''Staircase'' is a 1969 British

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

film adaptation of a two-character play, also called '' Staircase'', by Charles Dyer. The film, like the play, is about an ageing gay couple who own a barber shop in the

East End of London The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have univ ...

. They discuss their loving but often volatile past together and ponder their possible future without each other, as Charles is about to go on trial for dressing as a woman in public. The two main characters are named Charles Dyer (the name of the playwright/screenwriter) and Harry C. Leeds, which is an

anagram An anagram is a word or phrase formed by rearranging the letters of a different word or phrase, typically using all the original letters exactly once. For example, the word ''anagram'' itself can be rearranged into ''nag a ram'', also the word ...

of his name.

Plot

Cast

Richard Burton Richard Burton (; born Richard Walter Jenkins Jr.; 10 November 1925 – 5 August 1984) was a Welsh actor. Noted for his baritone voice, Burton established himself as a formidable Shakespearean actor in the 1950s, and he gave a memorable pe ...

as Harry C. Leeds *

Rex Harrison Sir Reginald Carey "Rex" Harrison (5 March 1908 – 2 June 1990) was an English actor. Harrison began his career on the stage in 1924. He made his West End debut in 1936 appearing in the Terence Rattigan play '' French Without Tears'', in wh ...

as Charles Dyer *

Cathleen Nesbitt Cathleen Nesbitt (born Kathleen Mary Nesbitt; 24 November 18882 August 1982) was an English actress. Biography Born in Birkenhead, Cheshire,Before 1 April 1974 Birkenhead was in Cheshire England to Thomas and Mary Catherine (née Parry) Nesb ...

as Harry's mother *

Beatrix Lehmann Beatrix Alice Lehmann (1 July 1903 – 31 July 1979) was a British actress, theatre director, writer and novelist. Early life and family Lehmann was born in Bourne End, Buckinghamshire. She came from a family of notable achievers: the third o ...

as Charles' mother * Avril Angers as Miss Ricard * Pat Heywood as Nurse *

Stephen Lewis Stephen Henry Lewis (born November 11, 1937) is a Canadian politician, public speaker, broadcaster, and diplomat. He was the leader of the social democratic Ontario New Democratic Party for most of the 1970s. During many of those years as lea ...

as Jack *

Gwen Nelson Gwendoline Alexandra Nelson (30 June 1901 – 15 October 1990) was an English actress who was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Court Theatre Company. Born in Muswell Hill, London, she originally intended to be a singer, ...

as Matron * Neil Wilson as Policeman * Shelagh Fraser as Cub mistress * Dermot Kelly as Gravedigger * Jake Kavanagh as Choirboy *

Gordon Heath Gordon Heath (September 20, 1918 – August 27, 1991) was an American actor and musician who narrated the animated feature film ''Animal Farm'' (1954) and appeared in the title role of ''The Emperor Jones'' (1953) and ''Othello'' (1955), both l ...

as Postman * Michael Rogers as drag singer during opening song * Royston Starr as drag singer during opening song

Production

The screenplay was written by Dyer, and the film was directed by

Stanley Donen Stanley Donen ( ; April 13, 1924 – February 21, 2019) was an American film director and choreographer whose most celebrated works are '' On the Town,'' (1949) and ''Singin' in the Rain'' (1952), both of which he co-directed with Gene Kell ...

. Dyer "opened up" the script to show the couple's neighbourhood, expanded the action to cover a period of ten days, and added characters.

and

portrayed the couple and

and

were featured as their mothers. The film was produced by

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Disn ...

. Because of Great Britain's tax laws, the stars insisted that the film be shot in Paris, which added to the film's budget, already inflated by their salaries ($1 million for Harrison, $1.25 million for Burton). Reportedly

Elizabeth Taylor Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was a British-American actress. She began her career as a child actress in the early 1940s and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 1950s. ...

was shooting 1970's '' The Only Game in Town'' at the same time as this film was in production. While that film is set in Las Vegas, Taylor demanded that director

George Stevens George Cooper Stevens (December 18, 1904 – March 8, 1975) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter and cinematographer.Obituary '' Variety'', March 12, 1975, page 79. Films he produced were nominated for the Academy Award for ...

shoot in France so she could be close to her husband. This caused the budget of ''The Only Game in Town'' to grow higher than most large-scale, high-profile films that Fox was producing at the time. The film's score was composed by musician/comedian

Dudley Moore Dudley Stuart John Moore CBE (19 April 193527 March 2002) was an English actor, comedian, musician and composer. Moore first came to prominence in the UK as a leading figure in the British satire boom of the 1960s. He was one of the four writ ...

