Three Sisters movie storyline. Olga (Jeanne Watts), Masha (Dame Joan Plowright), and Irina Prozoroff (Louise Purnell) lead lonely and purposeless lives following the death of their father who had commanded the local army post. Olga attempts to find satisfaction in teaching, but secretly longs for a home and family. Masha, unhappy with her marriage to a timid schoolmaster, falls hopelessly in love with married Colonel Vershinin (Sir Alan Bates). Irina works in the local telegraph office, but longs for gaiety.
Their sense of futility is increased by their brother’s marriage to Natasha (Sheila Reid), a coarse peasant girl. She gradually encroaches on the family home until even the private refuge of the sisters is destroyed. They dream of starting a new life in Moscow, but are saddled with the practicalities of their quiet existence. Despite their failures, they resolve to seek some purpose and hope when the army post is withdrawn from the town.
Three Sisters is a 1970 British drama film starring Alan Bates, Laurence Olivier and Joan Plowright, based on the 1901 play by Anton Chekhov. Olivier also directed, with co-director John Sichel; it was the final feature film directed by Olivier. The film was based on a 1967 theatre production that Olivier had directed at the Royal National Theatre.
Both the theatrical production and the film used the translation from the original Russian by Moura Budberg. The film was released in the U.S. in 1974 as part of the American Film Theatre. This was a series of thirteen film adaptations of stage plays shown to subscribers at about 500 movie theaters across the country.
Three Sisters (1970)
Directed by: Laurence Olivier, John Sichel
Starring: Alan Bates, Laurence Olivier, Joan Plowright, Derek Jacobi, Sheila Reid, Kenneth MacKintosh, Daphne Heard, Harry Lomax, Judy Wilson, Mary Griffiths, Ronald Pickup
Screenplay by: Moura Budberg
Production Design by: Josef Svoboda
Cinematography by: Geoffrey Unsworth
Film Editing by: Jack Harris
Costume Design by: Beatrice Dawson
Art Direction by: William Hutchinson
Music by: William Walton
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: British Lion Films (UK), American Film Theatre (US)
Release Date: November 2, 1970 (UK), February 4, 1974 (US)
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