John Hurt is one of England's finest actors, and in his long career there are two performances that stand out: "The Elephant Man" which earned him an Oscar nomination, and "The Naked Civil Servant", which as a TV dramatisation could not.
Hurt plays the enigmatic Quentin Crisp to a tee. Unlike the vast majority of today's Western homosexuals, Crisp knew what he was and made no attempt either to fit in or to embrace the so-called gay culture. He realised the futility of the effeminate homosexual's search for what he called his great dark man, and in the end abandoned it. He died at the age of 90 after being celibate for half a century.
He was also a natural exhibitionist, so his accidental choice of career was fitting.
It remains to be seen how much licence has been taken either by Crisp himself – whose autobiography is called "The Naked Civil Servant" - or by the film makers, but certainly being an out homosexual in London from the 1920s to the 1950s was a different proposition from today, and there is no doubt he would have been queer-bashed from time to time.
Something else that has changed is the public perception of the police, a perception that on occasion finds its way to the bench. That being said, the court scene was the high point of this dramatisation.
Hurt plays the enigmatic Quentin Crisp to a tee. Unlike the vast majority of today's Western homosexuals, Crisp knew what he was and made no attempt either to fit in or to embrace the so-called gay culture. He realised the futility of the effeminate homosexual's search for what he called his great dark man, and in the end abandoned it. He died at the age of 90 after being celibate for half a century.
He was also a natural exhibitionist, so his accidental choice of career was fitting.
It remains to be seen how much licence has been taken either by Crisp himself – whose autobiography is called "The Naked Civil Servant" - or by the film makers, but certainly being an out homosexual in London from the 1920s to the 1950s was a different proposition from today, and there is no doubt he would have been queer-bashed from time to time.
Something else that has changed is the public perception of the police, a perception that on occasion finds its way to the bench. That being said, the court scene was the high point of this dramatisation.