{"id":47402,"date":"2025-04-25T08:00:54","date_gmt":"2025-04-25T12:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/?p=47402"},"modified":"2025-04-24T10:01:06","modified_gmt":"2025-04-24T14:01:06","slug":"the-bootleg-files-the-entertainer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/2025\/04\/25\/the-bootleg-files-the-entertainer\/","title":{"rendered":"The Bootleg Files: The Entertainer"},"content":{"rendered":"

BOOTLEG FILES 904:<\/strong> \u201cThe Entertainer\u201d (1976 television film starring Jack Lemmon and Ray Bolger). <\/p>\n

LAST SEEN:<\/strong> On YouTube.<\/p>\n

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: <\/strong>None.<\/p>\n

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: <\/strong>It fell through the cracks.<\/p>\n

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE:<\/strong> Not likely.<\/p>\n

Earlier this week, I received an email from New York City\u2019s 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 \u2013 the 1976 made-for-television adaptation of John Osborne\u2019s \u201cThe Entertainer.\u201d Alas, \u201cThe Entertainer\u201d is not on the Film Forum schedule.
\n<\/p>\n

After years of searching in vain for this title, I thought I would make another attempt to see if \u201cThe Entertainer\u201d popped up online. To my amazement, an unauthorized posting is on YouTube.<\/p>\n

In retrospect, it was fairly daring for Lemmon to appear in \u201cThe Entertainer.\u201d Osborne\u2019s 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\u2019s play was conceived as an allegory on post-World War II Britain\u2019s 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. <\/p>\n

The idea of remaking \u201cThe Entertainer\u201d came from an unlikely source \u2013 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 \u201cCabaret,\u201d was hired to stage the dance numbers.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s most memorable creations.<\/p>\n

Did this Americanized version of \u201cThe Entertainer\u201d work? The answer is\u2026well, sort of. <\/p>\n

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, \u201cBut that doesn\u2019t mean there can\u2019t be empathy or understanding.\u201d 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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

But on the flip side, the supporting cast is strictly supporting and never shines on their own terms. Sada Thompson as Archie\u2019s too-patient second wife, Tyne Daly as his incredulous daughter, Michael Cristofer as his weak son and Annette O\u2019Toole as Archie\u2019s mistress are strictly okay without bringing any degree of dimension to their roles. Their counterparts in the 1960 film \u2013 Brenda de Banzie, Joan Plowright, Alan Bates and Shirley Ann Field \u2013 offered much more depth and emotion, making that version of \u201cThe Entertainer\u201d a true ensemble work and not just an Olivier vehicle. The 1976 film, sadly, is strictly a Lemmon vehicle.<\/p>\n

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\u2019Toole\u2019s bare breasts during her love scene with Lemmon.<\/p>\n

To date, there has been no American home entertainment release of \u201cThe Entertainer,\u201d although it was released on Australian home video \u2013 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\u2019s score or the rights to the Osborne material. In any event, here is \u201cThe Entertainer\u201d (at long last) for your viewing pleasure:<\/p>\n