Educating Rita

Walters and Caine team beautifully in this adaptation of the successful Willy Russell play which finds Rita, an uneducated hairdresser, determined to improve her knowledge of literature. In so doing, she enlists the aid of tutor Frank: a disillusioned alcoholic, adeptly played by Caine. Together, the two find inspiration in one another's differences and experiences. Ultimately, the teacher receives a lesson in how to again appreciate his work and the classics as he observes his pupil's unique approach to her studies. Some deem this a "Pygmalion" for the '80s.