Bernard Braden interviews Quentin Crisp (1968) | BFI National Archive
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 ก.ย. 2024
- Filmed the year 'The Naked Civil Servant' was first published, and before he had become a household name, this very rare footage of Quentin Crisp was filmed as part of a series of interviews by Bernard Braden which were never broadcast.
In these rushes, an unusually restrained Crisp reveals his renowned wit and unconventional opinions when asked some imaginative questions about whether homosexuals would make good world leaders and whether gay men write better parts for actresses than straight men. He also talks about the misogyny inherent in British culture, comparing it with homophobia. (Alex Davidson)
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![Seven Men - Quentin Crisp (1970) [full World in Action programme]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/wTRntQUhipc/mqdefault.jpg)
I love this man; his vocabulary - his story - his lack of hate - his prescient philosophical viewpoint. His only problem was that he was born 200 years before his time. We will NEVER forget you Mr. Crisp... Never!
I can’t see how it was Crisp's “problem” to have been born 200 years before his time; he hardly had a say in his conception and birth. Also, why two-hundred years? I’m not sure what the significance of this time period represents. Crisp's philosophy on life transcends the confines of history and his wisdom is timeless.
For sure... I will never forget him... What a message he had for this world.. I cannot ever forget ‼️😊🌹
@@elspethcoogan1499 I think maybe that person meant 100 years ago.. meaning he was transcend and totally modern and self actualized which really transcends time💖
Dear Mr Cool I reply to you because I completely agree with everything you say you worded the whole with an educated edge
I totally agree. Fortunately for the world, though, he was born when he was and helped to move us all forward in our thinking and attitudes. What a beautiful soul he was.
After he moved to NYC...his demeanor completely changed...in interviews thereafter, were full of joy and happiness. He was content, at long last, for the rest of his life. And he is greatly missed. ♥️
Oh really! That is a relief. Did you have the good fortune of working with him?
This guy did so much and suffered so much for his beliefs and I'm glad he got the success he deserved in the final outcome of his life
Very true. He was very talented and smart. RIP
Lovely man
I concur 100 per cent.
I am 75 years old and the most wisdom I have heard about the genders came from the mind and heart of this man. RIP beautiful soul. Your old friend Dot 🇿🇦🌻💋💔
He's an extremely interesting and wise man . The idea that acceptance comes eventually through boredom is brilliant .
I agree. Bearnad brazen was great.
“Enlightenment does not produce tolerance; tolerance is the result of boredom.” Very true
I've got that one too. Brilliant. But I think he is defeated by the world he is surrounded. The intolerance, the cruelty, the hatred he has to contour throughout is life maybe made him more cold and indifferent. If he only was born today maybe could be in total synchronization with the mindset of tomorrow.
He was preachn
Love his use of the English language.
We need him here now. Wonderful human being 🙏🇮🇪
He would be disgusted with How things have gone Full circle In the last 35 years, I think
very clever fellow indeed! knows hisstuff, a real person who shall be missed from this thin veneer of shit personality world that is today
I'd forgotten how good Bernard Braden was as an interviewer. He poses very thoughtful and insightful questions. It's clear he's done a lot of preparation. Compare him with today's mindless , wittering 'personality' interviewers.
This is the only interview (from those I've watched so far) that he is asked to answer unique questions and not the same and them same all the time like in every other interview. He also looks different here. More turned inside, quiet, almost melancholic.
I think the older he got...from interviews Ive seen...he became more flamboyant and happier. Whether or not he was indeed happier, perhaps he was more content.
I noticed that too.
He's so incredibly soft-spoken, but he accomplished so much - even if he never acknowledged it himself in interviews.
I hope he discovered that one can be just as happy after 60 as before.
In his early interviews there exists a bitterness. An honest bitterness.
@Wintruz deep and reverent bow in response
I am never bored by the reason of this man - he made sense then as he does now. I was so glad to have met him twice - I wish it had been more!
I could listen to this man for hours ❤
Always fascinating to listen to! His tone changed a little from this downbeat interview, after the Escape to New York and fame, but always a witty gem of a man. Great.
aye nice one Ken...one of my favourite quotes from Quentin is....''don't try and keep up with the Jones's ..drag them down to your level....it's much cheaper'''....haaaaaaaaa
Quentin was once asked to give a talk on sex. He stood up and exclaimed "Oh God, Sexual Intercourse is something I know nothing about"
A beautiful soul. .much missed.
He was a great man.
