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Leigh became pregnant in 1956 and withdrew from the production of Coward 's comedy South Sea Bubble . The day after her final performance in the play she miscarried and entered a period of depression that lasted for months . The same year Olivier decided to direct and produce a film version of The Sleeping Prince , retitled The Prince and the Showgirl . Instead of appearing with Leigh , he cast Marilyn Monroe as the showgirl . Although the filming was challenging because of Monroe 's behaviour , the film was appreciated by the critics .
= = = Royal Court and Chichester ( 1957 – 63 ) = = =
During the production of The Prince and the Showgirl , Olivier , Monroe and her husband , the American playwright Arthur Miller , went to see the English Stage Company 's production of John Osborne 's Look Back in Anger at the Royal Court . Olivier had seen the play earlier in the run and disliked it , but Miller was convinced that Osborne had talent , and Olivier reconsidered . He was ready for a change of direction ; in 1981 he wrote :
I had reached a stage in my life that I was getting profoundly sick of — not just tired — sick . Consequently the public were , likely enough , beginning to agree with me . My rhythm of work had become a bit deadly : a classical or semi @-@ classical film ; a play or two at Stratford , or a nine @-@ month run in the West End , etc etc . I was going mad , desperately searching for something suddenly fresh and thrillingly exciting . What I felt to be my image was boring me to death .
Osborne was already at work on a new play , The Entertainer , an allegory of Britain 's post @-@ colonial decline , centred on a seedy variety comedian , Archie Rice . Having read the first act — all that was completed by then — Olivier asked to be cast in the part . He had for years maintained that he might easily have been a third @-@ rate comedian called " Larry Oliver " , and would sometimes play the character at parties . Behind Archie 's brazen façade there is a deep desolation , and Olivier caught both aspects , switching , in the words of the biographer Anthony Holden , " from a gleefully tacky comic routine to moments of the most wrenching pathos " . Tony Richardson 's production for the English Stage Company transferred from the Royal Court to the Palace Theatre in September 1957 ; after that it toured and returned to the Palace . The role of Archie 's daughter Jean was taken by three actresses during the various runs . The second of them was Joan Plowright , with whom Olivier began a relationship that endured for the rest of his life . Olivier said that playing Archie " made me feel like a modern actor again " . In finding an avant @-@ garde play that suited him , he was , as Osborne remarked , far ahead of Gielgud and Ralph Richardson , who did not successfully follow his lead for more than a decade . Their first substantial successes in works by any of Osborne 's generation were Alan Bennett 's Forty Years On ( Gielgud in 1968 ) and David Storey 's Home ( Richardson and Gielgud in 1970 ) .
Olivier received another BAFTA nomination for his supporting role in 1959 's The Devil 's Disciple . The same year , after a gap of two decades , Olivier returned to the role of Coriolanus , in a Stratford production directed by the 28 @-@ year @-@ old Peter Hall . Olivier 's performance received strong praise from the critics for its fierce athleticism combined with an emotional vulnerability . In 1960 he made his second appearance for the Royal Court company in Ionesco 's absurdist play Rhinoceros . The production was chiefly remarkable for the star 's quarrels with the director , Orson Welles , who according to the biographer Francis Beckett suffered the " appalling treatment " that Olivier had inflicted on Gielgud at Stratford five years earlier . Olivier again ignored his director and undermined his authority . In 1960 and 1961 Olivier appeared in Anouilh 's Becket on Broadway , first in the title role , with Anthony Quinn as the king , and later exchanging roles with his co @-@ star .
Two films featuring Olivier were released in 1960 . The first — filmed in 1959 — was Spartacus , in which he portrayed the Roman general , Marcus Licinius Crassus . His second was The Entertainer , shot while he was appearing in Coriolanus ; the film was well received by the critics , but not as warmly as the stage show had been . The reviewer for The Guardian thought the performances were good , and wrote that Olivier " on the screen as on the stage , achieves the tour de force of bringing Archie Rice ... to life " . For his performance , Olivier was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor . He also made an adaptation of The Moon and Sixpence in 1960 , winning an Emmy Award .
The Oliviers ' marriage was disintegrating during the late 1950s . While directing Charlton Heston in the 1960 play The Tumbler , Olivier divulged that " Vivien is several thousand miles away , trembling on the edge of a cliff , even when she 's sitting quietly in her own drawing room " , at a time when she was threatening suicide . In May 1960 divorce proceedings started ; Leigh reported the fact to the press and informed reporters of Olivier 's relationship with Plowright . The decree nisi was issued in December 1960 , which enabled him to marry Plowright in March 1961 . A son , Richard , was born in December 1961 ; two daughters followed , Tamsin Agnes Margaret — born in January 1963 — and Julie @-@ Kate , born in July 1966 .
