I completely agree. She was a striking woman and had a magnificent face. Full of character. Unfortunately people can be so very cruel to those of us that are considered "unconventional." She was marvelous.❤
He didn't leave enough time for her to gather more thoughts on the questions he asked. The moment she took a breath he was onto the next question. And because of that, I felt her answers weren't as indepth as they could have been.
The Gentleman conducts the interviews with such politeness and respect. I was born in 1958 in England and the first thing we learnt were manners and how to conduct yourself. Those who know Lady C, might notice that these two ladies have similar attributes. 💐
20:30 -- She discusses Marilyn Monroe, but more than that, she DEFENDS Monroe in a way that is absolutely brilliant and wonderful. In reference to a nude calendar of Monroe, for which Monroe was evidently shamed, Sitwell says of the critics, "If people have never been poor, perhaps they don't know what it is like to be hungry." How thoughtful of her; the explanation of her perception of Marilyn Monroe is full of empathy and defense.
Bullshit. Pure and simple. By claiming she had to do it for the money she implies that there is censure. Monroe was pure soft porn. Pornography is rotting the west. Sex for sale. That's what Monroe did, she sold sex to the highest bidder. The piffle about her being a beautiful soul is just Hollywood waffle. Tits and bum, and a poor acting range.
Her work of poetry "Facade" has been my favorite literary work all my life. I memorized all the poems in my 20's and now in my 80's I can still quote most of them. She stays with you.
Yes ive yet to hear the complete version of facade Yes it's one of my all time favourite pieces of ENGLISH classics. I heard a BREIF piece of this very strange peice of music" facade". I was totally fascinated Whilst listening to this peice .Did the film actor Jeremy Irons perform facade . EDITH SITWEL totally unique personality one of the great eccentrics I've come across. I realy like the English classical Composers William Walton bliss holst elgar Ireland Vaughan Williams. And also Three cornish dances and three English dances by William Walton I think thats correct.
@@TheSierraRose In a sense that is true, in a very old-fashioned English way. She spoke her poetry through a sort of loud hailer over a specially composed modern score. It was very unlike most other music at the time. Though the1920s seem to have been an era of wild and crazy innovation I think without the 1920s we wouldn't have had the Swinging 60s.
Great credit for this interviewer's technique. He was able to get the best out of Edith without all the condescension, parody, and aggression we know from journalism today.
Indeed - How wonderful that she elected to retain her privacy and dignity on a particular subject and that the interviewer allowed her to. Such a contrast with today’s prurient interviewing of attention seeking ‘celebrities’
It's amazing how even simple everyday pleasantries and shutdowns/disagreements back in the day sound indistinguishable from world-class poetry! It's a shame nobody talks so magically anymore.
arithmetic challenges, Kay? most people born in the late 1880s lived well into the 20th century ... why would it be "mindboggling" to see them on media common during their lifetimes? Igor Stravinsky, Franklin Roosevelt, Georgia O'Keeffe, W.C. Fields, George Patton, Harry Truman, Chiang Kai Shek, the Marx Brothers, Irving Berlin, Eugene O'Neill, Maurice Chevalier, Louis B Mayer ... the list goes on and on and on and all of them interviewed on television countless times. Don't be such a dullard, woman! Many people still in their 50s and 60s today had grandparents born in the 1880s - it's a mere two generations removed from them and there you sit with your mouth hanging open as if you just saw a tweet from someone born in the third century BC.
This hints at what it would have been like to have an interview with, say, Anne Boleyn. Simply a witty, intelligent, independently minded woman but with knowledge and experience of a vastly different and earlier era.
She is so elegant, simple and direct. I love her. Not many words but what she does say is precisely what she means. Beautiful. Such a good listener. Such a good answerer. I found myself smiling, I like her so much. “Being an artist is quite painful, you see; perpetual resurrection. The Art returns after long periods of deadness.”
Her honesty is refreshing dignified and inspiring. This interview 60 years ago was way ahead of its time. It is captivating and interesting. You don't get this quality of Interview today anywhere. I pray for her beautiful spirit and delight in her memory. This video merits protection and saving.
I wish other women were like her. She is so dignified, has incredible poise, which is a trait completely missing today. One of the reasons I have no female friend s, even though I'm a woman. I find most women today so shallow. I can't bear to waste time talking about makeup, clothes, Facebook, tv.
@@wmnoffaith1 I could"nt agree more. I don"t have ANYTHING to do with "Social Media" Its peurile and dangerous. UA-cam is the only site i go on for intelligent information like this The poor woman was i believe constantly being told she was ugly by her father. What a poor girl
How can they make a programme of such depth with not a gimmick in sight, and yet today with god knows how many channels and technology, TV has degenerated into mostly trash for people with the attention span of a goldfish.
Those two things are deeply related, actually: the more options you have, the more you jump between said options and the shorter your attention span becomes. In other words: it's designed that way now because we're all that way now much more than any of us used to be. All of us, you included. It can't be understated what a visual medium with movement - and I'm considering TV and film to be virtually identical here - has done to us as a whole. Not just in terms of style but content: it's difficult if not impossible to imagine we'd take someone like this seriously today, and yet through most of human history you didn't have to present an airbrushed image in an airbrushed way. This medium is incredibly powerful in ways most of us aren't aware of, and it's changed our perception of what life is even supposed to be shaped like and how human beings are supposed to present themselves. (/philosophical thought on the heels of your "old man yells at cloud" bitching) :)
Because the people who were making TV in 1959 were not formed or even much influenced by the medium of television. They were formed by a culture of the word, written and spoken, not by a culture of the image, such as we now inhabit.
