I've re-watched this many times since finding it a couple of years back. The wife of the clothing shop owner is the least realized in this but maybe she was meant to be. I think the absolute best part of this was when Olivier dives in off screen but his voice heard like a jump cut and saves Malcolm from probably getting killed because it really looked like Bates was going there but he was just giddy over the fact that he could easily toy with Malcolm. Olivier's monologue about Malcolm being from the wrong side of the tracks and therefore can't help but cause trouble and comparing him to a slug has a real vicious sting to it. The way Olivier went back and forth from hating and feeling sorry for Malcolm simultaneously was some really amazing acting. Just from his monologue in this scene, I get why Olivier gets so much love. Can never get enough of Malcolm's big shiny eyes!

What a great cast.

very entertaining play. thought provoking and leaves the viewer to draw their own conclusions. .....very clever.

Great Performances indeed.

Absolute brilliance...!

Thank you. Have seen this once before, but definitely worth a re-watch.

Unfortunately the times gave changed uncontrollably and much of our true heritage has been lost. Glad to see these find actors and the cream of British plays

@stuartwray6175

7 ай бұрын

...'the times gave changed uncontrollably' 'Glad to see these find actors'

@--legion

7 ай бұрын

Officer Crabtree.

awesome play, thank you

Thanks for posting, 6Mick. Can never have enough Pinter.

Great piece, great acting. Thank you for posting this

The cat was great in this😅 the idea of Lawrence and malcome,mind bogling brilliant cast😊

Thanks ever so much for the upload!

Great acting...the cat too 🐈

Fantastic acting

I wouldn’t waste 2 hours talking to Alan Bates I can tell you.

@mortalclown3812

22 күн бұрын

Hear, hear.

Harold Pinter went on to write the screenplay for Sleuth. I can see why that appealed to him after writing this.

I saw this many, many years ago in TV. Very interesting even though I don't really quite get the point. Great seeing it again

@mikethebloodthirsty

7 ай бұрын

Yup, I feel like that about all of his stuff. It's just like overhearing one long conversation.

What an absolute treat! Can’t believe I didn’t discover your upload sooner. Haven’t seen this for donkey’s years and, once more, found myself utterly delighted by such excellent performances, direction and writing. Thank you so much for sharing this with us all 😊❤.

Thanks for uploading this. I have wanted to see this again.

Brilliant! Thanks!

Thanks so much for putting this up. I saw this on the Beeb when it aired the first time in the 70s and have been obsessed with the play ever since. I know most of it by heart. Astonishing cast. Amazed at the amount of people here who don’t seem to like it. Maybe not enough guns or explosions for them. Too bad.

@bingola45

4 жыл бұрын

No. Don't need the guns and explosions. Just a bit less of Pinter's exasperating pseudo-dialogue would suffice.

@eahannan

2 жыл бұрын

By heart?Quite an achievement: the drama and also you learning most if it. I have a daughter who does that when she watches a film again again... she repeats every line. Do you have any favourite lines?

@daffyduk77

Жыл бұрын

@@bingola45 Wouldn't say it's peak Olivier, Bates, Mirren or McDowell, but as a short piece it works well. Malc especially, & Mirren at peak allure (FWIW), possibly

@TamiJoeris-ge5dg

10 ай бұрын

I love this. I love the part where Bill answers the phone and after confirming it's him Jimmy says "are you in?" Well duh! He answered the phone. Lol!!!! And those close ups on Malcolm, very very good.

@stephenreeds3632

6 ай бұрын

Very much of its time. Comes across as a sort of game with its artificiality.

Great stuff thanks for posting. Typical McDowell performance. Arrogant but charming.

@inganorden1816

9 ай бұрын

@Parsley1000: Yep, no one smirks quite like MM, makes you feel inferior with one haughty look, casually utters insults with a smile and posh accent! He often looks mildly disgusted, as if he has smelled something nasty at a cocktail party, but is too polite to make a comment. Always liked his acting, not necessarily every movie, though. Yes, l mean the very steamy one. 😳🥺

A MASTERPIECE!

I do hope there's a dripping ceiling with a bucket underneath it in this. I shall be very disappointed if there isn't.

@stuartwray6175

7 ай бұрын

The Caretaker - one of my favourites by Pinter.

I found this play really chilling ......

Slum Slug! Love it!

This is so creepy I don’t even have words for it

@Woodman-Spare-that-tree

7 ай бұрын

The word is “Tripe”. In my opinion.

Wonderful - thank you!

I am not sure I would pass such an opportunity up with Malcolm McDowell in 1976.😃

@cestmoi2497

2 ай бұрын

Real😍

I guess this maintains my long record of never being able to get through a Pinter play.

I found this cause I read old Times magazine from 1978

Pinter's plays drive me up the wall , lol

Wow! So thats pinter. Good lord i have to find more of this. Like a high class episode of tales.of the unexpected

Today Commemorates Alan Bates' 85th Birthday

@hategreed1

5 жыл бұрын

He was beautiful.

Two great actors, Malcolm McDowell and Sir Laurence Olivier..A Clockwork Orange meets Sleuth. .

@davidperez5089

3 жыл бұрын

I know MM sings in his bath at home now!

@worrywart1311

Жыл бұрын

Strewth!

The most Proper confrontation ever!

@clumsydad7158

Жыл бұрын

... olives included !

If this is any indication, there are as many roundabouts in British conversation as there are in London.

Great acting--including the cat.

@Woodman-Spare-that-tree

7 ай бұрын

The cat had the best lines, IMO.

Oh, the banter here is so clever!

@helenamaria710

4 жыл бұрын

Clever? I got bored out of my mind listening to the ping pong exchange imagining these upper crust snobs trying to 'out quip' each other on a rainy afternoon in an English manor. People with very average IQs trying so hard to be 'clever'. This exchange is FAR from intelligent!

@helenamaria710

4 жыл бұрын

@cubomania3 Ha ha..I wish it had! Unfortunately it entered and bored the hell out of me :D

wow, not know miss mirren was so old this goes way back... congrats lady!

@lynnewoodyard7926

7 жыл бұрын

teenie beenie

@giovanna722

4 жыл бұрын

She's a marvel. Love her!

I love watching old film

Brilliant.

omg Helen Mirren so young here, the fact that she has the title "Dame" now makes her sound more older...

@robyndaniels1381

4 жыл бұрын

Yes a consistently good actress - been in loads of good stuff - not this one though - and why the likes of Olivier are in it god only knows. Helen must be worth a bob or two now given everything she has appeared in.

@JoseMartinez-og2hy

3 жыл бұрын

Can you tell me, as a Spaniard, what does “more older” mean? My English is very poor.

@octaviussludberry9016

3 жыл бұрын

@@JoseMartinez-og2hy They meant to say, "much older", as in having the word Dame before her name, makes it sound like she's older. She is older and was awarded her DBE when she was 58. Ironically, your asking about the OP's use of more older because your English is poor, is because their English is poor.

@JoseMartinez-og2hy

3 жыл бұрын

Hoksworth Wipple yes, and thank you. I was thinking maybe “much” instead of “more”. I do realise that in haste, sometimes people type what they think, instead of what they mean. I do it all the time, but in Spanish, my English take me 10 times the time to think about my words.😂 thank you again.

@octaviussludberry9016

3 жыл бұрын

@@JoseMartinez-og2hy Well, as far as I can see your English is exceptional.

27:15 classic camper... if the whole thing was not camp enough... love Pinter.

Wonderful.