Release

Instead of marketing it as the comedy drama it was, the studio treated it like a

camp Camp may refer to: Outdoor accommodation and recreation * Campsite or campground, a recreational outdoor sleeping and eating site * a temporary settlement for nomads * Camp, a term used in New England, Northern Ontario and New Brunswick to descri ...

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

Critical

Vincent Canby Vincent Canby (July 27, 1924 – October 15, 2000) was an American film and theatre critic who served as the chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1969 until the early 1990s, then its chief theatre critic from 1994 until his death in ...

of ''The New York Times'' wrote "Although Burton and Harrison are interesting actors whose styles command attention even when the material does not, 'Staircase' is essentially a stunt movie ... Unlike Harry and Charlie, who eventually come to edgy terms with the emptiness of their lives, I couldn't quite come to terms with the emptiness of the movie." ''Variety'' wrote that "Harrison and Burton have dared risky roles and have triumphed," but noted that the film "comes uncomfortably close to being depressing." Roger Ebert gave the film 1 star out 4, calling it "an unpleasant exercise in bad taste... onengives us no warmth, humor or even the dregs of understanding. He exploits the improbable team of Rex Harrison and Richard Burton as a sideshow attraction." Gene Siskel of the ''Chicago Tribune'' gave it 3 stars out of 4, calling it "a satisfactory film achievement with a very good story. Richard Burton is marvelous in holding up ''Staircase''. Rex Harrison is more of a broken step... eswishes and preens too much but controls the part as the movie progresses." Charles Champlin of the ''Los Angeles Times'' wrote "We cannot will ourselves to forget that these are Harrison and Burton playing at being homosexuals. These are performances and even if they are good (as they are) and for the most part quite restrained (as they are), we still look at the craft and not into the tortured soul." Gary Arnold of ''The Washington Post'' wrote "Artistically, the depressing thing about 'Staircase' is that it has no surprises. We see everything coming a few beats or lines or minutes before the filmmakers and the stars, deliberately planting the clues and laying the groundwork and working up the old momentum, finally throw their best punches."

Penelope Gilliatt Penelope Gilliatt (; born Penelope Ann Douglass Conner; 25 March 1932 – 9 May 1993) was an English novelist, short story writer, screenwriter, and film critic. As one of the main film critics for ''The New Yorker'' magazine in the 1960s an ...

of ''The New Yorker'' wrote "Written by someone else and directed by a man more fond, it could have been a love story, and it could have been wonderful. Instead of that, it comes out like some total-immersion course in Camp banter, conceived in a way that keeps signalling the heroes' freakishness. The lack of affection for them makes the film depressing ... Only Burton's acting runs deep and true and comic." Nigel Andrews of ''

The Monthly Film Bulletin ''The Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 to April 1991, when it merged with ''Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those with a ...

'' wrote "It is the air of unreality over the film that makes it finally so unsatisfying—the desultory studio street, the barber's shop permanently empty of customers, the sheer improbability of some of the acting (notably Beatrix Lehmann's grotesque cameo as Charlie's mother). If one were charitable, one could regard the whole thing as a vehicle, an opportunity for Harrison and Burton to show their paces in extravagant character roles ... Neither, however, can quite save the film from its inflated production values and the feeling that it has been cleaned up a little for popular consumption." Rarely seen on television, the film was broadcast by Turner Classic Movies during a tribute to gay cinema in June 2007 and as a "counter culture film" in June 2019.

Box office

According to Fox records, the film required $10,675,000 in rentals to break even, and by 11 December 1970, had made $2,125,000. In September 1970, the studio reported a loss of $5,201,000 on the film.Silverman p 259

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Staircase 1969 comedy-drama films 1969 LGBT-related films 1969 films British LGBT-related films British films based on plays American LGBT-related films 20th Century Fox films Films directed by Stanley Donen 1960s English-language films 1960s American films 1960s British films