Dr. Frank Bryant (Michael Caine) is an alcoholic professor of literature headed for dire straits. Rita is a frustrated young housewife filled with wanderlust. When the two meet as student and teacher, no lecture hall can contain their attraction for one another. As Rita engages her teacher in a fuzzy romance, she matures and discovers a new side of herself, but in the end she must choose either her marriage or the magnetic Dr. Bryant.

EDUCATING RITA reunites director Lewis Gilbert with star Michael Caine--they previously worked together in the 1966 drama ALFIE--and once again their collaboration is staggering. Bryant's shortcomings as a drunk and a womanizer are detestable, yet still Gilbert allows viewers to empathize with his character. In EDUCATING RITA, Gilbert once again demonstrates that he is not only a master of commanding the camera but a master at deconstructing the human heart as well.

In a determined effort to escape her working class background, a young hairdresser hires a tutor to instruct her in the classics. She ends up giving her disillusioned, oft- inebriated professor a lesson in making the most of life. The film is a charming PYGMALION-like comedy.

Director Lewis Gilbert teamed up with playwright Willy Russell again in 1989's SHIRLEY VALENTINE.

The film was originally rated R by the MPAA, but received a PG rating on appeal.

DVD Features:

Region 1
Keep Case
Letterbox - 1.85
Widescreen - 1.85
Audio:
Dolby Digital Stereo - English
Dolby Digital Stereo - French
Additional Release Material:
Trailers
Interactive Features:
Scene Selection
Interactive Menus

Michael Caine: British Actor, ALFIE (1966)
Julie Walters: British Actress
Maureen Lipman: British Actress
Michael Williams: English Actor

Lewis Gilbert: Director/Producer/Screenwriter

"...An irresistible story....RITA is one of those memorable screen personas that seem to be lacking nowadays...Julie Walters injects her with just the right mix of comedy and pathos..."