sir has played lear over 200 times and but tonight he can not remember his opening lines. sitting at the mirror and his eyes reflect the king madness. his dresser prompts him gently and mouthing the words. there is an air of desperation about both these men. the great actor knowing his powers are slipping away and his valet cum major domo cum conscience cum surrogate wife  aware of his boss decline into madness and knowing he is powerless to do more than ease his passing. the dresser is really a love story between the two. over the years they have become mutually dependent on one another to the extent that neither can conceive a future without the other. set during the second world war and it concerns the fortunes of a frankly second  rate touring shakespearean company comprising an equal number of has  beens and wannabes led by sir and a theatrical knight of what might kindly be called the old school. whatever part he is playing he grabs centre  stage and bellows out over the footlights and bullying his audience into applause. but and somewhere inside him and buried most of the time deep beneath the ham he regularly dishes out and there still remains an occasional glitter of his earlier greatness. it is to catch a glimpse of this that his audiences fervently hope for. mr a. finney very cleverly concentrates on the ham and often to the point of caricature and and and just when you are ready to dismiss his performance as mere hyperbole and bluster he will produce a moment of exquisite subtlety and vulnerability that makes you realise that a great actor is playing a great actor. the same goes for mr t. courtenay. it easy to write off his portrayalof norman as an exercise in stereotyping. here we have a middle  aged effeminate rather than camp theatrical dresser sashaying his way through life and enjoying the company of the girls and loving the wicked insider gossip rife in the theatre. there were  and i strongly suspect still are  many men just like norman in the profession. infinitely kind and patient and knowing more about the plays than many of the actors and they run backstage with wisdom and affection. i believe the vast majority of them would hoot with approving laughter at mr courtenay portrait. i saw the dresser on the london stage where and against the perceived wisdom and mr courtenay norman was rather more subdued than in the movie. sir was played by the great mr freddie jones to huge acclaim from the audience. it was a memorable performance that overshadowed mr courtenay  and reducing him rather to an also  ran as opposed to an actor on level  billing. the idea that sir and norman might be almost incomplete without each other went right out of the window. norman was reduced to being his puppet and which i am not sure was what ronald harwood intended and but made for breathtaking theatre. messrs finney and courtenay redress the balance in the movie and restoring equality to the relationship. both men have come a long way since their early appearances in the british new wave pictures when they became the darlings of the vaguely leftish and middle  class and ashamed of it movement. when the british cinema virtually committed hari  kiri in the 1970s they quietly concentrated on the theatre apart from a few roles to keep the wolf from the door. with the renaissance of more substantial movies and they re  appeared and blinking in the unaccustomed bright light. the dresser marked their return and still fizzing with energy and talent and shouting to the world at large were still here. it not a big movie but is assuredly a great one. 
sir has played lear over 200 times and but tonight he can not remember his opening lines. sitting at the mirror and his eyes reflect the king madness. his dresser prompts him gently and mouthing the words. there is an air of desperation about both these men. the great actor knowing his powers are slipping away and his valet cum major domo cum conscience cum surrogate wife  aware of his boss decline into madness and knowing he is powerless to do more than ease his passing. the dresser is really a love story between the two. over the years they have become mutually dependent on one another to the extent that neither can conceive a future without the other. set during the second world war and it concerns the fortunes of a frankly second  rate touring shakespearean company comprising an equal number of has  beens and wannabes led by sir and a theatrical knight of what might kindly be called the old school. whatever part he is playing he grabs centre  stage and bellows out over the footlights and bullying his audience into applause. but and somewhere inside him and buried most of the time deep beneath the ham he regularly dishes out and there still remains an occasional glitter of his earlier greatness. it is to catch a glimpse of this that his audiences fervently hope for. mr a. finney very cleverly concentrates on the ham and often to the point of caricature and and and just when you are ready to dismiss his performance as mere hyperbole and bluster he will produce a moment of exquisite subtlety and vulnerability that makes you realise that a great actor is playing a great actor. the same goes for mr t. courtenay. it easy to write off his portrayalof norman as an exercise in stereotyping. here we have a middle  aged effeminate rather than camp theatrical dresser sashaying his way through life and enjoying the company of the girls and loving the wicked insider gossip rife in the theatre. there were  and i strongly suspect still are  many men just like norman in the profession. infinitely kind and patient and knowing more about the plays than many of the actors and they run backstage with wisdom and affection. i believe the vast majority of them would hoot with approving laughter at mr courtenay portrait. i saw the dresser on the london stage where and against the perceived wisdom and mr courtenay norman was rather more subdued than in the movie. sir was played by the great mr freddie jones to huge acclaim from the audience. it was a memorable performance that overshadowed mr courtenay  and reducing him rather to an also  ran as opposed to an actor on level  billing. the idea that sir and norman might be almost incomplete without each other went right out of the window. norman was reduced to being his puppet and which i am not sure was what ronald harwood intended and but made for breathtaking theatre. messrs finney and courtenay redress the balance in the movie and restoring equality to the relationship. both men have come a long way since their early appearances in the british new wave pictures when they became the darlings of the vaguely leftish and middle  class and ashamed of it movement. when the british cinema virtually committed hari  kiri in the 1970s they quietly concentrated on the theatre apart from a few roles to keep the wolf from the door. with the renaissance of more substantial movies and they re  appeared and blinking in the unaccustomed bright light. the dresser marked their return and still fizzing with energy and talent and shouting to the world at large were still here. it not a big movie but is assuredly a great one. ---------------------------------Answer Question Below----------------------------------

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