From Krull to Classic: How Peter Yates Saved His 1983 With The Dresser

Few directors had a year quite like Peter Yates in 1983.

Within six months, the English filmmaker went from delivering one of the decade’s most expensive box office bombs to receiving an Academy Award nomination for Best Director.

In July, Yates unleashed the sci-fi epic Krull, a big-budget attempt at creating Columbia Pictures’ own Star Wars. It was a spectacular failure. By December, he returned with The Dresser—a refined, actor-driven drama that critics hailed as an instant classic.

“One for Them, One for Me”

Speaking to L.A. Weekly in December 1983, Yates was reminded of a philosophy he’d once shared:

one for the studios, one for himself.

He claimed he had forgotten ever saying this, but admitted the sentiment made sense. Yates never called any of his films passionless, but he acknowledged a difference between being a director-for-hire and championing material from start to finish.

Krull, as it turned out, was very much the former.

The Expensive Gamble of Krull

In late 1981, still stung from the underwhelming box office of his thriller Eyewitness, Yates signed on for Krull. Columbia wanted a franchise. They gave him a massive budget—reportedly more than $30 million, ballooning during production—and the mandate to build a world from scratch.

Yates threw himself into the job.

He crafted enormous sets, filled soundstages, and approached the film professionally and seriously. He saw Krull not only as spectacle, but as romance and adventure.

History was not kind.

Marketing for the film was a mess (see the infamous “Krull Wedding giveaway” fiasco), and reviews were brutal:

• “Bloated”

• “Boring”

• “Knockoff”

Audiences stayed away.

Krull grossed $16 million against nearly $50 million in costs—one of the decade’s most notorious flops.

But Yates barely had time to mourn.

He was already pursuing the project that would change everything.

A Fateful Lunch: Discovering The Dresser

In early 1983, over lunch with friends Jason Robards and Christopher Plummer, both actors raved about a play they’d heard of: The Dresser.

The play centered on a legendary Shakespearean actor, known only as Sir, and the faithful dresser who helps him hold himself together as age, ego, and exhaustion take their toll.

Robards and Plummer dreamed of a Broadway version for themselves.

Yates listened.

And he took notes.

Back in London, he saw The Dresser onstage and recognized its cinematic potential. He immediately contacted the playwright, Ronald Harwood, who embraced the idea. Together they reimagined the play for film—expanding it beyond the single backstage dressing room set.

Studio executives were unconvinced.

That is, until Yates found the perfect leading man.

Albert Finney and Tom Courtenay: A Perfect Pair

Albert Finney was that rare English actor who conquered both West End theater and the American box office. Casting him as Sir transformed the project.

Even more remarkable was the return of Tom Courtenay. Once a celebrated young star of The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, Courtenay had stepped away from film for more than a decade. He’d chosen the stage over lucrative movie offers, uncertain of his own training and confidence.

But The Dresser changed that.

It was the first film script in years that he felt was worthy of leaving the stage for.

Two Films, Two Outcomes

Production on The Dresser began in May 1983.

Two months later, on July 29, Krull opened.

The reviews were savage, and box office numbers were grim. Industry writers insisted Columbia had tried—and failed—to clone Star Wars.

Yates didn’t care.

He was already immersed in The Dresser.

By December, the critics seemed to have forgotten Krull ever existed.

Critical Triumph

Praise was ecstatic:

“Two riveting performances… Producer-Director Peter Yates has done a marvelous job.”

— Bruce Williamson, Playboy

“Courtenay and Finney deserve Academy Awards… superb leadership from Peter Yates.”

— Bruce Kirkland, Toronto Sun

“Triumphant! My favorite film of the year.”

— Jeffrey Lyons, Sneak Previews

Roger Ebert awarded four stars, calling the film:

“Fascinating us on the surface with color and humor… and then revealing the truth underneath.”

What made the success even sweeter?

The Dresser cost just over $1 million—a fraction of Krull’s craft services budget.

Oscar Night Redemption

The Dresser was nominated for four Academy Awards:

• Best Actor — Albert Finney

• Best Actor — Tom Courtenay

• Best Picture

• Best Director — Peter Yates

Yes.

The same year he directed Krull, Yates stood alongside:

• Ingmar Bergman (Fanny and Alexander)

• Mike Nichols (Silkwood)

• Bruce Beresford (Tender Mercies)

• James L. Brooks (Terms of Endearment)

Few filmmakers have ever had such a dramatic turnaround.

A Year That Could Have Broken Him

For most directors, Krull would have been a career-ending disaster.

For Peter Yates, it was simply the other half of the equation.

He followed the flop with a masterpiece.

He turned a humiliating box office failure into a personal, artistic triumph.

One for them. One for me.

⸻

Sources

L.A. Weekly, December 1983

Los Angeles Times, December 1983

RogerEbert.com

IMDB: Krull and The Dresser