Grotesque
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
John-paul Davidson
Sting
Nick Lucas
James Fleet
Lena Headey
Annette Badland
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Set in the 1940s, an English butler conspires with the mistress of the house to take his master's place, by framing him for murder.
Director
John-paul Davidson
Cast
![](https://prod-images.tcm.com/Master-Profile-Images/Sting.184920.2.jpg?imwidth=188&height=141)
Sting
Nick Lucas
James Fleet
Lena Headey
Annette Badland
![](https://prod-images.tcm.com/Master-Profile-Images/AlanBates.11370.jpg?imwidth=188&height=141)
Alan Bates
Bob Goody
![](https://prod-images.tcm.com/Master-Profile-Images/JohnMills.jpg?imwidth=188&height=141)
John Mills
David Henry
Jim Carter
![](https://prod-images.tcm.com/Master-Profile-Images/AnnaMassey.124380.jpg?imwidth=188&height=141)
Anna Massey
Steven Mackintosh
Patrick Mcgrath
Michael Cronin
David Killick
Geoffrey Freshwater
Richard Durden
Jeffry Wickham
Chris Barnes
Timothy Kightley
Theresa Russell
Edward Jewesbury
Trudie Styler
Maria Aitken
Crew
Christopher Ackland
Tariq Anwar
Colleen Atwood
Jane Bailey
Alex Baird
Celia Barnett
Matthew Barr
Liz Barron
David Beckett
Roy Beeston
Mark Boyle
Roy Branch
Stuart Brisdon
Chris Burke
Alexandra Byrne
Bob Cann
Keith Carey
Kevin Carter
Graham Churchyard
Ian Coffey
Marlon Cole
Paola Colpani
Nula Conway
Andrew Cooper
Anthony Cooper
Peter Coryndon
Tony Crastus
Paul Cronin
Richard Dalton
Simon Dalton
John-paul Davidson
Andrew Devonshire
Mike Dilly
Mike Donald
Anne Dudley
Andrew Dunn
Ivor Ecclestone
Johnny Fergus
Katy Flack
Robin Forrest
Billy Francis
Philip George
Julie Gilliam
Alan Greyley
Peter Grove
Steven Hall
Carol Harding
Cordelia Hardy
Daniel Hegarty
Gifford Hooper
Mark House
Paul House
Nigel Howard
Allan Hughes
Colleen Hughes
Tom Hunt
Mark Hutton
Dorothee Inderfurth
Jason Ions
Charles Jackson
Andrea Jaffe
John Kay
Malcolm Keane
Ray Keats
Bryan Lawson
Sue Lefton
Julie Linnane
David Lloyd
Adrian Lovering
Ian Lowe
Candy Marlowe
Sally Mason
Patrick Mcgrath
Patrick Mcgrath
Casper Mill
Johnson Mitchell
Ken Monger
Daniel Naprous
Gerard Naprous
Paul Nunn
John O'shaughnessy
Peter Owen
Daniel Parker
Chris Plumridge
Andrew Rawlinson
Sarah Jane Raymond
Bob Reader
Glen Rivera
Carol Robinson
Steve Robinson
Jan Roelfs
Graham Ross
Caroline Ryan
Michael Seirton
Steve Shepperd
Danuta Skarszewska
Maurice Smith
Mike N Smith
Dermot Smythe
Nathan Stanley
Paul William Stewart
Bianca Stone
Karen Thompson
Joe Tornatore
Alf Tramontin
Mariam Vossough
Keith Vowles
Tracey Wadmore-smith
Patsy Wigger
Leaf Wigzell
Stuart Willis
Karen Woods
Roger Woods
Julian Wright
Film Details
Technical Specs
Articles
Sir Alan Bates (1934-2003)
Born Alan Arthur Bates on February 17th, 1934 in Derbyshire, England, Bates was the son of amateur musicians who wanted their son to become a concert pianist, but the young man had other ambitions, bluntly declaring to his parents that he had his sights set on an acting career when he was still in secondary school. He eventually earned a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London, but had his career briefly interrupted with a two-year stint in the Royal Air Force. Soon after his discharge, Bates immediately joined the new English Stage Company at the Royal Court Theatre and by 1955 he had found steady stage work in London's West End theatre district.
The following year, Bates made a notable mark in English theatre circles when he starred as Cliff Lewis in John Osborne's charging drama about a disaffected, working-class British youth in Look Back in Anger. Bates' enormous stage presence along with his brooding good looks and youthfulness (he was only 22 at the time of the play's run) made him a star and promised great things for his future.
