In Staircase Rex Harrison and Richard Burton play Charles and Harry, a squabbling gay couple. They run a barber shop in East London and care for Harry’s ailing mother. Charles is summoned to court for performing in drag, putting their futures in jeopardy. Playwright Charles Dyer named one character after himself. The other, Harry C. Leeds, was an anagram of Dyer’s name. The play opened in London in 1966, when homosexual behavior was still illegal in the UK. In 1968 the play flopped on Broadway. In 1969 the story flopped on film.
Twentieth Century Fox thought that casting two stars in a low budget drama was a recipe for awards. But Harrison and Burton commanded expensive salaries. And director Stanley Donen emphasized the toxic side of their relationship. Whatever warmth or humor was present on stage was gone here.
I’ll break down the plot in this spoiler filled recap:
Tumbling Down
Act One: Routine
RICHARD BURTON (A gloomy barber. Wears bandages on his bald head.): I hate sex organs. I wish we were aliens with antennas.
REX HARRISON (A retired actor. Vain and hyper.) She’s dark today. Dark today. Rub-a-dub? Rub-a-dub?
BURTON: What are you doing? Is this Polari?
HARRISON: It’s just how I talk. How I talk.
BURTON: You’ve got a letter.
HARRISON: Me daughter’s coming to visit. To visit. I’ll need you gone. You gone.
BURTON: That sounds like the premise of a much better play.
Act Two: Conflict
OFFICER: You’re summoned to court on Friday. You’re accused of wearing a dress and propositioning an officer.
HARRISON: Lord help us and Oscar Wilde! It was for the theater. That officer entrapped me.
BURTON: I don’t believe you. You wicked, vain old queen!
HARRISON: I’m only wicked because of society you ugly brute! Society!
BURTON: Nonsense. Even if we were in bloody France you’d still be a narcissist!
HARRISON: Take off those silly bandages and put on this wig!
BURTON: Never!
(They fight over the wig. Burton slaps him.)
HARRISON: Hardly role models for domesticity, are we? Are we?
Act Three: Reckoning
BURTON: The park was lovely. But why can those straight couples make love in public while we can’t even hold hands?
HARRISON: Who wants to hold your hand, rub-a-dub? I’d rather hire a hustler.
(Hustler comes and goes. Burton has a heart attack.)
HARRISON: God, I’m sorry I was mean to Burton. Help him through and I’ll never be cruel again.
BURTON: I’m fine. I’m going to put on my wig and walk you to court.
HARRISON: Your wig is hideous. I’ll go to court alone.
(Harrison reaches the street corner, then has a panic attack.)
HARRSION: HELP!
(Burton joins him. They go together.)
THE END
Whoops!
The two stars seem terribly uncomfortable.
Vincent Canby, New York Times, 1969
Neither [Harrison] nor Burton is believable for more than seconds.
Roger Ebert, Chicago Tribune, 1969
Staircase gives us a truth. One that the bulk of the heterosexual audience does not want to hear or believe: homosexuals are human. Just like us.
William Goldman, The Season: A Candid Look at Broadway, 1969
Homosexuality, not loneliness, is their problem and no solution is possible… Trying to be normal is what makes (them) so miserable and that is what the film is about.
Vito Russo, The Celluloid Closet, 1981
Mart Crowley’s The Boys in the Band premiered on Broadway shortly after Staircase folded. It was criticized for its portrayal of self-loathing gay men. In later decades it was re-evaluated and embraced. Staircase was revived in 2021 at the Southwark Playhouse. It received polite reviews but was not regarded as a lost gem.
Jean Poiret cited Staircase as an inspiration for his 1973 farce La Cage Aux Folles. A gay couple attempts to play straight when their conservative in laws visit. Chaos ensues but the gays win the day. The play inspired sequels, a Hollywood remake (The Birdcage) and a hit Broadway musical. This may be the true legacy of Staircase.
You can find more of my reviews on The Avocado, Letterboxd and Serializd. My podcast, Rainbow Colored Glasses, can be found here.