“I am patient with stupidity, but not with those who are proud of it.” ― Edith Sitwell “My personal hobbies are reading, listening to music, and silence.” ― Edith Sitwell 3 minutes 39 seconds in - almost word for word. RIP Dame Edith and John Freeman I am told
My grand mother had tea with her as a child , because my great grand mother was invited to tea on occasion. And Dame Sitwell offered my then quite young grand mother a miniature tea set , like a doll house tea set, from China , which my grand mother kept preciously and which is still in her house today. The tea set is exquisite and it came with a poem written in Dame Sitwell own's hand, (as she often gave a poem along with presents). I am married to a Japanese and my mother in law once visited my grand mother, from Kyoto , and because she (mother in law) is a fine connoisseur of asian fine art, i took her to see the tea set . It turns out that it is an absolute masterpiece from the early 17th century . Apparently it was first made in China, then sent to japan where it was decorated in the Kutani style and fired and then sent back to china to be decorated some more and then glazed and fired in the city of Jingdezhen, bearing 7 potters seals from China to Japan . something only the Japanese or Chinese aristocracy could afford at that time. And then the set traveled to the UK via the famous west Indian company trade and ended, god knows how, in the house of Mrs Sitwell and it now sits in my grand mother's cabinet of curiosity, after surviving 400 years, but could just as well (again according to mum in law) sit at the British Museum or the Museum of fine arts in Beijing or Tokyo. Now whether Dame Sitwell knew that or not is open to debate but the lady was a well of knowledge and seemed quite curious by nature, so i doubt she would keep trinkets without trying to find out about their origin and significance. Besides, she clearly liked to surround herself with rare and beautiful things, her jewelry and sense of style were a direct testimony of the esthete she was. This also shows the generosity of the Dame who would part with art, and give it to a young woman , entrusting her with the responsibility of ensuring that the piece survives yet another generation. But i also believe that Dame Sitwell, had no interest in material possessions (no real poets do) and that for her, things were just things, and had no real value other than the one, one gives them, due to emotional attachment, which is completely subjective and somehow a little silly when we think of it, but also what makes us sentient beings. For my mother in law, it was like looking at the Mona Lisa, for my grand mother, it is a present from a strange lady her mother was having tea with while she was bored out of her wits , and couldn't think of anything better to do than look at/for trinkets. But she cherishes the poem probably even more than the miniature teapot and cups, and had it (the poem) framed and placed in her room by her bed. I personally am just happy that someone in my family actually knew Dame Sitwell enough to have tea with her . How i wish i was old enough to have met her myself.
@@ceasarandrepont5331 she already started! May as well add the final page lol... kidding! Long posts always make me think why don't they just write a book!! Cheers!
I love stories like this. A glimpse in time in part of someone's life, like a little sparkling bubble floating by a memory being unwrapped as you speak of it's contents of the story being retold. This is what I enjoyed so much when working at the nursing home and listing to parts of a person's memory of there past. Thank you for sharing this. Sometimes we have moments in owe life that seem so trivial and nothing special at that moment until years later when we share those moments with someone and they're so intent in listening. She doesn't seem so eccentric to me. Just someone that has no precious time to be wasted on what she knows she doesn't want. She must have thought a great deal of your Grandmother.
My great grandmother lived right next to Renishaw Hall and I have fabulous memories of sneaking into the grounds with my younger brother... taking photographs of the gardens and the bluebells. I was only 12 years old but I truly loved that house, it had an air of mystery... I think because the house, at the time, was shut up and not used for most of the year, it intrigued me, I desperately imagined what was inside. Nobody really knew who the family truly was, only what they read in the newspapers and I didn't know anything about Edith for some time after my Renishaw Hall "break ins"... my Grandfather gave me all of the Sitwell Novels and newspaper cuttings. I love Edith Sitwell, she completely reminds me of my Great Grandmother, a woman with laser thought processes, extremely creative and didn't suffer fools!
I was brought up not too far away from Renishaw Hall. Obviously it's open for the public to visit. I visited the gardens a few years back, the woods and gardens around there are so beautiful and magical! It would have been a lovely place for Edith to grow up there. It's such a shame her mother and father weren't very loving parents. She fascinates me. A very elegant, intelligent, articulate talented and beautiful woman!
@@fionamaddock3984 Have you ever heard how many rooms were in the main house when they lived there? I can't seem to find that information anywhere. Thanks.
@@csfan65 No I dont know that to be fair. Could do with researching actually. Ive never been in the house part but would like to at some point. If I get to visit,I will ask this question and post my reply!
Never heard of her till this video appeared in my suggested viewing. What a glorious stalwart of a bygone era: intelligent, quick-witted, could opine on a plethora of topics. Just lovely.
I'm an American that LOVES the BBC. The quality of programming is fantastic. Great dramas with wonderful actors. I wish we had this quality in the U.S.
@@pixyrosejes7133 problem is these wonderfull people are no longer held in such high regard by this generation. Now its all about Kardashians. Talentless and vacuous.
Britain had a brutal Empire at that time. For you, it doesn't matter how many Africans, and West Indians killed, and brutalised at that time. You called it "intellectuals."
@@AxmedBahjad yes that is true to a certain extent. But you cannot blame writers and actors for that. Most ordinary folk play no part in war. Governments are responsible for decisions to bomb and invade countries. Not intellectuals. In fact i would say they would be seen as having the talent and ability to educate people.
Stumbled across this gem. What a class act and a testament to her humanity that she had such a soft spot and deep insight and understanding of Marilyn Monroe.
that's what I recall from seeing this interview years ago - the story about Marilyn and herself and her opinion of her. It was disturbing at the time to think M.M.'s public image was so trashy compared to the glimpse of the real. never forgot it.
🤛🇺🇸🤜👌 Paul from Denver the contrast a woman's Beauty Monroe and sitwell beauty within Monroe Beauty on the out set well the beauty within the contrast of women beautiful
@@dixonpinfold2582 I agree - the interviewer is very courteous and pertinent. A very intelligent and interesting discourse. I think it would be almost impossible to recreate this nowadays.