It is fascinating to watch these earlier interviews with Quentin and contrast them with his interviews and appearances in the 80s and 90s. He is always articulate and engaging but here and in the early 70s, there is also an air of resignation, detachment and even -as the interviewer suggests - depression, whereas in later interviews he seems much more free and well, happy. Fame and America suited him.
You're right. A lot of people probably came up to him in the street and thanked him or some such.
Pure genius. Poor beautiful, scathed soul. If only for a moment I could have hugged you, embraced your intellect
Why do you say he is poor? I think he was so much richer than the average person.
@@kevgh3869 we.are.all.tortured
Souls.,l.think.he.was.very.clever
Intelligent.gentleman..
I suppose that by poor or scathed you mean to be compassionate. In my opinion, he had the extreme privilege to overcome tyranny and used the experience to enrich his life as well as the lives of others. I can’t think of anything more glorious.
He was a grifter.
Gore Vidal also said that homosexuality was an act and that people aren't born homosexual. I don't get the impression that Mr. Crisp would be happy with where we are today. There's no dignity.
He does not look happy here. He looks world weary. His demeanor so unusual. England must’ve taken a great toll on him.
Q. C. - 'I didn't have to come OUT....
I was NEVER IN....'
always himself + lightyears ahead....
We could do with a Quentin here today in 2021.So much common sense has gone by the board.
Sorry, what...?
The interviewer here is doing most of the talking. The best interviews are where concise questions are asked. Also the answers must be listened to very carefully. I love listening to Quentin talk. Need to hear more of it here.
Commentors have to remember he was born in 1908. He's been through a lot, and seen a lot of bullshit by this point. Things were a lot different back then, and slightly better now. He was one of the people who paved paths for a better future for lots of people today.
“Slightly” better now? Go to Pakistan u fool
A LOT better now.
no wonder boy george loved him.
No wonder lots of people loved him.
@Fetid Fag-Butt so true
This is wonderful. I met Quentin once at a book signing after his one man show. What an original talent. Thanks BFI once again.
A true gentleman and a real friend genuine to his many caring friends...chastised and ridiculed for being homosexual...shame on u people
I’m depressed as hell and very funny. They’re not mutually exclusive.
Same
I remember riding my bike down West 110th Street and Amsterdam Avenue. And Quentin was standing in the corner. I wanted to say hello but didn't. I now wish I had.
What a great man! A very wise and brilliant man, a light in the darkness of
the world.
He is quoted as saying, "It's not what you can find, but what you can unpack in your self that counts," or words to that effect.
I have found him to be an inspiration and an example of how to live a full life, lived well.
He is one of my greatest heros, he is very much missed from this world.
To Mr Crisp with love, affection and gratitude.
At this point in his life QC was genuinely wise with profound insights about the human condition. When he became famous he was under intense pressure to be witty and worldy wise and, I think, became rather less interesting as a result. The way he talks n this message interview could make me listen to him for hours.
Totally agree..also I think just as he aged he got a little bored with himself. He just hit the point. Still extremely valid.
Al Tudy A common problem.
"Tolerance is the result of boredom" I like that grim truthfulness.
I agree - an inspiration. Demonstrates the value of thinking for yourself when one finds oneself on the OUTSIDE of normal society. I was on the team for Thames that made The Naked Civil Servant only spoke with him once and now the world is in such a shambles I'd urge anyone to work harder on being outside rather than in. He did it with such style. Thanks for unearthing it and posting. A gem.
I could watch Quentin all day.
I doubt anybody who ever met him had a bad thing to say, apart from people who work in the cleaning industry 😎
A true hero.
"Come om in,the place is a mess,you'll love it."Good one.
He keeps asking the most meaningless questions,
and when he finally stops talking you can't understand what was the actual question.
If he ever really had anything to ask at all, at the beginning.
I'm surprised that he kept answering to him, like he understood what he was actually talking about.
This interviewer obviously doesn't understand anything,
or most probably doesn't feel anything at all.
I think his point about the 'unworthy threshold' of society is extremely perceptive. That to me seems the reality of so called 'freedom'. A permissive society 'puts up' with anything because everything has been culturally (also socially) levelled. I suppose he is in a way indicating a movement from a society of respect to a society of permissiveness. A wonderful insight.
Quentin looks so macho at the beginning before he speaks. A real Capricorn man. Strong Silent. How odd. K ; )
Timely bit around 4 mins in, about how tolerance is not the result of enlightenment; but rather, the result of boredom: Of the facts being driven in, over and over and over again, of time...