In 1961 Olivier accepted the directorship of a new theatrical venture , the Chichester Festival . For the opening season in 1962 he directed two neglected 17th @-@ century English plays , John Fletcher 's 1638 comedy The Chances and John Ford 's 1633 tragedy The Broken Heart , followed by Uncle Vanya . The company he recruited was forty strong and included Thorndike , Casson , Redgrave , Athene Seyler , John Neville and Plowright . The first two plays were politely received ; the Chekhov production attracted rapturous notices . The Times commented , " It is doubtful if the Moscow Arts Theatre itself could improve on this production . " The second Chichester season the following year consisted of a revival of Uncle Vanya and two new productions — Shaw 's Saint Joan and John Arden 's The Workhouse Donkey . In 1963 Olivier received another BAFTA nomination for his leading role as a schoolteacher accused of sexually molesting a student in the film Term of Trial .
= = = National Theatre = = =
= = = = 1963 – 68 = = = =
At around the time the Chichester Festival opened , plans for the creation of the National Theatre were coming to fruition . The British government agreed to release funds for a new building on the South Bank of the Thames . Lord Chandos was appointed chairman of the National Theatre Board in 1962 , and in August Olivier accepted its invitation to be the company 's first director . As his assistants , he recruited the directors John Dexter and William Gaskill , with Kenneth Tynan as literary adviser or " dramaturge " . Pending the construction of the new theatre , the company was based at the Old Vic . With the agreement of both organisations , Olivier remained in overall charge of the Chichester Festival during the first three seasons of the National ; he used the festivals of 1964 and 1965 to give preliminary runs to plays he hoped to stage at the Old Vic .
The opening production of the National Theatre was Hamlet in October 1963 , starring Peter O 'Toole and directed by Olivier . O 'Toole was a guest star , one of occasional exceptions to Olivier 's policy of casting productions from a regular company . Among those who made a mark during Olivier 's directorship were Michael Gambon , Maggie Smith , Alan Bates , Derek Jacobi and Anthony Hopkins . It was widely remarked that Olivier seemed reluctant to recruit his peers to perform with his company . Evans , Gielgud and Paul Scofield guested only briefly , and Ashcroft and Richardson never appeared at the National during Olivier 's time . Robert Stephens , a member of the company , observed , " Olivier 's one great fault was a paranoid jealousy of anyone who he thought was a rival " .
In his decade in charge of the National , Olivier acted in thirteen plays and directed eight . Several of the roles he played were minor characters , including a crazed butler in Feydeau 's A Flea in Her Ear and a pompous solicitor in Maugham 's Home and Beauty ; the vulgar soldier Captain Brazen in Farquhar 's 1706 comedy The Recruiting Officer was a larger role but not the leading one . Apart from his Astrov in the Uncle Vanya , familiar from Chichester , his first leading role for the National was Othello , directed by Dexter in 1964 . The production was a box @-@ office success and was revived regularly over the next five seasons . His performance divided opinion . Most of the reviewers and theatrical colleagues praised it highly ; Franco Zeffirelli called it " an anthology of everything that has been discovered about acting in the past three centuries . " Dissenting voices included The Sunday Telegraph , which called it " the kind of bad acting of which only a great actor is capable ... near the frontiers of self @-@ parody " ; the director Jonathan Miller thought it " a condescending view of an Afro Caribbean person " . The burden of playing this demanding part at the same time as managing the new company and planning for the move to the new theatre took its toll on Olivier . To add to his load , he felt obliged to take over as Solness in The Master Builder when the ailing Redgrave withdrew from the role in November 1964 . For the first time Olivier began to suffer from stage fright , which plagued him for several years . The National Theatre production of Othello was released as a film in 1965 , which earned four Academy Award nominations , including another for Best Actor for Olivier .
During the following year Olivier concentrated on management , directing one production ( The Crucible ) , taking the comic role of the foppish Tattle in Congreve 's Love for Love , and making one film , Bunny Lake is Missing , in which he and Coward were on the same bill for the first time since Private Lives . In 1966 , his one play as director was Juno and the Paycock . The Times commented that the production " restores one 's faith in the work as a masterpiece " . In the same year Olivier portrayed the Mahdi , opposite Heston as General Gordon , in the film Khartoum .
