A man who'd 'prefer not to' in 28 minutes of maddening workplace rebellion.
Bartleby, an enigmatic man who calmly refuses to carry out his duties, is introduced in this period dramatization of Melville’s haunting story as a scrivener in a 1969 film production of Encyclopedia Britannica Educational Corporation.
Acting
Campbell's dead-eyed refusal is genuinely unsettling.
Direction
Yust turns a claustrophobic office into existential theater.
Director
Larry Yust
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This educational film was shot in actual 19th-century offices, lending accidental authenticity to Melville's proto-Kafka nightmare.
The 'prefer not to' phrase became a rallying cry for Occupy Wall Street—Bartleby as accidental revolutionary icon.
US
