Columbia (Goldcrest, UK)
Oscar nominations: 5
Picture, produced by Peter Yates
Director: Peter Yates
Screenplay (Adapted): Ronald Harwood
Actor: Albert Finney
Actor: Tom Courtenay
Oscar Awards: None
Oscar Context
“The Dresser” is one of the few films that garnered two Best Actor nominations, for Albert Finney and Tom Courtenay, who might have cancelled each other out; the winner was Robert Duvall for “Tender Mercies.”
The most nominated film in 1983, “Terms of Endearment” received five Oscars out of its 11 nominations. It's one of the few films in the Academy's history, in which two actresses, MacLaine and Winger, were nominated in the lead category; other films include “All About Eve” and The Turning Point,” also with MacLaine (and Anne Bancroft).
Its major competitor was Philip Kaufman's action-adventure “The Right Stuff,” which won four technical wards out of 8 nominations. The other contenders were smaller, more intimate dramas, such as “The Big Chill” and “Tender Mercies.”
