# The Dead (1987 film)
**The Dead** is a 1987 drama film directed by [John Huston](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-huston), his last feature film, adapted from [James Joyce](https://www.edgepedia.org/james-joyce)'s short story "The Dead", the final story in the 1914 collection *Dubliners*. The screenplay was written by Huston's son Tony Huston, and the film stars Huston's daughter [Anjelica Huston](https://www.edgepedia.org/anjelica-huston) as Gretta Conroy and Donal McCann as her husband Gabriel.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57596-THE-DEAD) • [2](https://www.criterion.com/films/32200-the-dead) Set at an Epiphany dinner party in Dublin in January 1904, it follows a married couple whose evening ends with Gretta's revelation of a long-dead first love, casting the whole night in a new light.[2](https://www.criterion.com/films/32200-the-dead)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director / final film | John Huston, aged 80; his last feature before his death on 28 August 1987[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57596-THE-DEAD) |
| Source | Short story "The Dead" from *Dubliners* (1914) by James Joyce; screenplay by Tony Huston[2](https://www.criterion.com/films/32200-the-dead) |
| Principal cast | Anjelica Huston (Gretta), Donal McCann (Gabriel), Helena Carroll (Aunt Kate), Cathleen Delany (Aunt Julia), Frank Patterson (Bartell D'Arcy)[2](https://www.criterion.com/films/32200-the-dead) |
| Setting | A dinner party and musical soirée at the Morkan sisters' house in Dublin on 6 January 1904[3](https://www.ifihome.ie/film/the-dead/) |
| Production | $5.5-million budget; interiors filmed on a Valencia, California soundstage, exteriors in Ireland, January to April 1987[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57596-THE-DEAD) |
| Release | 17 December 1987 (US), distributed by Vestron Pictures; US gross $766.4K[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_dead) |
| Reception | 94% Tomatometer from 34 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_dead) |
| Running time | 83 minutes[5](https://www.bfi.org.uk/film/ee332243-daa5-59ce-a62e-3005a0eb2d31/the-dead) |
## Spoilers
### Story and source
The film compresses Joyce's story into essentially two scenes: an annual dinner and dance hosted by the elderly Misses Morkan and their niece Mary Jane, a music teacher, and the hotel-room conversation afterward. Among the guests are Gabriel Conroy and his wife Gretta. As the [New Year](https://www.edgepedia.org/new-year) dawns in 1904, the evening's songs and dances give way to Gretta's memory of Michael Furey, a young man from Galway who died for love of her, after the tenor Bartell D'Arcy sings "The Lass of Aughrim".[3](https://www.ifihome.ie/film/the-dead/) • [6](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-the-dead-1987)
Tony Huston's screenplay is generally regarded as faithful to Joyce's text. Roger Ebert, longtime film critic of the *Chicago Sun-Times* and winner of the 1975 [Pulitzer Prize](https://www.edgepedia.org/pulitzer-prize) for criticism, noted that the movie reflects the book line for line and scene for scene, down to small details such as two young men slipping out for a drink during a piano recital.[6](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-the-dead-1987) A 2017 comparative study in the *International Journal of Comparative Literature and Translation Studies* found Huston's adaptation faithful to Joyce in character, costume, culture, and language.[7](https://researchers.westernsydney.edu.au/en/publications/uncovering-cinematic-adaptations-of-james-joyces-the-dead/) The main addition is Mr. Grace (Seán McClory), a character created for the film who recites an English translation of the Middle Irish poem "Donal Óg"; the nascent romance between Bartell D'Arcy and Miss O'Callaghan was also added.[8](https://www.amerlit.com/films/FILMS%20The%20Dead%20%281914%29%20by%20Irish%20writer%20James%20Joyce%20adapted%20by%20John%20Huston%201987.pdf) Tony Huston also inserted the lament into the story to foreshadow the film's last scene.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57596-THE-DEAD) Toward the close, the story's famous final passage, Gabriel's meditation on the snow falling over Ireland, is spoken in voiceover.[9](https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/film/the-dead-1.1066520)
## Production
[Principal photography](https://www.edgepedia.org/principal-photography) began on 19 January 1987. The $5.5-million production was originally scheduled for Ardmore Studios in Dublin, but because of Huston's frailty the interiors were filmed on a soundstage in Valencia, California, in January, February, and March 1987, and a second unit shot exteriors in Ireland in March and April.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57596-THE-DEAD) Because of his emphysema, Huston had to oversee the production while seated in a wheelchair that carried an oxygen bottle, and he frequently observed the performers from a video monitor positioned away from the set. Because he was uninsurable, his friend, the director Karel Reisz, volunteered to serve as an "insurance stand-in".[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57596-THE-DEAD)
The cast was all Irish or of Irish descent.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57596-THE-DEAD) The actress Siobhan McKenna had been set to star but died two months before production began.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57596-THE-DEAD) The crew included several Huston veterans: Fred Murphy as director of photography, Roberto Silvi as editor, Alex North composing the music, Stephen Grimes on production design, and Dorothy Jeakins, persuaded out of retirement, on wardrobe.[2](https://www.criterion.com/films/32200-the-dead) • [10](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-12-17-ca-29553-story.html) Frank Patterson, described in a 1987 [Minneapolis](https://www.edgepedia.org/minneapolis) review as "Ireland's greatest tenor", played Bartell D'Arcy.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57596-THE-DEAD)
