BOOTLEG FILES 904: “The Entertainer” (1976 television film starring Jack Lemmon and Ray Bolger).
LAST SEEN: On YouTube.
AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.
REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: It fell through the cracks.
CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Not likely.
Earlier this week, I received an email from New York City’s Film Forum announcing an upcoming retrospective series honoring Jack Lemmon on his centennial. While I surmised that the usual round-up of Lemmon classics would be screened, I wondered if Film Forum was able to secure a print of his most elusive work – the 1976 made-for-television adaptation of John Osborne’s “The Entertainer.” Alas, “The Entertainer” is not on the Film Forum schedule.
After years of searching in vain for this title, I thought I would make another attempt to see if “The Entertainer” popped up online. To my amazement, an unauthorized posting is on YouTube.
In retrospect, it was fairly daring for Lemmon to appear in “The Entertainer.” Osborne’s 1957 play was commissioned by Laurence Olivier, whose performance as the seedy music hall performer Archie Rice was a jolting departure from the classic roles associated with the great actor. Osborne’s play was conceived as an allegory on post-World War II Britain’s decline, with Archie Rice’s dilapidated seaside venue and dysfunctional family symbolizing a once-great empire, and the play fit into the then-popular genre of kitchen sink drama that held a harsh light to British society. Olivier headlined the West End and Broadway productions and repeated the role in an acclaimed 1960 film version directed by Tony Richardson, earning an Oscar nomination for what some critics believed to be his finest screen work.
The idea of remaking “The Entertainer” came from an unlikely source – composer Marvin Hamlisch saw the 1960 film and conceived the idea of transplanting the work from mid-1950s Britain to 1944 California, with the British musical hall setting reimagined as an American-style burlesque show. Hamlisch wrote eight new songs that would be performed in the theatrical setting where Archie Rice performs and Ron Field, the choreographer for the film “Cabaret,” was hired to stage the dance numbers.
Hamlisch also took credit for casting Lemmon as Archie Rice and Ray Bolger as Billy Rice, the once-prominent and long-retired song-and-dance man who is Archie’s father. Bolger was an inspired choice from a musical performance perspective, but he also showed a dramatic power in plumbing the difficult father-son relationship.
Lemmon was no stranger to song-and-dance, having starred in a few forgettable musical films in the 1950s. And while he had the capacity for turning out memorable dramatic performances, it was quite daring for him to try his hand at one of Olivier’s most memorable creations.
Did this Americanized version of “The Entertainer” work? The answer is…well, sort of.
To its credit, Lemmon captures the complexity of Archie Rice in a manner that is different from Olivier. In an interview, Lemmon acknowledged the despicable behavior of the character, but he also cautioned, “But that doesn’t mean there can’t be empathy or understanding.” He is also a lot of fun doing the burlesque comedy sketches, including a bit in drag, and he was more than capable as a singer. Director Donald Wrye and the film’s production design team did a fine job in recreating a World War II-era California entertainment pier. And, of course, Ray Bolger steals any film he appears in, and his big song-and-dance number with Lemmon is wonderful.
But on the flip side, the supporting cast is strictly supporting and never shines on their own terms. Sada Thompson as Archie’s too-patient second wife, Tyne Daly as his incredulous daughter, Michael Cristofer as his weak son and Annette O’Toole as Archie’s mistress are strictly okay without bringing any degree of dimension to their roles. Their counterparts in the 1960 film – Brenda de Banzie, Joan Plowright, Alan Bates and Shirley Ann Field – offered much more depth and emotion, making that version of “The Entertainer” a true ensemble work and not just an Olivier vehicle. The 1976 film, sadly, is strictly a Lemmon vehicle.
However, it was a very well received vehicle in its time. When it was broadcast on NBC on March 10, 1976, it received positive reviews and earned five Emmy Award nominations. Outside of the US, the film played in theatrical release with a few mild swear words added to the soundtrack and a brief glimpse of Annette O’Toole’s bare breasts during her love scene with Lemmon.
To date, there has been no American home entertainment release of “The Entertainer,” although it was released on Australian home video – I assume the YouTube version is sourced from that version. I have no idea why the film has been absent from DVD and Blu-ray for so long, unless there is an issue with Hamlisch’s score or the rights to the Osborne material. In any event, here is “The Entertainer” (at long last) for your viewing pleasure:
IMPORTANT NOTICE: While this weekly column acknowledges the presence of rare film and television productions through the so-called collector-to-collector market, this should not be seen as encouraging or condoning the unauthorized duplication and distribution of copyright-protected material, either through DVDs or Blu-ray discs or through postings on Internet video sites.
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