Bartleby
DVD Cover
Directed byAnthony Friedman
Screenplay byRodney Carr-Smith
Anthony Friedman
Based on"Bartleby, the Scrivener; A Story of Wall-street" by Herman Melville
Produced byRodney Carr-Smith
StarringPaul Scofield
John McEnery
Thorley Walters
CinematographyIan Wilson
Edited byJohn S. Smith
Music byRoger Webb
Production
companies
Pantheon Film Productions
Amber Entertainment
Distributed byBritish Lion Film Corporation
Release date
Running time
78 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Bartleby is a 1970 British drama film directed by Anthony Friedman and starring Paul Scofield, John McEnery and Thorley Walters.[1] It is an adaptation of the short story "Bartleby, the Scrivener; A Story of Wall-street" by Herman Melville. The film relocates the narrative from New York in the 1850s to London in the 1970s.[2]

It was shot at Twickenham Studios and on location around London. The sets were designed by the art director Simon Holland.

Plot

Bartleby, a young audit clerk, is defeated by the pressures of modern life; he gradually opts out of all forms of social engagement and withdraws into his own world.

Cast

  • Paul Scofield - The Accountant
  • John McEnery - Bartleby
  • Thorley Walters - The Colleague
  • Colin Jeavons - Tucker
  • Raymond Mason - Landlord
  • Charles Kinross - Tenant
  • Neville Barber - First Client
  • Robin Askwith - Office Boy
  • Hope Jackman - Hilda - Tealady
  • John Watson - Doctor
  • Christine Dingle - Patient
  • Rosalind Elliot - Miss Brown - Secretary
  • Tony Parkin - Dickinson - Clerk

Critical reception

The TV Guide reviewer commented that "the film is brooding, slow, and annoying at times, but the vision of McEnery as Bartleby is not easily forgotten. Scofield...gives a supremely intelligent portrayal of a man caught between logic and emotion."[3]

Stanley Kauffmann of The New Republic wrote about Bartleby- "a poor film but with superb acting in it".[4]

References

  1. ↑ "Bartleby (1970)". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 25 April 2017. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
  2. ↑ Greenspun, Roger (7 February 1972). "Movie Review - Bartleby - Melville's 'Bartleby' Transformed for the Screen". NYTimes.com. Archived from the original on 2 July 2016. Retrieved 14 April 2014.
  3. ↑ "Bartleby Review". Movies.tvguide.com. Archived from the original on 15 April 2014. Retrieved 14 April 2014.
  4. ↑ Kauffmann, Stanley (1974). Living Images Film Comment and Criticism. Harper & Row Publishers. p. 99.


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