Very funny documentary excerpt which looks at the offences of vandalism of library books for which the playwright Joe Orton and his friend Kenneth Halliwell were sent to prison in the 1960s.
Dear Spaceoreo, I worked at Islington and my boss was Jim Connell, the man on the telly programme. I just wish to say that from what I saw the alterations that Orton and Halliwell did could not be called obscene; they were at worst suggestive and still strike me as surprisingly subtle. There was one senior person in the Finance dept who hated gays with a vengeance and he drove the investigation. Richard
the sister is fascinating obviously like Joe Orton - highly intelligent and sensitive and a unique character she gives me the sense of what a tragic loss Orton was
Very much a crime of the times. Britain in the 1960s was still paralysed by Victorian social attitudes, intolerance, class deference and social conservatism. Despite all the talk of the swinging 60s, in reality it happened to a tiny number of people in fashionable parts of London. Britain was overwhelmingly a grey, unpleasant place. Orton was part of the group rebelling against that, but as with so many revolutions, it went too far. A proposed statue to Orton was cancelled recently as it's become known that he had a sexual proclivity for underage boys. That period in the 60s was a confused time where the rules were being rewritten about social attitudes. The plus side is that it led to a lot of social progress. The down side is that it enabled an awful lot of predators.
I was a visiting artist at the Leicester Haymarket Theatre many years ago and met Orton's sister, Leonie, I believe, during an exhibition on the lobby of these book jackets and violated texts.
Police officers die in obscurity after upholding laws which in many cases seem far more cruel than defacing library books. Some laws are necessary, but arresting homosexuals simply for being homosexuals is not one of them.
Islington council kept the books as know worth afew bob as been sentenced thought books belong to orton family or halliwell but think he didn’t have any kin
that Jim Connell might at least get his facts right: that was Sybil Thorndyke and not Gertrude Lawrence (if he just looked at the back of the page he'd have known). Also, that is not a tight jock-strap but an Indian loincloth worn by a yoga teacher -the photo nicked from a book that had in turn also had its cover interfered with. Oh, and if you comoare the cap M and W of the dustjacket typewriter with that of the M and W of the letter that horrible little creep Porret waves at us then you'll see they are not the same :::: Joe and Ken was Innocent !!
Library books get defaced all the time, and no one ever finds it amusing or witty. But Orton was a successful playwright who died tragically, so his crimes in retrospect are perceived as something other than juvenile, irresponsible and loathsome. Nothing succeeds like success.
He had wit, a profound sense of the absurdities of society, and an immeasurable talent for writing plays. These things elevate him above the other section of society who deface library books. I think that is a rather critical distinction in this case.
Dear Spaceoreo, I worked at Islington and my boss was Jim Connell, the man on the telly programme. I just wish to say that from what I saw the alterations that Orton and Halliwell did could not be called obscene; they were at worst suggestive and still strike me as surprisingly subtle. There was one senior person in the Finance dept who hated gays with a vengeance and he drove the investigation.
Richard
Dear Mr. Spivack , my name's Maya, I'm a researcher, and I was hoping I could chat with you about your reply. my email is maya @darlingpictures.com
They were just jealous as Joe and Ken were too fabulous for them to cope with
Ironically those books are now the most valuable books in Islington Library's collection.
the sister is fascinating
obviously like Joe Orton - highly intelligent and sensitive and a unique character
she gives me the sense of what a tragic loss Orton was
This video is like an Orton text. Really quite wonderful.
The Edith Cavell bit made me die. Sunny and me had tears rolling sdown our cheeks.....
No wonder Monty Python had so much material to go on. Arthur Pugit lives.
Very much a crime of the times. Britain in the 1960s was still paralysed by Victorian social attitudes, intolerance, class deference and social conservatism. Despite all the talk of the swinging 60s, in reality it happened to a tiny number of people in fashionable parts of London. Britain was overwhelmingly a grey, unpleasant place. Orton was part of the group rebelling against that, but as with so many revolutions, it went too far. A proposed statue to Orton was cancelled recently as it's become known that he had a sexual proclivity for underage boys. That period in the 60s was a confused time where the rules were being rewritten about social attitudes. The plus side is that it led to a lot of social progress. The down side is that it enabled an awful lot of predators.
Oh, les vilains garçons!
Très drôle, dommage que l'histoire ait mal fini.
Gary Oldman ressemblait beaucoup à Joe Orton!
Merci pour la vidéo.
I was a visiting artist at the Leicester Haymarket Theatre many years ago and met Orton's sister, Leonie, I believe, during an exhibition on the lobby of these book jackets and violated texts.
Brilliant!
Thanks very much.
I have two other channels as well that you might like -
mishima1970 and yukiomishima1970.
Police officers die in obscurity after upholding laws which in many cases seem far more cruel than defacing library books. Some laws are necessary, but arresting homosexuals simply for being homosexuals is not one of them.
Islington council kept the books as know worth afew bob as been sentenced thought books belong to orton family or halliwell but think he didn’t have any kin
that Jim Connell might at least get his facts right: that was Sybil Thorndyke and not Gertrude Lawrence (if he just looked at the back of the page he'd have known). Also, that is not a tight jock-strap but an Indian loincloth worn by a yoga teacher -the photo nicked from a book that had in turn also had its cover interfered with. Oh, and if you comoare the cap M and W of the dustjacket typewriter with that of the M and W of the letter that horrible little creep Porret waves at us then you'll see they are not the same :::: Joe and Ken was Innocent !!
How do they know for a fact that these were all done by Joe? Did Joe sign them all ?
Mildly obscene hahaha
you've got to laugh haven't you. just read the Orton Diaries put it this way i would'nt give them to my Gran to read hee.
Library books get defaced all the time, and no one ever finds it amusing or witty. But Orton was a successful playwright who died tragically, so his crimes in retrospect are perceived as something other than juvenile, irresponsible and loathsome. Nothing succeeds like success.
He had wit, a profound sense of the absurdities of society, and an immeasurable talent for writing plays. These things elevate him above the other section of society who deface library books. I think that is a rather critical distinction in this case.