Mr Burton – Life Before Hollywood
Written by Dr Zoe Crombie.
It stands as a testament to the enduring rigidity of the classical Hollywood system that, to this day, it’s difficult to see its performers as anything other than intangible stars, distant icons of the era they defined. Biopics like Judy, Chaplin, and the many Monroe movies if anything seek to immortalise their stars more than to deconstruct them, especially as they tend to focus on the mythological narrative of the grand rise and fall.
In contrast to this cinematic tradition, Marc Evan’s quiet biographical drama Mr Burton focuses on the very beginning of the story of its subject – the legendary stage and screen star Richard Burton, who was once the Welsh youngster Richard Jenkins. Starring Harry Lawtey as Jenkins in his youth and the brilliant Toby Jones as the titular schoolmaster who became his namesake, inspiration, and father figure, the film occupies a strange space between the inevitable success of its star and the quiet loneliness of the man who raised him to this position.
A celebration of the figures who bolster talent behind the scenes, and before the rise, Mr Burton is a fascinating account of Richard Burton’s early life itself lifted by Lawtey, Jones, and a welcome supporting turn from Lesley Manville.
See Mr Burton at the Dukes between 11th - 17th April!