It's lovely that this old footage has resurfaced. I quite idolized her in my youth (many decades ago!) and it never occurred to me then that I might one day be able to hear her speak. What a delight. Such a lively mind. Thank you so much for uploading!
I remember seeing this great lady interviewed when I was very young. She wore a toque and large acquamarines on her large elegant fingers. Her poem on our Lord’s crucifixion is particularly memorable. She speaks of her disliking impertinence. Alas, we now live in an era where impertinence is worn as a badge of honour.
Now this is the correct and largely forgotten way to conduct an interview. No interruptions every 30 seconds or frequent breaks for inane promos or commercials.
Please...speak for yourself. Traditional English values, including beautiful poetic congruence, continue, fully resplendent, within certain areas of the British Isles.
Conrad Mason very very very small parts of England! The rest are full of people who have adopted the sarrf east Essex accent and wear ignorance with pride. I’m an an Englishman who chose to live abroad because people like that have taken over from people like this. Laziness, rudeness, entitlement and ignorance have taken over from pride through deeds done with honour and integrity. Lazy Anglo saxons are the death of the UK, not immigrants!
Today's audience and interviewer wouldn't know a Plantagenet from a turnip. What an excellent interviewer and fascinating subject and how refreshing that she uses the word queer in its original meaning.
What a gloomy vision of our era you have. Considering how posh most people in broadcasting are, well educated etc. - I highly doubt they don't know the bare minimum of Brittish history. And as for audiences, entertaining sources of information have never yet been so widely availaible, I would assume many more then you think know about the plantagenets. Might I suggest not watching television channels owned by Murdoch and instead something better, like arte.
Jennifer Holden I’m of the age that I remember ladies like this. A great many retired down to Devon where I grew up and lived a gentle dowager type life. They carried their life in dignified and refined ways. Always polite but always to the point and not afraid to stand their ground. I always liked them as they were always honest, you knew exactly where you stood with them. And like most from this class they were not judgmental or superior to others, in my experience that comes with the Nuevo riches who have next to no class in comparison.
I love watching this! I also am descended from the Plantagenets through the Earl of Arundel. She reminds me of my grandmother who was quite like this. Her voice has that soothing cadence my grandmother had, and it brings back memories.
I absolutely love Edith. She broke the mould. There has never been anyone quite like her and never will be again. The world would be a much better place with more Ediths in it.
I must really recommend reading Osbert Sitwell's 4 vol. autobiography - He explains that their parents really made Edith's life a f**king misery - because she wasn't - 'beautiful'. I think she is a frigging legend.
I have always loved her poetry. Seeing her in this way makes me want to cry. Please notice how her face lit up when she speaks about birds and how she speaks the name of God.
Here here. I hate all the voices on TV today. For example that fool Graham Norton. All full of their own sense of uniqueness and who find their own jokes funny. They think they are special in some way, when the reality is that they are just empty noisey shells. There is no substance essence or quality of character anymore.
Jonathan Begg - Obviously a direct quote (complete with video play time reference) of Dame Edith Sitwell’s quaint description of her own pedigree - not of course of mine...
The word "queer" used in its old form of 'odd' or 'unusual' and not to mean anything to do with being homosexual or gay ~ although 'a queer man' was at the time regarded odd and unusual of their kind.
@@388Caroline Why do you say she did not believe? She was a believer, and her poetry reflects that. Still Falls the Rain is one example, and at the conclusion of this interview she said the words I quoted about her humble love of God.
@@anselman3156t doesnt matter if she belive in god or not, at tte time of jesus the jews and the romans used to belive in god, god will judge us according to our rush after our lusts and loving this world and only who took from him a covenant and didnt rush after this live will got his mercy and his forgivness.
I randomly came across this video and I am finding myself smitten with this woman. I love her directness and unapologetic attitude to expect excellence of herself and her peers.
When I think of the English - or considering their essential character, Edith Sitwell would be the perfect example. A penetrating and dry wit, with an intellect that is both formidable and warm - also, charming and wildly creative whilst being kind and intolerant of snobbery. I would imagine that she would find our present predicament concerning Europe utterly incomprehensible.
What a quite extraordinary character. Here eyes turns quickly from sharpness & intelligence to a depth of warm feelings & care spontaneously. Each second is a moving paint full of a remarkable expressions & impressions.
This dear woman fascinates me. I love her ‘straight and to the point’ demeanor; no falsitity at all. Her voice is soothing, reminds me of a waterfall. And the fact she discusses her ancestry so openly without being asked is admirable. Today children don’t know their own parents some time. Mankind sure has devolved in such a short time span.
I appreciate the line of questions asked of Dame Edith. I find her elegant, direct and truly intellectual. I could carry on a great conversation with her and never get bored. The interview was splendid and spartan.
Both interviewee and interviewer are speaking in a way that's gone forever - sadly. Calm, focused and completely without affectation.The words are from another time" I was a changeling" ..... He pushed me in a perambulator" ....
The first time Dame Edith met Marilyn Monroe was in 1953, and Dame Edith said, "she came to visit in a green dress and with her golden hair she look like a daffodil". How lovely.
This lady is sharp as a tack and I love that she dislikes snobbery for which the English have been stereotype. Then again countries that have Royalty are at the peril of this.
She was only 72 years old when she did this Face to Face. I thought she looked at least 85! People looked old sooner than nowadays back in the day. But what a moral elegance!
@@chaznonya4 there are still gentlemen deep inside many men. If you set certain standards when dealing with people they usually rise to it. And far from being deemed an alien, they come to like you. It is telling that intelligence, straightforwardness and good manners have come to be labelled as eccetricity.
Looking at her face, I can see some very similar features to the portraits of royals and nobility in the Plantagenet - Tudor periods. I've always wondered how close or far off the accuracy was, and she is like a living portrait. Very very cool.