In 1967 Olivier was caught in the middle of a confrontation between Chandos and Tynan over the latter 's proposal to stage Rolf Hochhuth 's Soldiers . As the play speculatively depicted Churchill as complicit in the assassination of the Polish prime minister Władysław Sikorski , Chandos regarded it as indefensible . At his urging the board unanimously vetoed the production . Tynan considered resigning over this interference with the management 's artistic freedom , but Olivier himself stayed firmly in place , and Tynan also remained . At about this time Olivier began a long struggle against a succession of illnesses . He was treated for prostate cancer and , during rehearsals for his production of Chekhov 's Three Sisters he was hospitalised with pneumonia . He recovered enough to take the heavy role of Edgar in Strindberg 's The Dance of Death , the finest of all his performances other than in Shakespeare , in Gielgud 's view .
= = = = 1968 – 74 = = = =
Olivier had intended to step down from the directorship of the National Theatre at the end of his first five @-@ year contract , having , he hoped , led the company into its new building . By 1968 because of bureaucratic delays construction work had not even begun , and he agreed to serve for a second five @-@ year term . His next major role , and his last appearance in a Shakespeare play , was as Shylock in The Merchant of Venice , his first appearance in the work . He had intended Guinness or Scofield to play Shylock , but stepped in when neither was available . The production by Jonathan Miller , and Olivier 's performance , attracted a wide range of responses . Two different critics reviewed it for The Guardian : one wrote " this is not a role which stretches him , or for which he will be particularly remembered " ; the other commented that the performance " ranks as one of his greatest achievements , involving his whole range " .
In 1969 Olivier appeared in two war films , portraying military leaders . He played Field Marshal French in the First World War film Oh ! What a Lovely War , for which he won another BAFTA award , followed by Air Chief Marshal Hugh Dowding in Battle of Britain . In June 1970 he became the first actor to be created a peer for services to the theatre . Although he initially declined the honour , Harold Wilson , the incumbent prime minister , wrote to him , then invited him and Plowright to dinner , and persuaded him to accept .
After this Olivier played three more stage roles : James Tyrone in Eugene O 'Neill 's Long Day 's Journey into Night ( 1971 – 72 ) , Antonio in Eduardo de Filippo 's Saturday , Sunday , Monday and John Tagg in Trevor Griffiths 's The Party ( both 1973 – 74 ) . Among the roles he hoped to play , but could not because of ill @-@ health , was Nathan Detroit in the musical Guys and Dolls . In 1972 he took leave of absence from the National to star opposite Michael Caine in Joseph L. Mankiewicz 's film of Anthony Shaffer 's Sleuth , which The Illustrated London News considered to be " Olivier at his twinkling , eye @-@ rolling best " ; both he and Caine were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor , losing to Marlon Brando in The Godfather .
The last two stage plays Olivier directed were Jean Giradoux 's Amphitryon ( 1971 ) and Priestley 's Eden End ( 1974 ) . By the time of Eden End , he was no longer director of the National Theatre ; Peter Hall took over on 1 November 1973 . The succession was tactlessly handled by the board , and Olivier felt that he had been eased out — although he had declared his intention to go — and that he had not been properly consulted about the choice of successor . The largest of the three theatres within the National 's new building was named in his honour , but his only appearance on the stage of the Olivier Theatre was at its official opening by the Queen in October 1976 , when he made a speech of welcome , which Hall privately described as the most successful part of the evening .
= = = Later years ( 1975 – 89 ) = = =
Olivier spent the last fifteen years of his life in securing his finances and dealing with worsening health , which included thrombosis and dermatomyositis , a degenerative muscle disorder . Professionally , and to secure financial security , he made a series of advertisements for Polaroid cameras in 1972 , although he stipulated that they must never be shown in Britain ; he also took a number of cameo film roles , which were in " often undistinguished films " , according to Billington . Olivier 's move from leading parts to supporting and cameo roles came about because his poor health meant he could not get the necessary long insurance for larger parts , with only short engagements in films available .
Olivier 's dermatomyositis meant he spent the last three months of 1974 in hospital , and he spent early 1975 slowly recovering and regaining his strength . When strong enough , he was contacted by the director John Schlesinger , who offered him the role of a Nazi torturer in the 1976 film Marathon Man . Olivier shaved his pate and wore oversized glasses to enlarge the look of his eyes , in a role that the critic David Robinson , writing for The Times , thought was " strongly played " , adding that Olivier was " always at his best in roles that call for him to be seedy or nasty or both " . Olivier was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role , and won the Golden Globe of the same category .
