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01/01/1976 Documentary 1h 40m
56
User score

Overview

This feature-length Oscar®-nominated documentary focuses on Malcolm Lowry, author of one of the major novels of the 20th century, Under the Volcano. But while Lowry fought a winning battle with words, he lost his battle with alcohol. Shot on location in four countries, the film combines photographs, readings by Richard Burton from the novel and interviews with the people who loved and hated Lowry, to create a vivid portrait of the man.

  1. John Kramer

    Director

  2. Donald Brittain

    Director, Writer

Top billed cast

  1. Richard Burton

    Malcolm Lowry (voice)

  2. Donald Brittain

    Narrator (voice)

  3. Marjorie Bonner

    herself

  4. Arthur Calder-Marshall

    Himself

  5. Albert Russel Erskine

    Himself

  6. John Buchan

    Himself (Archive Footage)

  7. View more

Full Cast & Crew

Reviews

A review by CinemaSerf
Written by CinemaSerf on 2026-04-05
Richard Burton could have made reading the phone book sound interesting, but when you gave him Dylan Thomas or, in this case, Malcolm Lowry to quote it proves exceptional. That's as well, really, because otherwise this is a singularly sad story about the author of ''Under the Volcano''. Born of reasonably wealthy Liverpudlian stock, Lowry wanted for nothing but like so many in that situation - he was bored. At a young age he signed on to work as a cabin boy on a freighter and that's when he started to hone his skills with the bottle. Returning and heading to Cambridge he also had to face his o...read the rest
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Status
Released

Original Language
English

Budget
$0.00

Revenue
$0.00

Keywords