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Accident (1967 film)
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Wikipedia article
'Accident' is Harold Pinter's 1967 British dramatic film adaptation of the 1965 novel by Nicholas Mosley. It is the third of four collaborations between Pinter and director Joseph Losey; the others are 'The Servant' (1963), 'Modesty Blaise' (1966) and 'The Go-Between' (1971) At the 1967 Cannes Film Festival, 'Accident' won the Grand Prix Spcial du Jury award. It also won the prestigious Grand Prix of the Belgian Film Critics Association.
Plot
Stephen, a married Oxford tutor in his forties, has two students: the rich and likeable William, of whom he is fond, and a beautiful, enigmatic Austrian named Anna, whom he secretly covets. William also fancies Anna and hopes to know her better. While Stephen's wife is away having their third child, he looks up an old flame in London and they sleep together. Returning home, he finds that his pushy colleague Charley has been using the house for sex with Anna. She tells Stephen privately that she and William are engaged to be married.
William says that he will come to Stephen's house after a party that night. As he is too drunk to drive, Anna takes the wheel, but she crashes the car outside Stephen's gate. Upon finding the accident and William dead, Stephen pulls the deeply shaken Anna from the wreckage and hides her upstairs while he calls the police. Later, he forces himself on her while she is still in shock, then takes her back to her room at the university. He comes by in the morning to find a bemused Charley, who cannot prevent Anna from packing to return to Austria.
Cast
*Dirk Bogarde as Stephen
*Stanley Baker as Charley
*Jacqueline Sassard as Anna
*Michael York as William
*Vivien Merchant as Rosalind, Stephen's wife
*Alexander Knox as University Provost
*Delphine Seyrig as Francesca, daughter of the provost
*Ann Firbank as Laura
*Brian Phelan as Police Sergeant
*Terence Rigby as Plainclothes policeman
*Freddie Jones as Man in Bell's office
*Maxwell Findlater (pseudonym of Maxwell Caulfield) as Ted
*Carole Caplin[https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2012/may/13/david-vincent-carole-caplin-cherie Carole Caplin interview: "I'm a survivor"], 'The Observer', 13 May 2012 as Clarissa
*Harold Pinter as Bell
*Nicholas Mosley as Hedges
*Steven Easton as Baby, Stephen and Rosalind's baby
Reception
Responding to criticism that the film's meaning was difficult to discern, Stanley Baker said: "It's obvious what 'Accident' meant ... It meant what was shown on the screen." Of Joseph Losey's direction, Baker said: "One of Joe's problems is that he tends to wrap things up too much for himself. I think that 75% of the audience didn't realise that 'Accident' was a flashback."
In his review upon the film's release, 'New York Times' critic Bosley Crowther called 'Accident' "a sad little story of a wistful don ... neither strong drama nor stinging satire."
The film performed poorly at the box office. In 1973, Losey said the film was "officially in bankruptcy."
On Rotten Tomatoes, 'Accident' holds a rating of 78% from 27 reviews.
References
'Notes'
'Further reading'
*Billington, Michael (2007) 'Harold Pinter'. London: Faber and Faber, (13)
*Billington, Michael (1996) 'The Life and Work of Harold Pinter'. London: Faber and Faber, (10)
*Gale, Steven H. (2003) 'Sharp Cut: Harold Pinter's Screenplays and the Artistic Process', Lexington, Kentucky: The UP of Kentucky, (10) (13)
*Gale, Steven H. (2001) 'The Films of Harold Pinter'. Albany: SUNY P
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