In the mid @-@ 1970s Olivier became increasingly involved in television work , a medium of which he was initially dismissive . In 1973 he provided the narration for a 26 @-@ episode documentary , The World at War , which chronicled the events of the Second World War , and won a second Emmy Award for Long Day 's Journey into Night ( 1973 ) . In 1975 he won another Emmy for Love Among the Ruins . The following year he appeared in adaptations of Tennessee Williams 's Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Harold Pinter 's The Collection . In 1978 he appeared in the film The Boys from Brazil , playing the role of Ezra Lieberman , an ageing Nazi hunter ; he received his eleventh Academy Award nomination . Although he did not win the Oscar , he was presented with an Honorary Award for his lifetime achievement .
Olivier continued working in film into the 1980s , with roles in The Jazz Singer ( 1980 ) , Inchon ( 1981 ) , The Bounty ( 1984 ) and Wild Geese II ( 1985 ) . He continued to work in television ; in 1981 he appeared as Lord Marchmain in Brideshead Revisited , winning another Emmy , and the following year he received his tenth and last BAFTA nomination in the television adaptation of John Mortimer 's stage play A Voyage Round My Father . In 1983 he played his last Shakespearean role as Lear in King Lear , for Granada Television , earning his fifth Emmy . He thought the role of Lear much less demanding than other tragic Shakespearean heroes : " No , Lear is easy . He 's like all of us , really : he 's just a stupid old fart . " When the production was first shown on American television , the critic Steve Vineberg wrote :
Olivier seems to have thrown away technique this time — his is a breathtakingly pure Lear . In his final speech , over Cordelia 's lifeless body , he brings us so close to Lear 's sorrow that we can hardly bear to watch , because we have seen the last Shakespearean hero Laurence Olivier will ever play . But what a finale ! In this most sublime of plays , our greatest actor has given an indelible performance . Perhaps it would be most appropriate to express simple gratitude .
The same year he also appeared in a cameo alongside Gielgud and Richardson in Wagner , with Burton in the title role ; his final screen appearance was as an old , wheelchair @-@ bound soldier in Derek Jarman 's 1989 film War Requiem .
After being ill for the last twenty @-@ two years of his life , Olivier died of renal failure on 11 July 1989 at his home near Steyning , West Sussex . His cremation was held three days later , before a funeral in Poets ' Corner of Westminster Abbey in October that year .
= = Awards , honours and memorials = =
In 1947 Olivier was appointed a Knight Bachelor , and in 1970 he was given a life peerage ; the Order of Merit was conferred on him in 1981 . He also received honours from foreign governments . In 1949 he was made Commander of the Order of the Dannebrog by the Danish government ; the French appointed him Officier , Legion of Honour , in 1953 ; the Italian government created him Grande Ufficiale , Order of Merit of the Italian Republic , in 1953 ; and in 1971 he was granted the Order of Yugoslav Flag with Golden Wreath .
From academic and other institutions , Olivier received honorary doctorates from the university of Tufts , Massachusetts ( 1946 ) , Oxford ( 1957 ) and Edinburgh ( 1964 ) . He was also awarded the Danish Sonning Prize in 1966 , the Gold Medallion of the Royal Swedish Academy of Letters , History and Antiquities in 1968 ; and the Albert Medal of the Royal Society of Arts in 1976 .
For his work in films , Olivier received four Academy Awards : an honorary award for Henry V ( 1947 ) , a Best Actor award and one as producer for Hamlet ( 1948 ) , and a second honorary award in 1979 to recognise his lifetime of contribution to the art of film . He was nominated for nine other acting Oscars and one each for production and direction . He also won two British Academy Film Awards out of ten nominations , five Emmy Awards out of nine nominations , and three Golden Globe Awards out of six nominations . He was nominated once for a Tony Award ( for best actor , as Archie Rice ) but did not win .
In February 1960 , for his contribution to the film industry , Olivier was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame , with a star at 6319 Hollywood Boulevard ; he is included in the American Theater Hall of Fame . In 1977 Olivier was awarded a British Film Institute Fellowship .
