The Servant (1963 film)

The Servant is Harold Pinters 1963 film adaptation of a 1948 novelette by Robin Maugham. A British production directed by Joseph Losey, it stars Dirk Bogarde, Sarah Miles, Wendy Craig and James Fox. It opened at Londons Warner Theatre onNovember 1963.

Tony James Fox, a wealthy young Londoner, hires Hugo Barrett Dirk Bogarde as his manservant. Initially, Barrett appears to take easily to his new job, and he and Tony form a quiet bond, retaining their social roles. Relationships begin shifting, however, and they change with the introduction of Susan Wendy Craig, Tonys girlfriend, who seems to be suspicious of Barrett and to loathe all he represents. Barrett brings Vera Sarah Miles, whom he presents as his sister, into Tonys household as a maidservant, but it emerges that Vera is actually Barretts lover. Through Barretts and Veras games and machinations, they reverse roles with Tony and Susan Tony becomes more and more dissipated, sinking further into what he perceives as their level, as the master and the servant exchange roles. In the final scene, Tony has become wholly dependent on Barrett, and Susan is exiled permanently from the house.It was Losey who first showed Robin Maughams novelette The Servant to Bogarde in 1954. Originally separately commissioned by director Michael Anderson, Pinter stripped it of its firstperson narrator, its yellow book snobbery and the arguably antiSemitic characterisation of Barrett oiliness, heavy lids replacing them with an economical language that implied rather than stated the slippage of power relations away from Tony towards Barrett. ........

Source: Wikipedia