The History Boys

Making History — a study of eight college-bound British lads — could have been harder. The actors had done 281 shows at Hytner’s National Theatre in London. Alan Bennett adapted his own play. Even costumes were repurposed. ”Our interest was in doing this together,” says director Nicholas Hytner (The Crucible). ”We wouldn’t have done it otherwise.” Whether or not the film, in which Richard Griffiths and Frances de la Tour reprise their Tony-winning roles as teachers, matches the success of the play, Hytner says his Boys are happy: ”We made it for 2 million pounds [about $3.8 million] in six weeks and we love it.”