In addition to the naming of the National Theatre 's largest auditorium in Olivier 's honour , he is commemorated in the Laurence Olivier Awards , bestowed annually since 1984 by the Society of West End Theatre . In 1991 Gielgud unveiled a memorial stone commemorating Olivier in Poets ' Corner at Westminster Abbey . In 2007 , the centenary of Olivier 's birth , a life @-@ sized statue of him was unveiled on the South Bank , outside the National Theatre ; the same year the BFI held a retrospective season of his film work .
= = Technique and reputation = =
Olivier 's acting technique was minutely crafted , and he was known for changing his appearance considerably from role to role . By his own admission , he was addicted to extravagant make @-@ up , and unlike Richardson and Gielgud , he excelled at different voices and accents . His own description of his technique was " working from the outside in " ; he said , " I can never act as myself , I have to have a pillow up my jumper , a false nose or a moustache or wig ... I cannot come on looking like me and be someone else . " Rattigan described how at rehearsals Olivier " built his performance slowly and with immense application from a mass of tiny details " . This attention to detail had its critics : Agate remarked , " When I look at a watch it is to see the time and not to admire the mechanism . I want an actor to tell me Lear 's time of day and Olivier doesn 't . He bids me watch the wheels go round . "
Tynan remarked to Olivier , " you aren 't really a contemplative or philosophical actor " ; Olivier was known for the strenuous physicality of his performances in some roles . He told Tynan this was because he was influenced as a young man by Douglas Fairbanks , Ramon Navarro and John Barrymore in films , and Barrymore on stage as Hamlet : " tremendously athletic . I admired that greatly , all of us did . ... One thought of oneself , idiotically , skinny as I was , as a sort of Tarzan . " According to Morley , Gielgud was widely considered " the best actor in the world from the neck up and Olivier from the neck down . " Olivier described the contrast thus : " I 've always thought that we were the reverses of the same coin ... the top half John , all spirituality , all beauty , all abstract things ; and myself as all earth , blood , humanity . "
Together with Richardson and Gielgud , Olivier was internationally recognised as one of the " great trinity of theatrical knights " who dominated the British stage during the middle and later decades of the 20th century . In an obituary tribute in The Times , Bernard Levin wrote , " What we have lost with Laurence Olivier is glory . He reflected it in his greatest roles ; indeed he walked clad in it — you could practically see it glowing around him like a nimbus . ... no one will ever play the roles he played as he played them ; no one will replace the splendour that he gave his native land with his genius . " Billington commented :
[ Olivier ] elevated the art of acting in the twentieth century ... principally by the overwhelming force of his example . Like Garrick , Kean , and Irving before him , he lent glamour and excitement to acting so that , in any theatre in the world , an Olivier night raised the level of expectation and sent spectators out into the darkness a little more aware of themselves and having experienced a transcendent touch of ecstasy . That , in the end , was the true measure of his greatness .
After Olivier 's death , Gielgud reflected , " He followed in the theatrical tradition of Kean and Irving . He respected tradition in the theatre , but he also took great delight in breaking tradition , which is what made him so unique . He was gifted , brilliant , and one of the great controversial figures of our time in theatre , which is a virtue and not a vice at all . "
Olivier said in 1963 that he believed he was born to be an actor , but his colleague Peter Ustinov disagreed ; he commented that although Olivier 's great contemporaries were clearly predestined for the stage , " Larry could have been a notable ambassador , a considerable minister , a redoubtable cleric . At his worst , he would have acted the parts more ably than they are usually lived . " The director David Ayliff agreed that acting did not come instinctively to Olivier as it did to his great rivals . He observed , " Ralph was a natural actor , he couldn 't stop being a perfect actor ; Olivier did it through sheer hard work and determination . " The American actor William Redfield had a similar view :
Ironically enough , Laurence Olivier is less gifted than Marlon Brando . He is even less gifted than Richard Burton , Paul Scofield , Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud . But he is still the definitive actor of the twentieth century . Why ? Because he wanted to be . His achievements are due to dedication , scholarship , practice , determination and courage . He is the bravest actor of our time .
In comparing Olivier and the other leading actors of his generation , Ustinov wrote , " It is of course vain to talk of who is and who is not the greatest actor . There is simply no such thing as a greatest actor , or painter or composer " . Nonetheless , some colleagues , particularly film actors such as Spencer Tracy , Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall , came to regard Olivier as the finest of his peers . Peter Hall , though acknowledging Olivier as the head of the theatrical profession , thought Richardson the greater actor . Others , such as the critic Michael Coveney , awarded the palm to Gielgud . Olivier 's claim to theatrical greatness lay not only in his acting , but as , in Hall 's words , " the supreme man of the theatre of our time " , pioneering Britain 's National Theatre . As Bragg identified , " no one doubts that the National is perhaps his most enduring monument " .