What an intellectual, this interview is as old as I am 1959 was the year I was born, still relevant to date what she said then : being patient with stupidity, Winter is the time of comfort , for good food and warmth.....talk beside the fire, it is time for home .
One of her hobbies is ‘silence’ 😂😂😂 what a legend
Doppleganging 101
Yes, noticed that too. So savage! Love her. 😂👍
Relatable
Her eyes , as bright as a bird.. so much I'm her head! Brilliant!
I love it:)
It’s cruel that people called her ugly. She really had her own kind of beauty. A most interesting woman.
i really do not think she is ugly at all. wish she was still alive
I completely agree. She was a striking woman and had a magnificent face. Full of character. Unfortunately people can be so very cruel to those of us that are considered "unconventional." She was marvelous.❤
I like the interviewer; he seems genuinely interested in both his questions and her answers. Never talks over her or interrupts. I love that.
He interrupts her a lot of times.
He didn't leave enough time for her to gather more thoughts on the questions he asked. The moment she took a breath he was onto the next question. And because of that, I felt her answers weren't as indepth as they could have been.
The Gentleman conducts the interviews with such politeness and respect. I was born in 1958 in England and the first thing we learnt were manners and how to conduct yourself. Those who know Lady C, might notice that these two ladies have similar attributes. 💐
And he did it soft soft spoken and with class
@@jak9483 The second thing you learned was to roam the world and steal everything you could get your hands on but your manners were impeccable.
Dame Edith died in 1964, we are very lucky to have this fragment of her thoughts, charming lady.
Agreed.
@@maxwellfan55 When was she born ?
20:30 -- She discusses Marilyn Monroe, but more than that, she DEFENDS Monroe in a way that is absolutely brilliant and wonderful. In reference to a nude calendar of Monroe, for which Monroe was evidently shamed, Sitwell says of the critics, "If people have never been poor, perhaps they don't know what it is like to be hungry." How thoughtful of her; the explanation of her perception of Marilyn Monroe is full of empathy and defense.
Everybody appreciates MARILYN
Beautifully stated.. We really have lost some brilliant souls over the years. Dame Edith Sitwell, Lives on in her life's work.
That's not Me wow , that’s amazing!! You must be beautiful. Very lucky . Did you look up to Marilyn ?
Bullshit. Pure and simple. By claiming she had to do it for the money she implies that there is censure. Monroe was pure soft porn. Pornography is rotting the west. Sex for sale. That's what Monroe did, she sold sex to the highest bidder. The piffle about her being a beautiful soul is just Hollywood waffle. Tits and bum, and a poor acting range.
She does not speak about MM as a victim, she understands her background and explains it devoid of any clogging sentimentality.
Her work of poetry "Facade" has been my favorite literary work all my life. I memorized all the poems in my 20's and now in my 80's I can still quote most of them. She stays with you.
I am just beginning to memorize them...... Trio for two cats and a trombone was the first.
Yes ive yet to hear the complete version of facade Yes it's one of my all time favourite pieces of ENGLISH classics. I heard a BREIF piece of this very strange peice of music" facade". I was totally fascinated Whilst listening to this peice .Did the film actor Jeremy Irons perform facade . EDITH SITWEL totally unique personality one of the great eccentrics I've come across. I realy like the English classical Composers William Walton bliss holst elgar Ireland Vaughan Williams. And also Three cornish dances and three English dances by William Walton I think thats correct.
I just heard somewhere, can't remember where, that Sitwell was the first rap artist. This just tickles me to the bone. And I can see that it is true!
@@TheSierraRose In a sense that is true, in a very old-fashioned English way. She spoke her poetry through a sort of loud hailer over a specially composed modern score. It was very unlike most other music at the time. Though the1920s seem to have been an era of wild and crazy innovation I think without the 1920s we wouldn't have had the Swinging 60s.
Are you still with us, from OZ
Great credit for this interviewer's technique. He was able to get the best out of Edith without all the condescension, parody, and aggression we know from journalism today.
Stumbled upon this by accident but she's really likeable and straightforward.
You didn't stumble upon it, Google recommended it for you. And me.
@@Anthony-hu3rj True lol ☺
@@Anthony-hu3rj Metoo
@Kolby Andrews same search i did ☺
Anthony 😮😮
The interviewer's name is John Freeman. He died in 2014 at the age of 99 years old.
Thank you!
A signature of Freeman's nterviewing on Face To Face was that his face was never shown.
@@phillipecook3227 A shame that in this case he seemed to stick to a script, and ignored many of the answers that deserved exploration.
and a very respected war hero and politician!!!!
Wow
'That I think I can't answer'
'No reason indeed you should at all'
How refreshingly respectful and kind!
Indeed - How wonderful that she elected to retain her privacy and dignity on a particular subject and that the interviewer allowed her to. Such a contrast with today’s prurient interviewing of attention seeking ‘celebrities’
It's amazing how even simple everyday pleasantries and shutdowns/disagreements back in the day sound indistinguishable from world-class poetry! It's a shame nobody talks so magically anymore.
So says “Shatty McDumper” 🤣
@@Pikestnt Poetry, I tell you
Its mindboggling seeing someone being interviewed on TV who was born in 1887!
arithmetic challenges, Kay? most people born in the late 1880s lived well into the 20th century ... why would it be "mindboggling" to see them on media common during their lifetimes? Igor Stravinsky, Franklin Roosevelt, Georgia O'Keeffe, W.C. Fields, George Patton, Harry Truman, Chiang Kai Shek, the Marx Brothers, Irving Berlin, Eugene O'Neill, Maurice Chevalier, Louis B Mayer ... the list goes on and on and on and all of them interviewed on television countless times. Don't be such a dullard, woman! Many people still in their 50s and 60s today had grandparents born in the 1880s - it's a mere two generations removed from them and there you sit with your mouth hanging open as if you just saw a tweet from someone born in the third century BC.