Four years later, Bates made a solid film debut in Tony Richardson's The Entertainer (1960) as the son of a failing seaside entertainer, played by Sir Laurence Olivier. Yet it would be his next two films that would leave an indelible impression in '60s British cinema; Bryan Forbes' Whistle Down the Wind (1961) and John Schlesinger's A Kind of Loving (1962). Bates' performances as a murderer on the lam who finds solace at a farm house in the company of children in the former, and a young working-class husband who struggles with his identity in a loveless marriage in the latter, were such finely nuanced portrayals of loners coping with an oppressive social order that he struck a chord with both audiences and critics alike. Soon, Bates was considered a key actor in the "angry young men" movement of the decade that included Albert Finney and Tom Courtney.
For the next ten years, Bates simply moved from strength to strength as he chose film roles that both highlighted his range and raised his stock as an international celebrity: reprising his stage role as the brutish thug Mick in the film adaptation of Harold Pinter's The Caretaker (1963); starring alongside Anthony Quinn as the impressionable young writer Basil in Zorba the Greek (1964); the raffish charmer Jos who falls in love with Lynn Redgrave in the mod comedy Georgy Girl; the bemused young soldier who falls in love with a young mental patient (a radiantly young Genevieve Bujold) in the subdued anti-was satire King of Hearts (both 1966); reuniting with director Schlesinger again in the effective period drama Far from the Madding Crowd (1967); a Russian Jew falsely accused of murder in John Frankenheimer's The Fixer (1968, remarkably, his only Oscar nomination); as Rupert, the freethinking fellow who craves love and understanding in Ken Russell's superb Women in Love (1969); playing Vershinin in Sir Laurence Olivier's underrated The Three Sisters (1970); opposite Julie Christie in Joseph Losey's tale of forbidden love The Go-Between (1971); and his moving, near-tragic performance as Bri, a father who struggles daily to maintain his sanity while raising a mentally disabled daughter in the snarking black comedy A Day in the Death of Joe Egg (1972).
Bates would slow down his film work, concentrating on the stage for the next few years, including a Tony award winning turn on Broadway for his role in Butley (1972), but he reemerged strongly in the late '70s in three good films: a conniving womanizer in The Shout; Jill Clayburgh's love interest in Paul Mazursky's hit An Unmarried Woman (1978); and as Rudge, Bette Midler's overbearing manager in The Rose (1979).
By the '80s, Bates filled out somewhat physically, but his now burly presence looked just right in some quality roles: as the notorious spy, Guy Burgess, in John Schlesinger's acclaimed mini-series An Englishman Abroad (1983); a lonely homosexual who cares for his incarcerated lovers' dog in the charming comedy We think the World of You (1988); and a superb Claudius in Franco Zeffirelli's Hamlet (1990).
Tragically, Bates lost his son Tristan to an asthma attack in 1990; and lost his wife, actress Victoria Ward, in 1992. This led to too few film roles for the next several years, although he remained quite active on stage and television. However, just recently, Bates has had some choice moments on the silver screen, most notably as the butler Mr. Jennings in Robert Altman's murder mystery Gosford Park (2001); and scored a great comic coup as a gun-toting, flag-waving Hollywood has-been in a very broad satire about the Canadian movie industry Hollywood North (2003). Also, theatre fans had a treat when Bates appeared on Broadway last year to critical acclaim (and won a second Tony award) for his portrayal of an impoverished 19th century Russian nobleman in Fortune's Fool (2002). Most deservedly, he was knighted earlier this year for his fine contributions as an actor in all major mediums. Sir Alan Bates is survived by two brothers Martin and Jon, son Benedick and a granddaughter.
by Michael T. Toole
![Sir Alan Bates (1934-2003)](https://prod-images.tcm.com/img/film-participant-detail/Featured-Artilce_Placeholder.png)
Sir Alan Bates (1934-2003)
Quotes
Trivia
Miscellaneous Notes
Released in United States February 2001
Released in United States March 14, 1997
Released in United States March 1997
Released in United States March 7, 1997
Released in United States on Video August 19, 1997
Released in United States September 1995
Released in United States Spring March 1997
Shown at American Film Market (AFM) in Santa Monica, California February 21-28, 2001.
Shown at Santa Barbara International Film Festival March 6-19, 1997.
Shown at Toronto International Film Festival (Special Screening) September 7-16, 1995.
Began shooting March 3, 1995.
Completed shooting April 13, 1995.
Released in United States February 2001 (Shown at American Film Market (AFM) in Santa Monica, California February 21-28, 2001.)
Released in United States March 1997 (Shown at Santa Barbara International Film Festival March 6-19, 1997.)
Released in United States Spring March 1997
Released in United States March 7, 1997 (New York City)
Released in United States March 14, 1997 (Los Angeles)
Released in United States on Video August 19, 1997
Released in United States September 1995 (Shown at Toronto International Film Festival (Special Screening) September 7-16, 1995.)