= = Stage roles and filmography = =
= Freakum Dress =
" Freakum Dress " is a song by American singer and songwriter Beyoncé from her second solo studio album B 'Day ( 2006 ) . It was written by Beyoncé , Rich Harrison , and Makeba Riddick . " Freakum Dress " is similar to songs that Destiny 's Child used to record in the 1990s . The song is complete with whistles , cymbal dominated scatter rhythms and a beat , which is augmented by hi @-@ hats and plinking keyboard pulses . In the song , Beyoncé advises women who have partners with straying eyes to put on alluring dresses and grind on other guys in dance clubs , to regain their affections .
" Freakum Dress " was generally well received by music critics who complimented Beyoncé 's vocals as well as the assertiveness with which she delivers the lyrics . Many of them also noted that the beat of song melds very well with the vocal arrangement and the instruments used . The music video for the song was directed by Ray Kay , with co @-@ direction from Beyoncé , for the B 'Day Anthology Video Album ( 2007 ) . It features Beyoncé dancing with women of different ages , races , and sizes . Thirty metallic dresses were designed by Tina Knowles and were used in the production . Beyoncé explained that the main reason behind shooting a video for the song was to show what a " freakum dress " looks like . The song was part of the set lists during Beyoncé 's worldwide tours The Beyoncé Experience ( 2007 ) and I Am ... World Tour ( 2009 – 10 ) . Later , in 2012 , the song was performed during her revue Revel Presents : Beyoncé Live .
= = Recording and conception = =
" Freakum Dress " was conceived at Sony Music Studios , in New York City , when Beyoncé enlisted Harris to co @-@ produce for her album B 'Day ( 2006 ) . She and Harrison had previously collaborated on her 2003 single " Crazy in Love " . She arranged for Harrison , Sean Garrett and Rodney Jerkins to be given individual rooms at the studio . In this way , Beyoncé fostered " healthy competition " between the producers by going into each of their rooms and commenting on the " great beats " the others were creating . Roger Friedman of Fox News Channel noted that " Freakum Dress " and " Suga Mama " ( 2006 ) , Harrison 's other contribution to B 'Day " fall short of originality but mimic the Chi Lites [ sic ] percussion section [ of " Crazy in Love " ] yet again " , adding , " Harrison is like the Indiana Jones of soul , constantly pulling out forgotten gems of the past for sampling [ ... ] You can 't help but think : Thank God someone wrote music in the past that can be repurposed now . " Harrison wrote " Freakum dress to demonstrate how a sassy sartorial item that can help recharge to a relationship " , with Beyoncé and Makeba Riddick also contributing In an interview with USA Today , Beyoncé talked about the content " Freakum Dress " , stating that an outfit which reminds of the best moments in a couple 's life , is a necessity for every woman 's wardrobe .
In June 2006 , Beyoncé invited Tamara Coniff of Billboard to a New York recording studio . There she premiered several songs from the album including " Ring the Alarm " ( 2006 ) and " Freakum Dress " , both were cited as possible second singles although in the end it was actually " Ring the Alarm " that became B 'Day 's second single . Beyoncé told Coniff that " Freakum Dress " was one of her favorite songs ever .
= = Music and theme = =
According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Hal Leonard Corporation , " Freakum Dress " is a moderate R & B song pacing in common time , written in the key of F major . The verses alternate from the chords of F ♯ and C. The track also draws from the hip hop , funk , and dance @-@ pop genres . Mike Joseph of PopMatters observed that the song shows influences by 1970s funk music , and contains limited elements of 1980s go @-@ go . According to Phil Harrison of Timeout , " Freakum Dress " consists of a steady " long crescendo , welding galloping beats and a steamrolling two @-@ note riff " , accompanied by several genres of music , which he qualified as " multi @-@ tracked " . Spence D. of IGN Music noted that the song consists of frequent whistles as well as crashing cymbal dominated scatter rhythms and a beat which fits the " powerful , loud , confident lines " in which Beyoncé asks for the attention of her man , and urges women to have a beautiful dress to spice up their sexual life . " Freakum Dress " opens with a spoken introduction . Throughout the song , Beyoncé sings her lines in an assertive manner on melding shattering hi @-@ hats " and plinking keyboard pulses .
