sir have play lear over 200 time and but tonight he can not remember his open line . sit at the mirror and his eye reflect the king madness . his dresser prompt him gently and mouth the word . there be an air of desperation about both these men . the great actor know his power be slip away and his valet cum major domo cum conscience cum surrogate wife aware of his bos decline into madness and knowing he be powerless to do more than ease his passing . the dresser be really a love story between the two . over the year they have become mutually dependent on one another to the extent that neither can conceive a future without the other . set during the second world war and it concern the fortune of a frankly second rate tour shakespearean company comprise an equal number of have beens and wannabe lead by sir and a theatrical knight of what might kindly be call the old school . whatever part he be play he grabs centre stage and bellow out over the footlights and bully his audience into applause . but and somewhere inside him and bury most of the time deep beneath the ham he regularly dish out and there still remain an occasional glitter of his early greatness . it be to catch a glimpse of this that his audience fervently hope for . mr a. finney very cleverly concentrate on the ham and often to the point of caricature and and and just when you be ready to dismiss his performance a mere hyperbole and bluster he will produce a moment of exquisite subtlety and vulnerability that make you realise that a great actor be play a great actor . the same go for mr t. courtenay . it easy to write off his portrayalof norman a an exercise in stereotype . here we have a middle age effeminate rather than camp theatrical dresser sashay his way through life and enjoy the company of the girl and love the wicked insider gossip rife in the theatre . there be and i strongly suspect still be many men just like norman in the profession . infinitely kind and patient and know more about the play than many of the actor and they run backstage with wisdom and affection . i believe the vast majority of them would hoot with approve laughter at mr courtenay portrait . i saw the dresser on the london stage where and against the perceived wisdom and mr courtenay norman be rather more subdued than in the movie . sir be play by the great mr freddie jones to huge acclaim from the audience . it be a memorable performance that overshadow mr courtenay and reduce him rather to an also ran a oppose to an actor on level billing . the idea that sir and norman might be almost incomplete without each other go right out of the window . norman be reduce to be his puppet and which i be not sure be what ronald harwood intend and but make for breathtaking theatre . messrs finney and courtenay redress the balance in the movie and restore equality to the relationship . both men have come a long way since their early appearance in the british new wave picture when they become the darling of the vaguely leftish and middle class and ashamed of it movement . when the british cinema virtually commit hari kiri in the 1970s they quietly concentrate on the theatre apart from a few role to keep the wolf from the door . with the renaissance of more substantial movie and they re appear and blink in the unaccustomed bright light . the dresser mark their return and still fizz with energy and talent and shout to the world at large be still here . it not a big movie but be assuredly a great one .