2/A Genius Like Us A Portrait Of Joe Orton (1982)2.jpg)
Genius Like Us: A Portrait of Joe Orton (A)
Original Title
...Arena- Director: Pamela Brighton; Nigel Williams
- Writer: Anthony Haas
- Producer: Alan Yentob
CGiii Comment
Really...this is only for those who know nothing about Joe Orton...or, for his devout and dwindling fans...
Made in 1982, when - perhaps - he was still [a little] relevant...now, Orton would be hard-pressed to get any of his plays performed. They have lost all the shock value that they once had in puritanical Britain. And, quite frankly, they aren't funny.
Listening to the Lahr's deductions - the biographer who never met Orton and/or Halliwell - is a truly painful experience.
Watch...
The(ir) Blurb...
Joe Orton was murdered on August 9, 1967; his killer and "lover" Kenneth Halliwell took his own life immediately afterwards. This BBC documentary, broadcast a decade and a half after that sensational act, traces the rise of Orton, and the events leading up to his shocking demise.
Cast & Characters
Harry Andrews as Ed;
Richard Braine as Himself - Publisher;
Una Brandon-Jones as Actress;
Jim Connell as Himself - Special Services Librarian: Islington;
Kenneth Cranham as Himself;
John Lahr as Himself - Biographer;
Nicholas Lyndhurst as Dennis;
Charles Marowitz as First West End Director;
Keith Marsh as McLeavy;
Peter McEnery as Mr. Sloane