According to Joseph , " Freakum Dress " is thematically similar to " Bills , Bills , Bills " ( 1999 ) and " Say My Name " ( 2000 ) , from the Destiny 's Child era . Ann Powers of Los Angeles Times noted that " Freakum Dress " celebrates showing off . Jon Pareles of The New York Times viewed the concept of the song as not merely having a nice wardrobe to entice men , but it also serves as " a means of self @-@ assertion . " In the song , the female protagonist pulls out her best dress to remind her potentially wandering mate of what he is leaving at home . Jody Rosen of Entertainment Weekly added that Beyoncé also seemingly gives professional advice to women on how to hold a man 's attention in a long @-@ term relationship . She sings : " I think I 'm ready / Been locked up in the house way too long / It 's time to get it , [ be ] cause once again he 's out doing wrong [ ... ] Wear very skimpy clothes ... " . Joseph commented that in the song , Beyoncé is capable of wearing anything to keep her man by her side rather than dumping him . Sarah Rodman of The Boston Globe added that after having skirted her best dress , Beyoncé eyes other guys in dance clubs to make her own man jealous , in the hope of regaining his attention but she also makes sure that he really pays when he does her wrong . Beyoncé later refers to her " freakum dress " in " Jealous " , a track from her fifth studio album Beyoncé ( 2013 ) .
= = Reception = =
The song received mostly positive reviews . Phil Harrison of Timeout called " Freakum Dress " a magnificent production thanks to its vocal arrangements and commented that its beat can " drive the boys crazy . " Brian Hiatt of Rolling Stone magazine wrote that even though " Freakum Dress " is less harmonically and melodically produced than " Crazy In Love " ( 2003 ) and songs from the Destiny 's Child era , it remains a good track due to its highly energetic beat . Jaime Gill of Yahoo ! Music called the track " discordant " and " menacing " while Jon Pareles of The New York Times called it " overwrought " . On a separate review , Jon Pareles said that the song will remain as one of Beyoncé most memorable tracks thanks to its streak of rage which is " perfectly groomed but unmistakable " . Bill Lamb of About.com chose " Freakum Dress " as one of the three best songs on the entire record , and called it a powerful , emotionally intensive and energetic track . Caroline Sullivan of The Guardian called the song a " lighthearted crunk spree " that reminds girls of the significance of having a nice dress in their wardrobe .
Mike Joseph of PopMatters complimented the overall concept of the song but noted that the lyrics do not " radiate " enough warmth . Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine jokingly said that Beyoncé has added the term " Freakum Dress " " to the pop lexicon . " Elysa Gardner of USA Today said that " self @-@ assurance is evident on a tune on B 'Day called ' Freakum Dress ' " while another review by the staff members of the same magazine complimented the songs sexual imagery stating : " When Ms. Bootylicious [ Beyoncé ] sings of squeezing that jelly into a ' Freakum Dress ' , the imagination runs wilder than any video would . Darryl Sterdan , writing for the Canadian website Jam ! , complimented the song 's " bashing beat and irresistible chorus " . Andy Kellman of Allmusic described " Freakum dress " as a " blaring and marching " track . Calling " Freakum Dress " one of the best dance track that Beyoncé has ever sung , Norman Mayers of Prefix Magazine chose it as one of the standout songs of the album . While reviewing B 'Day , Chuck Arnold of People magazine wrote , " ' ladies ' anthem ' Freakum Dress ' finds Beyoncé working all her bootylicious powers over some slamming funk " . " Freakum Dress " reached number twenty @-@ five on the US Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart issue dated September 9 , 2007 . The same day , it also charted on the US Bubbling Under R & B / Hip @-@ Hop Singles at number sixteen .
= = Music video = =
= = = Concept and filming = = =
The music video was co @-@ directed by Ray Kay and Beyoncé for the B 'Day Anthology Video Album , which was released the same month : it was one of eight videos shot in two weeks for the album . The choreography was done by Danielle Polanco and Jonte ' Moaning , who used a 1980 ’ s retro set . Beyoncé explained the concept of the video at MTV : " It 's probably the most flamboyant video , and the metallic dresses are so beautiful , they added so much color . I had to do a video for this song . Everyone wanted to know what a ' freakum dress ' was , and you can 't really explain it , you have to see it . Everyone has their own version , so we had so many women — of different races , sizes , shapes , ages — because we all have those dresses we pull out when we need to shut it down . "
After two weeks of shooting , Beyoncé decided to call her mother Tina . The latter designed thirty dresses for the video , with eight of them for her daughter . Due to limited time , certain dress were sewed on the spot in approximately ten minutes each by taking fabric from one dress , making a slit in it , draping it and putting a belt on it . The glasses that Beyoncé wears in the video were borrowed from her make @-@ up artist , Francesca Tolot . The video was finished in about eighteen hours of filming and it features Ebony Haith from America 's Next Top Model , Cycle 1 . Throughout the video , Beyoncé can be seen fixing her hair in a neon mirror and is surrounded by neon @-@ constructed doors , catwalks and podiums . It premiered on BET 's 106 & Park and on American Music Channel , among others , before the release of the video anthology .
