The Bespoke Overcoat

The Bespoke Overcoat
Film poster
Directed byJack Clayton
Written byNikolai Gogol
Wolf Mankowitz
Produced byGeorge K. Arthur
Jack Clayton
StarringAlfie Bass
David Kossoff
CinematographyWolfgang Suschitzky
Edited byStan Hawkes
Production
company
Distributed byBritish Lion Films
Release date
  • 7 October 1956 (1956-10-07)
Running time
33 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Budget£5,000

The Bespoke Overcoat is a 1956 British black and white short film directed by Jack Clayton, based on a 1953 play of the same name by Wolf Mankowitz. The story is an adaptation of Nikolai Gogol's short story The Overcoat with the action moved from Russia to the East End of London. In this version the protagonists are poor Jews working in the clothing trade, played by Alfie Bass and David Kossoff. It won an Oscar at the 29th Academy Awards in 1957 for Best Short Subject (Two-Reel).