@@Marcel_Audubon Get over it. Perhaps she just means that it is fascinating. And it is!
yeah, right Russell, that's what she meant ... p.s. are you an imbecile or merely a moron?
This hints at what it would have been like to have an interview with, say, Anne Boleyn. Simply a witty, intelligent, independently minded woman but with knowledge and experience of a vastly different and earlier era.
@@Marcel_Audubon You must be a real scream at parties.
She is so elegant, simple and direct. I love her. Not many words but what she does say is precisely what she means. Beautiful. Such a good listener. Such a good answerer. I found myself smiling, I like her so much. “Being an artist is quite painful, you see; perpetual resurrection. The Art returns after long periods of deadness.”
This woman is a brilliant, intelligent, beautiful LADY. I could listen to her speak all day.
Ikr! I could too.
If you like this lady. ...look uo John maclean.
I don’t know what your idea of beauty is? She comes across as the classic superior toff.I’m so glad that accent is extinct.
Balik Supper What snobbish ignorance!
It's a man
Her honesty is refreshing dignified and inspiring. This interview 60 years ago was way ahead of its time. It is captivating and interesting. You don't get this quality of
Interview today anywhere. I pray for her beautiful spirit and delight in her memory. This video merits protection and saving.
Well written, Flughafenkaiser.
I wish other women were like her. She is so dignified, has incredible poise, which is a trait completely missing today. One of the reasons I have no female friend s, even though I'm a woman. I find most women today so shallow. I can't bear to waste time talking about makeup, clothes, Facebook, tv.
She's impressive isn't she - she looked like Elizabeth I, and had something of her regal bearing and powerful intellect.
She is one f the best expressions of the British character.
@@wmnoffaith1 I could"nt agree more. I don"t have ANYTHING to do with "Social Media" Its peurile and dangerous. UA-cam is the only site i go on for intelligent information like this The poor woman was i believe constantly being told she was ugly by her father. What a poor girl
How can they make a programme of such depth with not a gimmick in sight, and yet today with god knows how many channels and technology, TV has degenerated into mostly trash for people with the attention span of a goldfish.
Nnayyy, a goldfish has a much longer attention span.
It's called programming for a reason
Look no further than those who own the movie companies
Those two things are deeply related, actually: the more options you have, the more you jump between said options and the shorter your attention span becomes. In other words: it's designed that way now because we're all that way now much more than any of us used to be. All of us, you included. It can't be understated what a visual medium with movement - and I'm considering TV and film to be virtually identical here - has done to us as a whole. Not just in terms of style but content: it's difficult if not impossible to imagine we'd take someone like this seriously today, and yet through most of human history you didn't have to present an airbrushed image in an airbrushed way. This medium is incredibly powerful in ways most of us aren't aware of, and it's changed our perception of what life is even supposed to be shaped like and how human beings are supposed to present themselves.
(/philosophical thought on the heels of your "old man yells at cloud" bitching) :)
Because the people who were making TV in 1959 were not formed or even much influenced by the medium of television. They were formed by a culture of the word, written and spoken, not by a culture of the image, such as we now inhabit.
“I am patient with stupidity, but not with those who are proud of it.”
― Edith Sitwell
“My personal hobbies are reading, listening to music, and silence.”
― Edith Sitwell
3 minutes 39 seconds in - almost word for word.
RIP Dame Edith and John Freeman I am told
Yes! I remember those very words when this interview first broadcast!!
Great women and enjoyed John's interview with Evelyn waugh who despite being a snobs his writing is impeccable
This is easily clarified, you pompous arse.
My grand mother had tea with her as a child , because my great grand mother was invited to tea on occasion. And Dame Sitwell offered my then quite young grand mother a miniature tea set , like a doll house tea set, from China , which my grand mother kept preciously and which is still in her house today. The tea set is exquisite and it came with a poem written in Dame Sitwell own's hand, (as she often gave a poem along with presents). I am married to a Japanese and my mother in law once visited my grand mother, from Kyoto , and because she (mother in law) is a fine connoisseur of asian fine art, i took her to see the tea set . It turns out that it is an absolute masterpiece from the early 17th century . Apparently it was first made in China, then sent to japan where it was decorated in the Kutani style and fired and then sent back to china to be decorated some more and then glazed and fired in the city of Jingdezhen, bearing 7 potters seals from China to Japan . something only the Japanese or Chinese aristocracy could afford at that time. And then the set traveled to the UK via the famous west Indian company trade and ended, god knows how, in the house of Mrs Sitwell and it now sits in my grand mother's cabinet of curiosity, after surviving 400 years, but could just as well (again according to mum in law) sit at the British Museum or the Museum of fine arts in Beijing or Tokyo.
Now whether Dame Sitwell knew that or not is open to debate but the lady was a well of knowledge and seemed quite curious by nature, so i doubt she would keep trinkets without trying to find out about their origin and significance. Besides, she clearly liked to surround herself with rare and beautiful things, her jewelry and sense of style were a direct testimony of the esthete she was. This also shows the generosity of the Dame who would part with art, and give it to a young woman , entrusting her with the responsibility of ensuring that the piece survives yet another generation. But i also believe that Dame Sitwell, had no interest in material possessions (no real poets do) and that for her, things were just things, and had no real value other than the one, one gives them, due to emotional attachment, which is completely subjective and somehow a little silly when we think of it, but also what makes us sentient beings.
For my mother in law, it was like looking at the Mona Lisa, for my grand mother, it is a present from a strange lady her mother was having tea with while she was bored out of her wits , and couldn't think of anything better to do than look at/for trinkets. But she cherishes the poem probably even more than the miniature teapot and cups, and had it (the poem) framed and placed in her room by her bed.