= = = Synopsis and reception = = =
The video begins with Beyoncé dancing in front of a target before moving to her putting on blush and lipstick next to two other men in a room full of neon framed mirrors . The men then pull a dress onto her and as the chorus begins , she walks by several women dancing on neon boxes before beginning to do a dance routine with them . As the chorus ends , she is shown surrounded by several men in a dark room and dancing in front of barcode @-@ like walls . The video then moves to her walking down a neon catwalk . As the bridge starts , she begins doing a fierce dance routine , while constantly switching dresses . A scene is then shown with her dancers pretending to be paparazzi swarming her with microphones , before ending with Beyoncé whipping her hair in front of the target . Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine gave a negative review for the video , describing it as " sloppily edited " . He further commented that it " plays out like a cheap fashion show for House of Deréon instead of the couture @-@ as @-@ weapons anthem it should be " .
= = Live performances = =
Although Beyoncé did not perform " Freakum Dress " in any televised appearances , the song was part of her set list on The Beyoncé Experience . On August 5 , 2007 , Beyoncé performed the song at the Madison Square Garden in Manhattan , where she directly started the song with the line : " Stop , I ain ’ t ready yet — wait , let me fix my hair ... " . Jon Pareles of The New York Times praised the performance , stating : " Beyoncé needs no distractions from her singing , which can be airy or brassy , tearful or vicious , rapid @-@ fire with staccato syllables or sustained in curlicued melismas . But she was in constant motion , strutting in costumes [ ... ] " . Tonya Turner of The Courier @-@ Mail reported that tracks like " Freakum Dress " , " moved fans to screams of endearment " . David Schmeichel of Jam ! wrote that Beyoncé performed a " ballsy " version of the song . Anthony Venutolo of New Jersey On @-@ Line wrote that Beyoncé " boiled over " during the performance of the song . It was included as the third track on Beyoncé 's live album The Beyoncé Experience Live ( 2007 ) .
It was also part of the set list on the I Am ... World Tour . When Beyoncé performed the song in Sunrise , Florida on June 29 , 2009 , she was wearing a glittery gold leotard . As she sang , animated graphics of turntables , faders and other club equipment were projected behind Beyoncé , her dancers and musicians . Beyoncé was accompanied by her two drummers , two keyboardists , a percussionist , a horn section , three imposing backup vocalists called the Mamas and a lead guitarist , Bibi McGill . During the performance , she bent backwards at her guitarist 's feet . Jonathon Moran of The Sunday Telegraph praised Beyoncé 's dancing during the performance of the song on the I Am ... World Tour . " Freakum Dress " was included as the fourth track on the deluxe edition of I Am ... World Tour ( 2010 ) . According to Andy Kellman of Allmusic , the performance has a " hard rock overhaul " .
In May , 2012 , Beyoncé performed " Freakum Dress " during her Revel Presents : Beyoncé Live revue in Atlantic City , New Jersey , United States ' entertainment resort , hotel , casino and spa , Revel . While singing the song , Beyoncé was wearing a black dress and performed a " strut @-@ heavy footwork " . Dan DeLuca from The Philadelphia Inquirer noted that " her rock moves on songs like ' Freakum Dress , ' which find her facing off with a leather @-@ jacketed lead guitarist , tend to be of the screaming @-@ solo @-@ played @-@ on @-@ a @-@ Flying Vee variety . " Ben Ratliff of The New York Times mentioned " Freakum Dress " in the " almost continuous high point " of the concert . Jim Farber of Daily News wrote that " The first , and last parts of the show stressed the steeliest Beyoncé , told in bold songs " like " Freakum Dress " . Brad Wete , writing for Complex noted that Beyoncé was " wagging her bootyliciousness at the audience " while performing the song . The performance of " Freakum Dress " was included on the live album Live in Atlantic City ( 2013 ) which was filmed during the revue . In 2013 the song was a part of the set list during The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour .