The Entertainer

Originally made as a television special, this film was later released as a feature. Unfortunately it falls short of the Olivier version on most levels. Elliott Baker, adapting the hit play by John Osborne, has switched the location and time to accommodate American accents. It now takes place in an American seaside resort in 1944. Lemmon is Archie Rice, a failed middle-aged vaudevillian who is still struggling to get laughs. His act is a hodgepodge of old jokes and feeble attempts at off-color humor. His father, Billy (Bolger), is a star, but Archie would be quite lucky to become a second banana. He's a mean man in many ways, neglecting his wife, Phoebe (Thompson), ...