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Join the original Naked Civil Servant in his London bedsit for a lesson on life, love and gender politics
1970 27 mins
Five years before the TV adaptation of The Naked Civil Servant made him a household name, Quentin Crisp - dandy, raconteur, life model and former prostitute - welcomed celebrated filmmaker Denis Mitchell into his dusty London bedsit. Crisp recalls the violence and fascination his extraordinary appearance once provoked, offers tips on avoiding housework and subsisting on a diet of stout and meal replacement powder, and ruminates on life as a "minority within a minority - an effeminate homosexual".
In a fittingly eccentric touch, the film was broadcast in Granada's current affairs strand World in Action. John Hurt's immortal 1975 portrayal helped place Crisp in the pantheon of English eccentrics, though Crisp's outspoken views put him at odds with the burgeoning gay rights movement. Crisp lived in the flat on Beaufort Street in Chelsea from 1940 to 1981, when he moved to New York City, having taken his successful one-man show there. He died in 1999, aged 90.
Documentary 1969 52 mins Silent Location: Vauxhall
Scintillating look at the 1960s drag renaissance, with a visit to London's Royal Vauxhall Tavern.
1989 32 mins
A far reaching interview with multifaceted artist Derek Jarman, conducted in 1987 by producer and critic Simon Field as part of the ICA Guardian Conversations series.
Drama 1994 33 mins Location: Scarborough
A straight woman and a gay man cruise their way across North East England in this Tennessee Williams-inspired short.
1925 16 mins Silent
Effeminate fisticuffs from the French in this boxing-themed send-up of foreign stereotypes.
Documentary 1987 9 mins
The queer alphabet - from AC/DC to Zipper.
Documentary 1994 10 mins
Street protest tranvestite nuns perpetually indulge in this 1993 doc featuring Derek Jarman.
Amateur film 1967 6 mins Silent Location: Chelsea
Hang out with the ‘dedicated followers of fashion’ down the King’s Road in the Swinging Sixties.
Government sponsored film 1971 14 mins Location: Chelsea
Engrossing 1970s TV profile of Lady Allen of Hurtwood - passionate campaigner for every child's right to play
Non-Fiction 1914 6 mins Silent Location: Westminster
A revealing tour of London's notable buildings - some now lost for ever - which uncovers their intriguing histories.
Musical 1964 70 mins Location: Liverpool
An incredibly joyous TV musical about a young woman's search for her long-lost cousin.
Drama 1971 11 mins Location: Chelsea
After breaking out of jail, a young woman struggles to hold down a job and eventually becomes a very unlikely nun.
Documentary 1967 30 mins Location: Chelsea
Potter Ted sells his work in London, to keep the wolf from the door, but practises his art at Felin Wen, his home-cum-studio at Pontrug, Gwynedd.
Non-Fiction 1898 1 mins Silent
The Victorian great and good mark the passing of a political titan
Non-Fiction 1900 2 mins Silent
For Britons during the Boer War, a welcome opportunity to support the troops - and march alongside them
Non-Fiction 1900 1 mins Location: Barrow-In-Furness
Factory gate glimpses at - we think - Barrow-in-Furness
Non-Fiction 1898 1 mins Silent Location: Worthing
Worthing waves at us in this mesmerising early film
Comedy 1898 1 mins Silent
Film's first joke? A fresh take on an old prank.
Non-Fiction 1895 0 mins Silent
This was one of a series of actuality films made by the Victorian pioneer Birt Acres during 1895. The film is thought to have been shot on June 20, on the occasion of the opening of the Kiel Canal by the German Kaiser Wilhelm II. Acres shot other films at the same time, but they have not survived.
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