Robin Maugham’s devastating novel about the class system receives an elegant adaptation by Harold Pinter working with director Joseph Losey. Dirk Bogarde is utterly hypnotic as the sleazy contemptuous manservant hired to keep house for aristocratic James Fox. Superior staging, performances and psychological detail make this a keeper. For anyone who’s ever feared the malevolent motivations of their occasional household help (me!), this is unfortunately recognisable, even in a small way. Photographed by the late great Douglas Slocombe – who died this very week. Look for that first shot – Dirk Bogarde exiting an establishment bearing the name Thomas Crapper. And Pinter has a small role in a restaurant.Brilliant.
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