''An Englishman Abroad'' is a 1983 BBC television drama film based on the true story of a chance meeting of actress Coral Browne with Guy Burgess, a member of the Cambridge spy ring who spied for the Soviet Union while an officer at MI6. The production was written by Alan Bennett and directed by John Schlesinger. Browne stars as herself.

Plot

The film is set in Moscow in 1958, after Burgess had defected to the Soviet Union in 1951 with Donald Maclean when it became apparent that Maclean was about to be investigated by British intelligence. Burgess barges into Browne's dressing room in the interval of a touring Shakespeare Memorial Theatre production of '' Hamlet'', in which she portrayed Gertrude, and charms her. Later on she is invited to his Moscow flat, finding it with some difficulty, to measure him for a suit that he would like ordered from his London tailor. On returning to London, she visits several high-class gentlemen's

outfitter An outfitter is a shop or person that sells specialized clothes (an ''outfit'' is a set of clothing). More specifically, it is a company or individual who provides or deals in equipment and supplies for the pursuit of certain activities. In North ...

s to purchase his requirements.

Film cast

Alan Bates Sir Alan Arthur Bates (17 February 1934 – 27 December 2003) was an English actor who came to prominence in the 1960s, when he appeared in films ranging from the popular children's story '' Whistle Down the Wind'' to the " kitchen sink" dram ...

as Guy Burgess * Coral Browne as herself * Charles Gray as 'Charles' playing Claudius * Harold Innocent as Rosencrantz * Vernon Dobtcheff as Guildenstern * Czeslaw Grocholski as general * Matthew Sim as boy * Mark Wing-Davey as Hamlet * Faina Zinova as hotel receptionist * Douglas Reith as Toby * Peter Chelsom as Giles * Judy Gridley as Tessa * Bibs Ekkel as scarf man * Alexei Jawdokimov as Tolya * Molly Veness as Mrs Burgess * Denys Hawthorne as tailor * Roger Hammond as shoe shop assistant * Charles Lamb as George * Trevor Baxter as pyjama shop manager Charles Gray's character was simply named 'Charles' but in the real events on which the play is based, his character would have been the actor Mark Dignam. During the film, Burgess refers to one of the actors in the version of 'Hamlet' he's just seen, playing the part of Laertes. "I like the look of Laertes. He goes rather well in to tights" says Burgess. "That's what he thinks" replies Browne, to which Burgess responds: "Looks like he put a couple of King Edward's down there". The actor they were discussing would have been Edward Woodward in the Moscow production. Michael Redgrave, Dorothy Tutin, Julian Glover, Anthony Nicholls, Eileen Atkins, Ian Holm and Edward de Souza were all members of the Shakespearean troupe involved with this tour of Russia, but they play no part in Bennett's storyline.

Production

Rather than film in the Soviet Union, Schlesinger used several locations in Scotland. The Caird Hall and Whitehall Theatre in

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

stood in for the Moscow theatre, and the grand marble staircase of Glasgow City Chambers played the part of the

British Embassy This is a list of diplomatic missions of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, excluding honorary consulates. The UK has one of the largest global networks of diplomatic missions. UK diplomatic missions to capitals of other Com ...

. Additional filming was done at Glasgow's St. Andrew's Suspension Bridge ("luckily, in a snowstorm" Bennett later wrote) and the Moss Heights flats in Cardonald, which represented Burgess' Moscow apartment.

Writing

Several plot changes were made from the true story told by Browne to Bennett. Burgess in fact threw up in the dressing room of Michael Redgrave, who asked for Browne's help. Redgrave documented the incident in his autobiography without mentioning Browne's involvement with the incident. Browne addressed some press speculation that she had in fact plagiarized Redgrave's story in various interviews to promote the film's first broadcast, explaining Bennett's dramatic changes. The play also contained scenes in Moscow's British Embassy and in London shops where Browne encountered resistance to helping Burgess, none of which happened in reality. Bennett gives the date of Browne's meeting with Burgess as 1958 in the introduction to his '' Single Spies'', which contains the text of ''An Englishman Abroad'' in the stage play version and the text of ''

A Question of Attribution ''A Question of Attribution'' is a 1988 one-act stage play, written by Alan Bennett. It focuses on the British art expert and former Soviet agent, Sir Anthony Blunt. It was premiered at the National Theatre, London, in December 1988, along with ...

'' about

Anthony Blunt Anthony Frederick Blunt (26 September 1907 – 26 March 1983), styled Sir Anthony Blunt KCVO from 1956 to November 1979, was a leading British art historian and Soviet spy. Blunt was professor of art history at the University of London, dire ...

. The play was also adapted for radio on the

BBC World Service The BBC World Service is an international broadcasting, international broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC, with funding from the Government of the United Kingdom, British Government through the Foreign Secretary, Foreign Secretary's o ...

in 1994 starring

Michael Gambon Sir Michael John Gambon (; born 19 October 1940) is an Irish-English actor. Regarded as one of Ireland and Britain's most distinguished actors, he is known for his work on stage and screen. Gambon started his acting career with Laurence Olivi ...

as Burgess and Penelope Wilton as Coral Browne. It was subsequently re-broadcast on BBC Radio 7 and

BBC Radio 4 Extra BBC Radio 4 Extra (formerly BBC Radio 7) is a British digital radio station from the BBC, broadcasting archived repeats of comedy, drama and documentary programmes nationally, 24 hours a day. It is the sister station of BBC Radio 4 and the p ...

, most recently in 2013 as part of BBC Radio 4 Extra's ''Cambridge Spies'' season.

Reception

Both Browne and Bates were winners of the BAFTA awards for acting for their roles in the production. On the BFI TV 100, a list compiled in 2000 by the British Film Institute (BFI), chosen by a poll of industry professionals, to determine what were the greatest British television programmes of any genre ever to have been screened, ''An Englishman Abroad'' was listed at number 30. The U. S. film critic Pauline Kael wrote in 1985 that ''An Englishman Abroad'' "is probably the finest hour of television I've ever seen."Kael, Pauline. "Schoolboys." '' The New Yorker'' (11 Feb. 1985)

References

External links

*
British Film Institute Screen Online
{{DEFAULTSORT:Englishman Abroad, An 1983 television films 1983 films 1983 LGBT-related films BBC television dramas British LGBT-related television films Films scored by George Fenton LGBT-related films based on actual events Films directed by John Schlesinger Films set in 1958 Films set in Moscow Films set in the Soviet Union Films with screenplays by Alan Bennett Cultural depictions of the Cambridge Five Spy drama television films 1980s British films