He laughed in conversation with me several times. I think he didn't laugh in interviews because it would have spoiled the effectiveness of what he had just said, as the person who laughs at his own jokes kind of ruins it for the listener.
One thing that I, as a gay man born in 1960, has learned in later years, is that sexuality has no sharp boundaries, that is has a sliding scale, as-it-were, between the genders, and cannot be neatly categorized or conveniently departmentalized.
The transgender community is a particularly good example of this flexibility.
True.
uhh?
Transgender has nothing to do with gay
"Toleration has come in a form that is slightly insulting." Still true today.
he seems deflated and subdued here, compared to the "I will assert my epigrams here b/c who knows when social media will arrive - in the 68 interview in his flat, which is very vivivfying. - It's the most downcast I've ever seen him "on show".
I agree! What year was this interview? The video title says1968. The one in his flat was also done in 1968.
Yes, I thought so too.
Post modern Oscar Wilde.
Here on TH-cam there IS an interview with Mr. Crisp that takes place in his little room (which is says he hadn't cleaned in many years), but he briefly goes into "if only he had been born a woman," and I thought about people today who are able to happily live as a man or a woman, whichever is their true inner identity and felt sad he didn't live in times more accepting. Yet, trailblazers were necessary and terribly important and he definitely was one. A fascinating gentleman. I don't always agree with him, but, one can't help but admire his bravery and brilliance!
Yes, I watched that YT video. I think ''maybe'' he was a woman trapped in a man's body. I really feel sad for what he went through in his life.
@@Terfdom you wake up. You are ignorant that there is even different types of transexuals. Only ONE type is validated by science. Sadly I get called transphobic for saying this in today’s crazy “gender identity” world. Actual transexuals exist.
The dark chair makes his shoulders kiij huge.
1968--- Americans are worried about becoming a Matriarchal Society. Oh, yeah-
Quintin was always interesting to listen to . A very intelligent man, philosophical, insightful and with a sharp wit. Here Mr Crisp seems quite subdued.
Quintin lived his life in a dingy bedsit with a small stove.... and on the streets of London.
Good old Quintin. Well done Mr Crisp.
everything wrong comes from fear
A sweet intelligent and a very fascinating beautiful human being. A anger bubbles underneath the gentleness. How could it not? He was treated appallingly for so very long. The humiliation he had to endure, for merely being himself. He is hugely important to me, as someone who feels very much outside of society my self. ❤️
Indeed, but he reaffirms the fact that being 'outside' society is actually a blessing, once you accept that 'society' has nothing beneficial to offer.
His remarks about tolerance is incomplete and wrong. To tolerate is not to accept or eventually accept ( through boredom) or agree with , but rather, It's quite the opposite. It's to dislike, to be repulsed by or even to hate, but still acknowledge the object of ones dissaproval or discust as something which has a legitimate right to exist. In short its a matter of taste and instinct, not moral outrage or indignation. Instincts are by their very nature hard to explain and even harder to defend.
A truly remarkable and compassionate man. His humanity and humour bursts through every page of his writing and unlike so many other 'autobiographical' works, his writing has an honesty and lack of self pity, which lift him to another level of literary integrity.
I only partially agree with his observation about "legislating tolerance". Sometimes things move too slowly organically and government must take responsibility to, if not legislate tolerance, than FAIRNESS. I do agree that laws don't change minds, but sometimes following laws forces people to confront their prejudices. Would black people in the south still be using separate bathrooms today if not for civil rights legislation?
He was so astute - warm intelligent, uncompromising.
"Tolerance is the result of boredom" Describes... The Overton Window.
Quentin likes his toast done on one side.
Such an incredible mind and this is a great interview...
The interviewer loves the sound of his own voice and the camera operator is drunk!
Interviewer seems sympathetic but oh my what a longwinded winney. If I was answering him I’d have forgotten the question. Quentin Crisp needed a forum to speak as he had something to say. So many people with forums have nothing to say.
Now this is an interview. Well thought out, entertaining and probing.
Years ago I remember seeing this and other programs about Quentin. I always found the programs fascinating, I thought he seemed a wonderful and inspiring man and wow watch it now,yes he is.
It's not my place to tolerate or accept someone different to me. I respect them. I love that people are different to me. Variety is a wonderful thing.
Wouldn't be funny to see a mouse peak out from his hair and then go back in again ?
