You won't be disappointed!

Memorable, crazy movie

Just perfect...

Highly Overrated But Still Good

Someone said in a comment that this is "barely an adaptation" and I have to second that. Though the cast list has names of characters other than the main three, that's because there's a minute or two where the film is outside so there were a few extras who got credit.If you like the play (seeing it or reading it, whichever) you will love this interpretation of it. I can't believe this was made in 1963-the acting is passable even by today's standards and amazing for back then.There are a few lines that are switched around, very very few that are removed altogether, and certain parts of scenes are set outside of the attic-otherwise it stays true to the original version.I suppose if you know nothing of the play then this could still suit you, however, it has a strange premise, and is generally a bizarre movie altogether. The focus is mostly on character development and unusual dialogue, with monologues every three minutes, one of which is easily one of the best absurdist monologues of all time (Aston's bit at the end of act 2).Personally I would buy it just for Aston's monologue, but the movie has many other virtues, and for the standards of its day I'd feel uncomfortable giving it anything other than a 10/10

Like the other commenter I too am wondering why this isn't available on DVD. Luckily I video-taped a PBS broadcast years ago but Pinter deserves to be immortalized in a DVD collection with all the supplementary material available. (Perhaps now that he's won the Nobel) This movie was my introduction to Pinter and while I have to acknowledge the acting it was the script that hypnotized me when I happened upon it channel surfing one evening. So brilliantly absurd that you may join it as I first did from any point in the play and be instantly compelled by Pinter's bizarre reality. Bates, Shaw and Pleasance are perfectly cast but Donald Pleasance reveals a brilliance pitifully missing in his many supporting Hollywood roles. One wonders if the actors felt the magic their collaboration conveys and if so they must have been ecstatic.

I have also been searching for this film on DVD or video but I can't find it either. I've seen it 3 or 4 times on PBS in the last twenty years or so and its a tough one to locate. I think it's Robert Shaw's best performance. So emotional without being emotional! The silence in this film is like a constant scream of pain. Low budget but I think that helps the film by enhancing the performances. If anyone finds a copy let me know. I guess I'll wait for PBS to show it again sometime and I have a blank tape ready!

This is an extraordinary film and I have been looking for a tape or DVD for some time. Bates is perfectly cast, Pleasance is ideal and utterly memorable, and Shaw is simply brilliant. It is one of the finest films I've ever seen of it's type. Does anyone know if it's maybe hung up in some sort of litigation or has a property rights thing going? It's a real shame that people who weren't around in the 60's can't see it. I think that in some ways this finds each of the actors and even Pinter at their very best. I recommend this to anyone exploring Schopenhauer, Sartre, Beckett, or Genet. It's in my top 100 films ever made. --tatkhj