I personally am just happy that someone in my family actually knew Dame Sitwell enough to have tea with her . How i wish i was old enough to have met her myself.
You should write a book.
@@ceasarandrepont5331
she already started! May as well add the final page lol... kidding! Long posts always make me think why don't they just write a book!! Cheers!
Thank you for writing this post! Could have read more
I love stories like this. A glimpse in time in part of someone's life, like a little sparkling bubble floating by a memory being unwrapped as you speak of it's contents of the story being retold. This is what I enjoyed so much when working at the nursing home and listing to parts of a person's memory of there past. Thank you for sharing this. Sometimes we have moments in owe life that seem so trivial and nothing special at that moment until years later when we share those moments with someone and they're so intent in listening. She doesn't seem so eccentric to me. Just someone that has no precious time to be wasted on what she knows she doesn't want. She must have thought a great deal of your Grandmother.
Morgan Olfursson What a wonderful post to go along with a fascinating interview. Thank you.x
Interview around 50 Years ago . how society has fallen when you listen how eloquent and articulate she is
The further we get from Christianity the more the society will degenerate.
@@a5dr3 From Christianity?
61 years ago.
Nirvana were stout and vocal followers of the Christian faith.
I'm pretty sure most Dames have similar accents
My great grandmother lived right next to Renishaw Hall and I have fabulous memories of sneaking into the grounds with my younger brother... taking photographs of the gardens and the bluebells. I was only 12 years old but I truly loved that house, it had an air of mystery... I think because the house, at the time, was shut up and not used for most of the year, it intrigued me, I desperately imagined what was inside. Nobody really knew who the family truly was, only what they read in the newspapers and I didn't know anything about Edith for some time after my Renishaw Hall "break ins"... my Grandfather gave me all of the Sitwell Novels and newspaper cuttings. I love Edith Sitwell, she completely reminds me of my Great Grandmother, a woman with laser thought processes, extremely creative and didn't suffer fools!
Seagreentangerine Lucky you! 😉
Funny. She reminds me of my English grandmother as well.
I was brought up not too far away from Renishaw Hall. Obviously it's open for the public to visit. I visited the gardens a few years back, the woods and gardens around there are so beautiful and magical! It would have been a lovely place for Edith to grow up there. It's such a shame her mother and father weren't very loving parents. She fascinates me. A very elegant, intelligent, articulate talented and beautiful woman!
@@fionamaddock3984 Have you ever heard how many rooms were in the main house when they lived there? I can't seem to find that information anywhere. Thanks.
@@csfan65 No I dont know that to be fair. Could do with researching actually. Ive never been in the house part but would like to at some point. If I get to visit,I will ask this question and post my reply!
oh my god, i love her. to be so self-assured and comfortable in her own skin is a lesson for all women today.
Never heard of her till this video appeared in my suggested viewing. What a glorious stalwart of a bygone era: intelligent, quick-witted, could opine on a plethora of topics. Just lovely.
It's never too late. Glad you've met!
likewise
Same here! I am glued to the phone watching her! What a person to have had as a friend and to have known! We are alike in many ways!
I'm here from tiktok & fell in love with her ❤
'People would doubt the existence of the Almighty if they saw me looking like that.' Brilliant!!
Screw those people.
Best Wishes,
TV Dinner (Brilliant!!)
The same would be thought of me if I were to wear a dress!
😂😂
She was so beautiful for her age and her hands were exquisite.
Very sharp mind for her age.
Sadly, the long elegant hands and fingers were a symptom of Marfan's Syndrome which she had.
@@catsinhouse I see.
@@catsinhouse still exquisite
@@catsinhouse ,
She has a beautiful complexion too.
@@kim1416 Do you wear glasses...
She was a true Victorian..being born in the 19th century, and here interviewed in 1959. Her closing answer was Divine.
I'm an American that LOVES the BBC. The quality of programming is fantastic. Great dramas with wonderful actors. I wish we had this quality in the U.S.
Thankyou 😊
I wish we in the UK had it again too
The BBC is left wing propaganda now, sad but true
@@georgealderson4424 BBC still is high quality
We have pretty good quality on PBS.
The days when Britain has a plentiful amount of intellectuals and were held in reverence
There is always room for more, but can anyone rise to the challenge?
Indeed and rightly, so...STUDY, Please!
@@pixyrosejes7133 problem is these wonderfull people are no longer held in such high regard by this generation. Now its all about Kardashians. Talentless and vacuous.
Britain had a brutal Empire at that time. For you, it doesn't matter how many Africans, and West Indians killed, and brutalised at that time.
You called it "intellectuals."
@@AxmedBahjad yes that is true to a certain extent. But you cannot blame writers and actors for that. Most ordinary folk play no part in war. Governments are responsible for decisions to bomb and invade countries. Not intellectuals. In fact i would say they would be seen as having the talent and ability to educate people.
Stumbled across this gem. What a class act and a testament to her humanity that she had such a soft spot and deep insight and understanding of Marilyn Monroe.
that's what I recall from seeing this interview years ago - the story about Marilyn and herself and her opinion of her. It was disturbing at the time to think M.M.'s public image was so trashy compared to the glimpse of the real. never forgot it.
@@ceciliaellis6721 I agree!
🤛🇺🇸🤜👌 Paul from Denver the contrast a woman's Beauty Monroe and sitwell beauty within Monroe Beauty on the out set well the beauty within the contrast of women beautiful
"Well it was very dreadful and I don't want to talk about it." And the interviewer stops asking about it... why doesn't this happen now!
brilliant women you can tell she sees right through the interviewer she was no one's fool
I detected no disdain nor reason for any.
@@dixonpinfold2582 I agree - the interviewer is very courteous and pertinent. A very intelligent and interesting discourse. I think it would be almost impossible to recreate this nowadays.
@@gavinmillar7519 I agree with you all. Brilliant woman, I adore her.