A truly intelligent human.
Met him at a gallery in Manhattan, it was my first time in the city, being southern he said you are not from here are you? I said in my southern voice no sir, he said you would call me sir! He said he was charmed and said hold on to your innocents as long as you can because it is far and few today! He was dressed in a purple suit and I have to say he made an impression! Later that nite I watched a film where he played queen Victoria, the movie was called orlando! Still have the dvd.
its good to see him having that respect ... what a great mind
At this point I had been living with my partner (22 yrs my senior) for two years. He lived in mortal fear of the police banging on the door to drag me out and throw him in prison, even though the law had by then (sort of) changed. He never stopped living a tortured life and hiding behind his fame. Awfully sad eh?
How old were u?
@@Patrick3183 Two years in? I was eighteen. Then followed 38 years of unceasing love!
16 & 11months now 74 and the grief of the loss of our 40 years of love still there every single day@@Patrick3183
What incarnation did this soul flow from? Such conviction of truth about humanity, such understanding of who we are and treat our fellow beings as we all deserve. And yes his expression has taught us so much, if we can only listen with intent and humility. Thank you Quentin 😇
Maybe its just me but I can't get over how much he looks like David Strathairn here. Crisp's eyebrows are quite a bit more arched though.
In the gay bars,most of the males wear boring jeans and tshirts,and that's the truth.
Clone gays masking and repressing their femininity
"come in, the place is a mess... you'll love it"
Well said.
what a lovely man i cryed watching The Naked Civil Servant God Bless Him X
Quentin Crisp IS Brilliant!! thank you BFI for making this available
Interviewer did most of the talking...
Even 3 yrs after your comment, I agree very much. Especially when I listen to American interviewers. Eg questions surrounding anything to do with Trump. So much in the question, the interviewee’s eyes glaze over.
Reminds me of Kenneth Williams
He doesn't appear happy in this tape😕
This guy's wisdom still fascinates me in 2021. British Society attitudes to women 1968. 11 years later Margaret Thatcher. We attended a same sex male wedding two years ago as a neighbour. Surprising the numbers of others who would not even send them a card . . .
Quintin and Kenneth Williams would have conversations from another planet. Great
Il faut bien dire que Quentin Crisp était plutôt beau garçon si on en juge par cet entrevue.
Interesting that before he became famous he was a lot more serious and a great deal less Camp- but I suppose the later act was a good living
West Brit
Possibly his first, or almost first, TV interview, so a little more guarded?
How things have changed, eh. Nowadays they're precisely preoccupied by the pursuit of being 'a people apart', of being special. Aggressively so.
Diminishing differences, we're still working on it!
Thank you for showing this clip. It is so important.
So eloquent and fascinating. Passionate and deeply considered, experienced. Later interviews-say, on Letterman, are detached and flip, camp and wryly funny-hilarious. But this is a deeply beautiful, human being who has seen and examined so much. He almost never moves his head, and his gaze is real and intense. He's the best.
He was intensely intelligent and in touch.
Imagine Quentin Crisp and James Baldwin discussing the world, society and life. Ahhhhhh!!!
It is so true what he says about the relationship between gay men and women.
I am watching "naked civil servant" at least once a week....sooooo inspiring
What Mr. Crisp did with his life is nothing short of brilliant. He proceeded to "bore" society to death with his gayness, which he explains rather elloquently, is the only activity that cultivates change. As he pointed out, legislation has never been an ally of acceptance
What a funny idea to hear Quentin say there was 'no difference' between the classes or between men and women... certainly not true now, with the wealth gap between rich and poor even more unequal than it was then and women still being paid less than men. What ever happened to the 'law of diminishing difference?'. I think homosexuals are probably the best integrated now of these groups, but even then we have all this fuss over the recent marriage bill...things seem to have regressed...
BelatedCommiseration It is easier to set the workforce against itself than to give into its demands.
Such a great style here.
Fascinating man
He looks so masculine in this interview.
Haha, you must be a millennial ;)
@@blackmore4 I wish! :D
A wonderful man and a special mind .
It is exhausting being a gay man in 2023. I cannot imagine the energy this man expended jus being himself in this, the freaking year I was born.
HIs ideas about male homosexuality, which I assume reflect the general view of the time to some extent, are very different from the dogmas that prevail now. And to think - the world didn't spin off its axis in the 1960s thinking differently from the "correct" way we are supposed to think today.
close your eyes and it could be julian clary