Huston did not live to see the release. He died on 28 August 1987, six days before the film screened at the [Venice Film Festival](https://www.edgepedia.org/venice-film-festival).[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57596-THE-DEAD) • [11](https://medias-distribution.lab.arte.tv/files/JOHN_HUSTON_VE.pdf) The opening credits carry the dedication "For Maricela", to his longtime companion Maricela Hernandez.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57596-THE-DEAD) A behind-the-scenes documentary, *John Huston & the Dubliners*, was directed by Lilyan Sievernich, wife of producer Chris Sievernich, after [Danny Huston](https://www.edgepedia.org/danny-huston), originally chosen for the role, was not involved.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57596-THE-DEAD)
## Reception
Reviews were positive, though some conceded the literary film was "not for everyone"; Vestron Pictures president William J. Quigley called it a "specialized film" to be handled with care.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57596-THE-DEAD) Its first weekend in six theaters earned $74,756.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57596-THE-DEAD) Vincent Canby wrote in *The New York Times* that the film was "so fine, in unexpected ways, that it almost demands a re-evaluation of Huston's entire body of work".[12](https://mubi.com/en/films/the-dead/critics-reviews) Jonathan Rosenbaum praised its "concentrated simplicity and purity" and the "calmness about the way that Huston contemplates his own rapidly approaching death".[12](https://mubi.com/en/films/the-dead/critics-reviews) [The Irish Times](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-irish-times) critic Tara Brady later called it "the best translation of Joyce to film we have".[9](https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/film/the-dead-1.1066520)
Scholarly response has focused on the adaptation's fidelity and its personal dimension. A 2020 study in *Cogent Arts & Humanities* argued that Huston reshaped Gabriel's emotional character so that the film mirrors the director himself, while a 1997 psychoanalytic study found that important depths of characterization in Joyce's story are lost on screen.[13](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23311983.2020.1848754) • [14](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9489473/) Luke Gibbons, scholar of Irish studies, has argued that the film is a notable exception among Joyce adaptations in visualizing the voice, bringing free indirect style into cinematic form.[15](https://academic.oup.com/chicago-scholarship-online/book/13028/chapter-abstract/166228095)
## Restoration and home video
The film has been restored twice in recent years. The IFI Irish Film Archive, under the Screen Ireland Digital Restoration Project, produced a restoration from original 35mm elements using a new 4K scan of a pristine print held by the [Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences](https://www.edgepedia.org/academy-of-motion-picture-arts-and-sciences), with color grading supervised by Fred Murphy.[16](https://www.screenireland.ie/news/the-irish-film-institute-and-screen-ireland-digital-restoration-project-continues-in-2026-with-a-brand-new-2k-restoration-of-john-hustons-the-dead) The Criterion Collection issued the film as Spine #1295 on 4K UHD and Blu-ray, with a new 4K digital restoration supervised and approved by Murphy, a 2K restoration of *John Huston & the Dubliners*, and audio excerpts from Anjelica Huston's 2014 memoir *Watch Me*.[2](https://www.criterion.com/films/32200-the-dead) Reviewers of the 4K disc noted strong contrast and true-to-life color, with the caveat that the film is quite dim.[17](https://www.techradar.com/televisions/blu-ray/6-new-4k-blu-rays-from-january-2026-to-add-to-your-collection)
## References
1. [The Dead (1987), AFI Catalog of Feature Films](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57596-THE-DEAD)
2. [The Dead, The Criterion Collection](https://www.criterion.com/films/32200-the-dead)
3. [The Dead, IFI@Home](https://www.ifihome.ie/film/the-dead/)
4. [The Dead, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_dead)
5. [The Dead (1987), British Film Institute](https://www.bfi.org.uk/film/ee332243-daa5-59ce-a62e-3005a0eb2d31/the-dead)
6. [A Fitting Farewell for Huston, Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-the-dead-1987)
7. [Marandi & Anushiravani (2017), Uncovering cinematic adaptations of James Joyce's The Dead](https://researchers.westernsydney.edu.au/en/publications/uncovering-cinematic-adaptations-of-james-joyces-the-dead/)
8. [The Dead (1914) adapted by John Huston (1987), analysis](https://www.amerlit.com/films/FILMS%20The%20Dead%20%281914%29%20by%20Irish%20writer%20James%20Joyce%20adapted%20by%20John%20Huston%201987.pdf)
9. [Tara Brady, The Dead, The Irish Times (2012)](https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/film/the-dead-1.1066520)
10. [Sheila Benson, Huston's Graceful Farewell Stirs Emotions in 'The Dead', Los Angeles Times (1987)](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-12-17-ca-29553-story.html)
11. [John Huston documentary treatment, ARTE](https://medias-distribution.lab.arte.tv/files/JOHN_HUSTON_VE.pdf)
12. [The Dead (1987) critic reviews, MUBI](https://mubi.com/en/films/the-dead/critics-reviews)
13. [Ghandeharion & Abbaszadeh (2020), Hollywood Dubliners become personal, Cogent Arts & Humanities](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23311983.2020.1848754)
14. [Schwaber (1997), Huston's and Joyce's "The Dead", Psychoanalytic Study of the Child](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9489473/)
15. [Luke Gibbons, "Ghostly Light": Visualizing the Voice in James Joyce's and John Huston's "The Dead"](https://academic.oup.com/chicago-scholarship-online/book/13028/chapter-abstract/166228095)
16. [IFI and Screen Ireland Digital Restoration Project: The Dead](https://www.screenireland.ie/news/the-irish-film-institute-and-screen-ireland-digital-restoration-project-continues-in-2026-with-a-brand-new-2k-restoration-of-john-hustons-the-dead)
17. [6 new 4K Blu-rays from January 2026, TechRadar](https://www.techradar.com/televisions/blu-ray/6-new-4k-blu-rays-from-january-2026-to-add-to-your-collection)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Drama and biographical films (individual works) › Drama films 1980s › Released 1986 to 1989*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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