In The Ebony Tower an ageing Laurence Olivier plays Breasley, a celebrated and now elderly painter who has his solitary life (save for the presence of the two mostly nude young girls, Greta Scacchi and Toyah Wilcox) disrupted by the arrival of a younger artist, David Williams, who has been commissioned to write a biography of Breasley.
It’s all rather slight but it gained quite a lot of publicity at the time thanks to the female stars spending a lot of time sunbathing in the nude, much to the Oliviers clear delight!
production details
UK / ITV – Granada / 1×90 minute episode / Broadcast 9 December 1984
Writer: John Mortimer / Novel: John Fowles / Music: Richard Rodney-Bennett / Director: Robert Knights
cast
Laurence Olivier as Henry Breasley
Roger Rees as David Williams
Greta Scacchi as Diana aka Mouse
Toyah Wilcox as Anne aka Freak
Denise Bailly as Mathilde
Yves Brainville as Jean-Pierre
Georgina Melville as Beth
