Mr. BURTON
showing Friday 5th September Starting 7.30 pm.
Doors open 7pm. Bar & refreshments available. Entrance £5 on the door.
Mr. Burton is a Feature Drama charting the relationship between a Port Talbot school teacher and a wild young school boy called Richie Jenkins, who was the son of a boozy miner. Richie dreamed of becoming an actor and Philip recognized his raw talent, tutored him and became his adoptive father. This film is the story of how Richie Jenkins was turned into Richard Burton the greatest star Wales has ever produced and who later said of Philip Burton that ‘I owe him everything’. (IMdB)
Audience Review
A wonderful Welsh British film that follows the early years of Richard Burton. While the film follows the rather familiar beats of initial productive relationship, bust up and reconciliation, it is nevertheless carried away by great performances by a stellar British cast. Needless to say, Toby Jones steals the show as the titular teacher/mentor, effortlessly moving through the gamut of emotions of hope, fears and dreams through disappointment, hurt and anger and Lesley Manville is delightful as his (and eventually Richie’s) landlady, perfectly capturing mid century mores and humanity. Harry Lawtey puts in a spirited performance but is perhaps slightly overshadowed by his elder peers. He is especially convincing in conveying the famous rolling baritone that Richard Jenkins /Burton consciously developed but perhaps doesn’t fully escape from under his other recent role as an ambitious working class young man in Industry. The pacing of the film is superb and is a testament to the values of a particular type of British movie making. (2025)