National Theatre Live: The Motive and the Cue

Mar 21, 2024

2h 45m

★ 7.5

Overview

In 1964, Richard Burton, newly married to Elizabeth Taylor, is to play the title role in an experimental new Broadway production of Hamlet under Sir John Gielgud’s exacting direction. But as rehearsals progress, two ages of theatre collide and the collaboration between actor and director soon threatens to unravel.

Genres

Drama

Production Companies

National Theatre

Neal Street Productions

National Theatre Live: The Motive and the Cue Trailers

Cast

Richard Burton

Johnny Flynn

Sir John Gielgud

Mark Gatiss

Elizabeth Taylor

Tuppence Middleton

Aysha Kala

William Redfield

Luke Norris

Hume Cronyn

Allan Corduner

George Voskovec

Ryan Ellsworth

Jessica Levy

Elena Delia

Clement Fowler

Huw Parmenter

Hugh McHaffie

Laurence Ubong Williams

Michael Walters

Mick Burrows

Mark Extance

The life and career of shock-jock superstar Howard Stern is recounted from his humble beginnings to his view from the top. Possessing a desire to be an on-air personality since childhood, Stern meanders through the radio world, always with his supportive wife, Alison, by his side. Landing a gig in Washington, D.C., Stern meets Robin Quivers, who will become his long-time partner in crime. When the two move to New York, they face the wrath of NBC executives.

5.5

Dirty Dancing

May 24, 2017

Spending the summer at a Catskills resort with her family, Frances "Baby" Houseman falls in love with the camp's dance instructor, Johnny Castle, and nothing is ever the same for anyone in the Houseman family.

6.5

Eric LaRue

Apr 4, 2025

Janice is struggling; she moves through life as if in a haze, unable to let go of her anger and frustration. While her husband has found refuge at a new church, Janice finds it hard to seek solace in her faith despite her pastor’s pleas to heal her wounds by meeting with the mothers of her son’s victims.

7.2

Father Stu

Apr 13, 2022

The true-life story of boxer-turned-priest. When an injury ends his amateur boxing career, Stuart Long moves to Los Angeles to find money and fame. While scraping by as a supermarket clerk, he meets Carmen, a Sunday school teacher who seems immune to his bad-boy charm. Determined to win her over, the longtime agnostic starts going to church to impress her. However, a motorcycle accident leaves him wondering if he can use his second chance to help others, leading to the surprising realization that he's meant to be a Catholic priest.

7.4

The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant

Oct 5, 1972

Petra von Kant is a successful fashion designer -- arrogant, caustic, and self-satisfied. She mistreats Marlene (her secretary, maid, and co-designer). Enter Karin, a 23-year-old beauty who wants to be a model. Petra falls in love with Karin and invites her to move in.

7.3

Patch Adams

Dec 25, 1998

The true story of Dr. Hunter "Patch" Adams, who in the 1970s found that humor is the best medicine, and was willing to do just anything to make his patients laugh—even if it meant risking his own career.

7.0

Quadrophenia

Sep 14, 1979

Based on the 1973 rock opera album of the same name by The Who, this is the story of 60s teenager Jimmy. At work he slaves in a dead-end job. While after, he shops for tailored suits and rides his scooter as part of the London Mod scene.

5.3

Hanging Up

Feb 16, 2000

Three sisters - Georgia, Eve, and Maddy - do what they do best with life, love, and lunacy on the telephone lines that bind - when their curmudgeonly father, Lou, is admitted to a Los Angeles Hospital. After years of wild living, intermittent affection, and constant phoning, he is finally threatening to die.

6.5

The Limey

Oct 8, 1999

The Limey follows Wilson, a tough English ex-con who travels to Los Angeles to avenge his daughter's death. Upon arrival, Wilson goes to task battling Valentine and an army of L.A.'s toughest criminals, hoping to find clues and piece together what happened. After surviving a near-death beating, getting thrown from a building and being chased down a dangerous mountain road, the Englishman decides to dole out some bodily harm of his own.

7.4

The Hurricane

Sep 17, 1999

The story of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, a boxer wrongly imprisoned for murder, and the people who aided in his fight to prove his innocence.

6.6

Strictly Ballroom

Aug 20, 1992

Brave new steps put Scott's career in jeopardy. With a new partner and determination, can he still succeed?

6.3

Hoffa

Dec 25, 1992

A portrait of union leader James R. Hoffa, as seen through the eyes of his friend, Bobby Ciaro. The film follows Hoffa through his countless battles with the RTA and President Roosevelt.

6.0

Sanyasi Raja

Jun 19, 1975

Zamindar Surya Kishore Chowdhury is a kind-hearted man who loves playing chess and is a fantastic singer. While he cares for his estate and the people, he is careless towards his wife, Indu's feelings. Dr. Bijoy Chakrabarty, who was helped by the zamindar during his student days, lives in his palace and one day, he successfully executes his plot to murder the zamindar while coercing Indu to keep quiet. However, fate takes a different turn and in the cremation grounds, a monk saves the life of the zamindar, who returns to his estate no more as an aristocratic noble but as a monk at heart.

7.6

The Longest Day

Sep 25, 1962

The retelling of June 6, 1944, from the perspectives of the Germans, US, British, Canadians, and the Free French. Marshall Erwin Rommel, touring the defenses being established as part of the Reich's Atlantic Wall, notes to his officers that when the Allied invasion comes they must be stopped on the beach. "For the Allies as well as the Germans, it will be the longest day"

6.8

Chariots of Fire

May 15, 1981

In the class-obsessed and religiously divided UK of the early 1920s, two determined young runners train for the 1924 Paris Olympics. Eric Liddell, a devout Christian born to Scottish missionaries in China, sees running as part of his worship of God's glory and refuses to train or compete on the Sabbath. Harold Abrahams overcomes anti-Semitism and class bias, but neglects his beloved sweetheart in his single-minded quest.

6.7

Bully

Jun 15, 2001

A pack of naïve teenagers conspire to murder a mutual friend, whose aggressive demeanour has proven too much.

6.8

Chopper

Jun 21, 2000

The true and infamous story of Australia's notorious criminal Mark 'Chopper' Read and his years of crime, interest in violence, drugs and prostitutes.

6.7

Lantana

Oct 4, 2001

Plagued with grief over the murder of her daughter, Valerie Somers suspects that her husband John is cheating on her. When Valerie disappears, Detective Leon Zat attempts to solve the mystery of her absence. A complex web of love, sex and deceit emerges -- drawing in four related couples whose various partners are distrustful and suspicious about each other's involvement.

6.5

My Friend Dahmer

Nov 3, 2017

Jeffrey Dahmer struggles with a difficult family life as a young boy. During his teenage years he slowly transforms, edging closer to the serial killer he was to become.