The Servant / The Caretaker

THE SERVANT, 1963, Stuart Lisell, 112 min. Dir. Joseph Losey. A rich young playboy, Tony (James Fox) decides he can’t get along without a valet when he strikes out on his own and makes the mistake of hiring Barret (Dirk Bogarde), a seemingly obsequious "gentleman’s gentleman." But Tony gets more than he bargains for when Barret slowly starts to exert his decadent, sinister influence, first installing his "sister" Vera (Sarah Miles) in an upstairs bedroom, then gradually usurping mastery of the household. With Wendy Craig.

THE CARETAKER, 1963, Caretaker Films/Judy Daish Associates, 100 min. Dir. Clive Donner. Quiet suit-and-tie-wearing packrat Robert Shaw and his brother Alan Bates own a decaying townhouse. In the midst of a brutal winter -- out of equal parts loneliness and compassion -- Shaw lets an old tramp (Donald Pleasence) stay the night. But Pleasence doesn’t leave, separately offered the job of caretaker by both sincere Shaw and mind-games-playing Bates.