Comments on: Privacy! You cannot... destroy... my PRIVACYYYY!!

Privacy! You cannot... destroy... my PRIVACYYYY!!

Atom Eyes — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 11:05:50 -0800

"Now, I'm willing to admit the policeman has a difficult job, a very hard job. But it's the essence of our society that the policeman's job should be hard. He's there to protect the free citizen, not to chase criminals—that's an incidental part of his job. The free citizen is always more of a nuisance to the policeman than the criminal. He knows what to do about the criminal." Orson Welles' musings on privacy and its erosion, police harassment, and the need for an International Association for the Protection of the Individual Against Officialdom. (part 2)

The show was Orson Welles' Sketchbook, a 1955 television series on the BBC. Each 15 minute episode consisted simply of Welles, alone in front of the camera, waxing philosophical (and sometimes poetic) about a particular topic, occasionally illustrated with a selection of his own hand-drawn sketches. The first five episodes are available on YouTube: Episode 1 - The Early Years (1, 2) Episode 2 - Critics (1, 2) Episode 3 - The War of the Worlds (1, 2) Episode 4 - The Police (linked in post) Episode 5 - Houdini/John Barrymore/Voodoo Story/The People I Missed (1, 2) (Via)

By: Astro Zombie

Astro Zombie — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 11:12:39 -0800

Ah, the French.

By: basicchannel

basicchannel — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 11:17:06 -0800

I can't favorite this hard enough.

By: brundlefly

brundlefly — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 11:25:14 -0800

Ditto. Thanks, Atom Eyes.

By: basicchannel

basicchannel — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 11:25:44 -0800

Also: The CLASSIC "I've got an atom bomb in my briefcase that I intend to use to blow up La Scala" bon mot! A classic bit that cops love!

By: Ian A.T.

Ian A.T. — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 11:27:34 -0800

To counter Astro Zombies' link, here's Welles' profound rumination on Chartres from F For Fake.

By: Skygazer

Skygazer — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 11:28:25 -0800

Is there an actual recording of Welles reading the phonebook and where can I hear it?

By: basicchannel

basicchannel — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 13:24:24 -0800

To counter Astro Zombies' link, here's Welles' profound rumination on Chartres from F For Fake. posted by Ian A.T. at 11:27 AM on June 11 [1 favorite -] [!] To be fair, that whole movie could counter AZ's link*. *In that we love to mock Welles buffoonery, but he was (of course) truly great.

By: The Winsome Parker Lewis

The Winsome Parker Lewis — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 13:32:28 -0800

My respect for Welles just quadrupled. Wonder what he'd say about the intrusiveness of the state in this century.

By: StickyCarpet

StickyCarpet — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 14:17:23 -0800

The guy more than enough to justify his existence to me, personally. If you want to get into lost opportunities, or wallowing in his own life, then ... you first.

By: RobotVoodooPower

RobotVoodooPower — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 19:43:12 -0800

I can't stop hearing Orson and seeing The Brain speaking his words.

By: cthuljew

cthuljew — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 21:45:59 -0800

"Now I'm no anarchist...." Darn.

By: Hogshead

Hogshead — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 17:02:46 -0800

I believe that during the period when these were made, or possibly shortly afterwards, my mother was working for Orson Welles as his PA. I have no information beyond that because my mother is a complicated person who holds her cards very close to her chest. I only found out about it a couple of years ago, during a conversation in which I tried to ascertain once and for all whether she'd known a particular post-war British composer. ("So did you ever actually meet Benjamin Britten, mum?" "Ah..." (short pause), "dear Ben.")

By: Skygazer

Skygazer — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 10:27:57 -0800

Cool. Probably knew Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger too?

By: Hogshead

Hogshead — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 06:36:13 -0800

Oh, I wish she'd met Powell and Pressburger, but no. But she did also work for Douglas Fairbanks Jr, and at Windsor Castle. And she's got a little brooch that Rostropovich gave her after he co-opted her front room to rehearse in. She has diaries covering this period of her life. I only learned that a few months ago. I may have to steal them to make sure she doesn't burn them.