Joseph Losey @100

[Youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaVXuBW1Y2s]

Famous seduction scene (with dripping water faucet and many Pinter pauses) of The Servant

Joseph Losey was an American theatre and film director (1909 – 1984). One-time student of Bertolt Brecht, his best-known film is The Servant (1963).

The Servant stars Dirk Bogarde, Sarah Miles, Wendy Craig, and James Fox and was adapted for the screen by Harold Pinter (the first of his three collaborations with Losey, the others are Accident (1967) and The Go-Between (1970)) from the novel of the same name by Robin Maugham. It is a tightly woven psychological drama that focuses on the relationships between the four central characters. The intricacies of class, servitude, ennui, role reversal and Pyrrhic victory are examined and exploded.

Each of the collaborations with Harold Pinter examined aspects of the British class system in their reflection of the master-servant relationship.

Outside of The Servant, I’ve seen The Go-Between (1970), The Prowler (1951) and Galileo (1975).

On my wishlist are:

• The Boy with Green Hair (1948)
• M (1951)
• The Intimate Stranger (1956)
• The Damned (1963)
• Modesty Blaise (1966)
• Accident (1967)
• Boom! (1968)
• The Assassination of Trotsky (1972)
• A Doll’s House (1973)
• Monsieur Klein (1976)