The Naked Civil Servant

This film is the autobiography of Quentin Crisp, a gay man living in the conservative times of 1920's to 1970's.

The story is simple but deep. It portrays It also portrays how people lived in fear and loneliness during those days. A particularly remarkable moment is that, after Quentin's friend is released from he mental institution, his friend pronounced his love for him. Quentin says something to the effect of "This is how lonely he is, and how low I can get". This little sentence means so much. Acting by John Hurt is excellent. This film is really quite remarkable, as homosexuality was still considered as a mental illness back in 1975.

The pejorative insult to someone a bit gay at school in my day was calling them Quentin. I suppose that was a sign that Quentin Crisp had made it big into the national consciousness.

I actually have vague memories of watching some of The Naked Civil Servant when it was first broadcast. I was far too young to understand what it was all about.

There was so much ballyhoo about the show. That my parents must have switched it on to watch and were presumably appalled at what was being broadcast.

Quentin Crisp himself appears in the introduction and the end to this television movie made for ITV. It features a tour de force performance from John Hurt as Quentin Crisp. It is a brave bravura acting performance, totally unflinching. If the film was released for the cinema he would had got an Oscar nomination.

It is the story of Quentin Crisp from his time as an effeminate young man in the 1930s right until he enters middle age after World War 2. A flamboyant gay man who had to frequent the underground gay scene in London. On his tail were queer bashers and the police.

Quentin Crisp was open about the beatings he regularly received and the harassment he got from the police.

There is something Oscar Wilde about Crisp, his open pomp and glitz. The film has despite its serious undercurrents a lot of humour and cheekiness.

Almost life affirming, a man who knows he is different and will not shy away from his real self. Despite the criticisms and the violence he encountered.

Directed by Jack Gold it was moves along at a quick pace with plenty of quirky characters that Crisp encounters in his life. There is an element of fantasy about the production as well as brutal realism. Crisp recalls a happy moment on his life when he meets a group of sailors in Portsmouth. It is done in dazzling manner in a sound stage.

I had the good fortune to meet the late Quentin Crisp several times. This film is a delightful and moving story of his evolution as a human being.

Like Oscar Wilde, he was the brunt of jokes and nasty stories because he dared to be himself -- and, to use his own word, a very "autre" self indeed. John Hurt does a wonderful job showing us the spirit of a man who didn't grovel to the conventions of society and dared to give the world a free spirit.

The ironic conclusion of the film is an observation by Crisp himself that the "autre" which was once his alone became the commonplace of the late 1960s and early 1970s.

This is an unusual film worth seeing for the performances as well as for its lessons in living. We are who we let ourselves be. We can be who we desire to be, or we can surrender to the drab molds of the society around us.

In 1976, at 24 I thought I knew enough about gay men, but I was not aware of flamboyant male homosexuality. It can be difficult to watch the beginning of the film if you're like I was and never saw such behavior, but if you stay with it, it pays off big in very touching ways--and not only with regard to homosexuality but to living life in general. This film teaches you about yourself as good art always does. Note: Quentin Crisp (the main character) plays the part of Queen Elizabeth I in a film called "Orlando." And another movie that might be good to introduce someone to male homosexuality is "The Sum of Us" with Russell Crowe, though that film is more lighthearted and sweet than "The Naked Civil Servant."

Long before it was fashionable to come out of the closet, Englishman Quentin Crisp did so. He was rather effeminate, also wearing make up which made him stand out even more.

This is his fascinating story, marvelously portrayed by John Hurt.

(P.S. The queenly Quentin plays the kingly Queen Elizabeth I in the movie "Orlando")