Release CalendarDVD & Blu-ray ReleasesTop 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsIn TheatersComing SoonMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV NewsIndia TV Spotlight
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsBest Picture WinnersBest Picture WinnersEmmysLGBTQ+ Pride MonthSTARmeter AwardsSan Diego Comic-ConNew York Comic-ConSundance Film FestivalToronto Int'l Film FestivalAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
IMDbPro

The Philanthropist

  • TV Movie
  • 19751975
  • 1h 30m
IMDb RATING
7.1/10
58
YOUR RATING
Helen Mirren in Caesar and Claretta (1975)
  • Comedy
  • Drama
A philologist at a British university finds his small world coming apart just as catastrophic things seem to be happening in the big world outside.A philologist at a British university finds his small world coming apart just as catastrophic things seem to be happening in the big world outside.A philologist at a British university finds his small world coming apart just as catastrophic things seem to be happening in the big world outside.
IMDb RATING
7.1/10
58
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Stuart Burge
  • Writer
    • Christopher Hampton(by)
  • Stars
    • Ronald Pickup
    • Helen Mirren
    • James Bolam
Top credits
  • Director
    • Stuart Burge
  • Writer
    • Christopher Hampton(by)
  • Stars
    • Ronald Pickup
    • Helen Mirren
    • James Bolam
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 2User reviews
    • 1Critic review
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Photos

    Add photo

    Top cast

    Edit
    Ronald Pickup
    Ronald Pickup
    • Philipas Philip
    Helen Mirren
    Helen Mirren
    • Celiaas Celia
    James Bolam
    James Bolam
    • Donas Don
    Charles Gray
    Charles Gray
    • Brahamas Braham
    Jacqueline Pearce
    Jacqueline Pearce
    • Aramintaas Araminta
    Colin Higgins
    • Johnas John
    Amanda Knott
    • Lizas Liz
    Monica Kendall
    • Studentas Student
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Stuart Burge
    • Writer
      • Christopher Hampton(by)
    • All cast & crew
    • See more cast details at IMDbPro

    More like this

    Miss Julie
    6.9
    Miss Julie
    Hussy
    5.0
    Hussy
    Age of Consent
    6.4
    Age of Consent
    Bellamira
    6.0
    Bellamira
    Cymbeline
    7.1
    Cymbeline
    Herostratus
    6.7
    Herostratus
    A Midsummer Night's Dream
    6.4
    A Midsummer Night's Dream
    Cal
    6.6
    Cal
    Colpo rovente
    5.7
    Colpo rovente
    Savage Messiah
    6.9
    Savage Messiah
    The Gospel According to Vic
    6.1
    The Gospel According to Vic
    Hamlet
    6.9
    Hamlet

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The original Broadway production of "The Philanthropist" by Christopher Hampton opened at the Ethel Barrymore Theater on March 15, 1971, ran for 64 performances, and was nominated for the 1971 Tony Award for the Best Play.
    • Goofs
      Celia says that Johann Sebastian Bach had 30 children. The correct number was 20, of which 10 lived to maturity.

    User reviews2

    Review
    Top review
    Classic of a playwright's craftsmanship snuck up on me with its empathy
    Excelling in wit, timing and cleverness, Christopher Hampton's "The Philanthropist" is deceptively light and satirical, so for the first half or so of Stuart Burge's TV adaptation I was amused but kept at a distance by all that craft. Yet the seemingly artificial and extreme title character (terrifically played with perfect sense of timing by Ronald Pickup) eventually provided some dark points of identification for me, and I felt quite moved up until the return to cutesy light-heartedness at the end.

    Hampton is delightfully making fun of conversationalists -those raconteurs one encounters at parties or who used to be a fixture when I was growing up on TV talk shows like Jack Paar, later Johnny Carson, Merv Griffin and Dick Cavett. The Ashley Montagus, Alexander King and various intellectuals no longer on the booking rosters of the current Jimmys.

    So stealing the show is the inimitable Charles Gray as an acerbic but highly successful author, not meant to be a Kingley Amis type but he might as well have been. His cynicism, nastiness and generally horrible nature is astounding to listen to, but of course the unique Gray, in a role just before he did the "Rocky Horror" film, raises it to classic status.

    His verbal adversary is Pickup who plays a professor of philology who is so agreeable, or seems to be at first glance, so noncommittal as to appear to be an intelligent buffoon. He plays off the other characters especially his best friend fellow prof James Bolam in verbal sparring matches where he is inherently always the loser, and once the opening scene's very black and morbid comedy is out of the way, he is a bit hard to take, perhaps accounting for the play's failure on stage when starring the likes of (talented but not in Pickup's class) Alec McCowen and more recently Matthew Broderick.

    The DVD revival of this masterwork is pegged to the supporting role of Helen Mirren, in her thriving stage career post-showy film roles for Michael Powell, Ken Russell and Lindsay Anderson. She is a beautiful, natch, foil for Pickup and her presence some 40 years later as I watched helped generate sympathy for Ronald since in retrospect he is up against perhaps the most successful actress in her particular range. Their final scene together is immensely moving and worth waiting for after the more shallow ones preceding it.

    Special mention should be given to the ultra-sexy performance by Jacqueline Pearce in a rather strangely written nymphomaniac role. I had seen her many times making a good impression in everything from Hammer Films to "The Avengers" with Patrick Macnee, but this sexpot is how I will remember her.

    The only fault with "The Philanthropist", way too late for a decades-after rewrite, is that Hampton sabotages the heart of the work by way too much emphasis on showing off. Entertaining to be sure, but the more he piles on with social criticism and satirical characterizations the more distance he establishes between the characters and the viewer. I have several (thank God not too many) of The Philanthropist's traits, notably taking everything literally, so I began to identify with him, but simply imagining a Boulevard comedian like Broderick in the role (or any of the great French stars in a Moliere vein like Pierre Mondy or Michel Serrault) I could see where a well-adjusted audience would slough the character and the play off as merely mildly amusing.
    helpful•3
    0
    • lor_
    • Dec 28, 2015

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • October 29, 1975 (United Kingdom)
    • Country of origin
      • United Kingdom
    • Language
      • English
    • Production company
      • British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 30 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.33 : 1

    Related news

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    • IMDb Answers: Help fill gaps in our data
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    View list
    List
    2022 TV Guide: The Best Shows Coming This Year
    See the full list
    Image caption not available
    2:02
    LGBTQIA+ Movies and Shows to Watch This Summer
    Watch the video

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb App
    • Get the IMDb App
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • IMDb Developer
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Interest-Based Ads
    IMDb, an Amazon company

    © 1990-2022 by IMDb.com, Inc.