It's lovely that this old footage has resurfaced. I quite idolized her in my youth (many decades ago!) and it never occurred to me then that I might one day be able to hear her speak. What a delight. Such a lively mind. Thank you so much for uploading!
Some prayers and wishes take decades to be fulfilled and I'm glad you got your wish ❤️
So lucky to have found this.
I remember seeing this great lady interviewed when I was very young. She wore a toque and large acquamarines on her large elegant fingers.
Her poem on our Lord’s crucifixion is particularly memorable. She speaks of her disliking impertinence.
Alas, we now live in an era where impertinence is worn as a badge of honour.
No hi I
She looks exactly like the portrait of QE1
John Court, those four rings are the deep aquamarines. My wife covets them!
Thoroughly enjoyed listening to this amazing lady; rarely see interesting people like this on the telly today.
that's what happens after 40 years of cuts in education and a glorification of morons like jade goody and katie price, reality tv.
If you like this lady. ...look uo John maclean.
I really enjoyed that !👍👍
I loved this woman , she is being herself , we don't have to conform to anyone , l respect her 💐 lovely video 👍🏼🌈
Me too, I adore her ❤️
Now this is the correct and largely forgotten way to conduct an interview. No interruptions every 30 seconds or frequent breaks for inane promos or commercials.
3:53 "And not being bothered by silly questions."
Oof, that was smooth.
I loved that.....know the feeling.
Imagine seeing something like this on tv today, how we’ve degenerated.
Quite the opposite. She was so ahead of her time.
Please...speak for yourself. Traditional English values, including beautiful poetic congruence, continue, fully resplendent, within certain areas of the British Isles.
Conrad Mason very very very small parts of England! The rest are full of people who have adopted the sarrf east Essex accent and wear ignorance with pride. I’m an an Englishman who chose to live abroad because people like that have taken over from people like this. Laziness, rudeness, entitlement and ignorance have taken over from pride through deeds done with honour and integrity.
Lazy Anglo saxons are the death of the UK, not immigrants!
@@ianmedium Perhaps you should speak for yourself. I very much disagree.
@@ianmedium they are lazy because they are better off being lazy- the society is designed for laziness and greed.
This is a precious document. Thank you.
Occasionally, I come back to watch Dame Edith. What a joy to behold!!! I would have loved to have known her.
What a treasure for our civilization
Never even knew who Dame Edith Sitwell was until this interview. What a lovely, sharp, and intellectual woman.
Alec Guinnes mantioned her in his memoirs, Interesting too!
We have some of the same hobbies: Reading; listening to music; SILENCE!
O my goodness gracious! I have watched this interview so many times, and never grow tired of it. Fascinating lady and poetic genius!
Today's audience and interviewer wouldn't know a Plantagenet from a turnip. What an excellent interviewer and fascinating subject and how refreshing that she uses the word queer in its original meaning.
What a gloomy vision of our era you have. Considering how posh most people in broadcasting are, well educated etc. - I highly doubt they don't know the bare minimum of Brittish history. And as for audiences, entertaining sources of information have never yet been so widely availaible, I would assume many more then you think know about the plantagenets. Might I suggest not watching television channels owned by Murdoch and instead something better, like arte.
If you like this lady. ...look uo John maclean.
@@heathercorinne5876 whilst also taking note of his vast fanbase, proving that youth today is not ignorant.
Hi there^^
I'm german. My english is ok. But i dont get the word queer😅
Can U pls tell me the original meaning and the nowerdays use?
✌
@@karmacuisine6959 Well the old use of the word ment strange, not normal, out of the ordinary. and modern day use means homosexual, sodomite",gay'
That I’m afraid I can’t answer... love this woman!!
classic answer
A very grand old lady from a forgotten long-ago era.
Dame Edith, born in my home town Scarborough, her brother Sacheverell was also born in Scarborough. The Sitwell House is now a arts and craft centre.
Love her! "Very impertinent...I don't teach plumbers how to plumb.."
I approve of her message.
My absolute favorite line.
Couldn't agree more as a private English lessons teacher!😮
A great reply that I'll have to borrow. Ty Dame Sitwell!
She is a real Plantagenet. Look at the old paintings of them, she looks like she's just stepped out of one.
Jennifer Holden I was just going to say the same thing, it’s like the gene code has not deteriorated one bit!
ianmedium She is unusual to look at but when she speaks she has a lovely character, she is a blast from the past. A real lady.
Jennifer Holden I’m of the age that I remember ladies like this. A great many retired down to Devon where I grew up and lived a gentle dowager type life. They carried their life in dignified and refined ways. Always polite but always to the point and not afraid to stand their ground. I always liked them as they were always honest, you knew exactly where you stood with them. And like most from this class they were not judgmental or superior to others, in my experience that comes with the Nuevo riches who have next to no class in comparison.
No, she's not a Plantagenet although having an ancestor whom was an illegitimate child of a Prince from the Plantagenet Dynasty!
Plantagenets would wish they were of her standard, way to high for them😂🤣😂
I could look at her incredible face for hours!
I love watching this! I also am descended from the Plantagenets through the Earl of Arundel. She reminds me of my grandmother who was quite like this. Her voice has that soothing cadence my grandmother had, and it brings back memories.
Dame Edith is such a gem and I'm really happy this came in my newsfeed. She is the epitome of 'growing old gracefully '
Wow what interviews were like and matterd intelligent most enjoyable thank you for the upload Michelle UK
That was wonderful to watch and listen to. A great lady in every way.
I absolutely love Edith. She broke the mould. There has never been anyone quite like her and never will be again.
The world would be a much better place with more Ediths in it.
Quentin Crisp was another unique beautiful person 🙌🦋
Absolutely.@@maddannafizz
What character, I love her spirit, attitude and uniqueness. Express yourself as you are. Identity groups are dangerous
She was very special and highly intelligent. Grateful for this interview. Would have loved to have had a cup of tea with Dame Edith.
She was so delightful!
She was hilarious and so honest.
Loved the interview.
Full of Queens English .
So etiquette and aristocratic.
Seemplay maahvlus!
@@lovesender159
But Brits who are on benefits at least are in their own country!
@@filipematias5127 huh?
@@filipematias5127 What are you banging on about?
Here is a brilliant woman who definitely knew "what time it was." 😉
Thank you
I loved listening to this very elegant woman.
I must really recommend reading Osbert Sitwell's 4 vol. autobiography - He explains that their parents really made Edith's life a f**king misery - because she wasn't - 'beautiful'. I think she is a frigging legend.
What a truly wonderful ❤️ and interesting woman , sharp as a pin , utterly fasonating , 😘✌️
I have always loved her poetry. Seeing her in this way makes me want to cry. Please notice how her face lit up when she speaks about birds and how she speaks the name of God.
Great character from another time.
' ... at that moment I didn't dislike ugly voices as I'm afraid I do now' ... I'm with you on that one, Edith!!
Here here. I hate all the voices on TV today. For example that fool Graham Norton. All full of their own sense of uniqueness and who find their own jokes funny. They think they are special in some way, when the reality is that they are just empty noisey shells. There is no substance essence or quality of character anymore.
2:29 - “You see, I’m descended from the most queer and remote sources...” - love it! 👍🏽👏
And who isn't, my dear? But do dream-on, that your DNA is a specially exotic cocktail. We love you anyway.
Jonathan Begg - Obviously a direct quote (complete with video play time reference) of Dame Edith Sitwell’s quaint description of her own pedigree - not of course of mine...
@@dorianphilotheates3769 I meant her, not your good self.
Jonathan Begg - 🙂
The word "queer" used in its old form of 'odd' or 'unusual' and not to mean anything to do with being homosexual or gay ~ although 'a queer man' was at the time regarded odd and unusual of their kind.
A humble but unworthy love of God, and a great love of humanity. A walking fire, indeed. God bless her.
anselman why did she not believe in God?
@@388Caroline Why do you say she did not believe? She was a believer, and her poetry reflects that. Still Falls the Rain is one example, and at the conclusion of this interview she said the words I quoted about her humble love of God.
God is dead.
@ .Our GOD, ELOHIM, IS ALIVE. 🙋sorry about yours Mr.😙
@@anselman3156t doesnt matter if she belive in god or not, at tte time of jesus the jews and the romans used to belive in god, god will judge us according to our rush after our lusts and loving this world and only who took from him a covenant and didnt rush after this live will got his mercy and his forgivness.
What a wonderful woman! Well done!
She was so brilliantly clever and beautifully courteous.
I randomly came across this video and I am finding myself smitten with this woman. I love her directness and unapologetic attitude to expect excellence of herself and her peers.
When I think of the English - or considering their essential character, Edith Sitwell would be the perfect example. A penetrating and dry wit, with an intellect that is both formidable and warm - also, charming and wildly creative whilst being kind and intolerant of snobbery. I would imagine that she would find our present predicament concerning Europe utterly incomprehensible.
Well said.
A most profound observation.
Spot on!
Would have so enjoyed to meet her. I admire her authenticity.
What a quite extraordinary character. Here eyes turns quickly from sharpness & intelligence to a depth of warm feelings & care spontaneously. Each second is a moving paint full of a remarkable expressions & impressions.
This dear woman fascinates me. I love her ‘straight and to the point’ demeanor; no falsitity at all. Her voice is soothing, reminds me of a waterfall. And the fact she discusses her ancestry so openly without being asked is admirable. Today children don’t know their own parents some time. Mankind sure has devolved in such a short time span.
I appreciate the line of questions asked of Dame Edith. I find her elegant, direct and truly intellectual. I could carry on a great conversation with her and never get bored.
The interview was splendid and spartan.
what a real personality means-for all to see!
Both interviewee and interviewer are speaking in a way that's gone forever - sadly. Calm, focused and completely without affectation.The words are from another time" I was a changeling" ..... He pushed me in a perambulator" ....
The first time Dame Edith met Marilyn Monroe was in 1953, and Dame Edith said, "she came to visit in a green dress and with her golden hair she look like a daffodil". How lovely.
This lady is sharp as a tack and I love that she dislikes snobbery for which the English have been stereotype. Then again countries that have Royalty are at the peril of this.
She was an original and an independent thinker, so she rejected the arrogance and snobbery of her 'world', and good on her!
To me, She always looked like Queen Elizabeth I
Patrick3183 Yes, I always thought that as well. Both fascinating, interesting and beautiful women. And very intellectual.
They are related through Margaret Beaufort.
Sitwell herself thought she looked like Elizabeth 1, too. See 'The Queens and the Hive'.
Yessss.... I was just thinking that... Image.
Satin Perfume
Me too! It’s actually a stunning resemblance. Right down to the long tapered fingers.
Calls a spade a spade. Just adore her. Class act - calls out impertinence.
Majestic without even trying 👑
oh she used to play with a peacock!wonderful!
gol keeper And she said he was proud!
@@QueenBee-gx4rp lol
@@QueenBee-gx4rp and had a crown!
what a lovely, intelligent, interesting woman she was!
Thank you for posting, a very interesting lady! :)
She was only 72 years old when she did this Face to Face. I thought she looked at least 85! People looked old sooner than nowadays back in the day.
But what a moral elegance!
Life was harder then than it is now.
I love this woman so very much. Being an artist is very, very painful.
Yes
So true.
Dylan Thomas behaved impeccably in her presence and so would we all.
When there were ladies, there were gentlemen.
Yes!
@@chaznonya4 there are still gentlemen deep inside many men. If you set certain standards when dealing with people they usually rise to it.
And far from being deemed an alien, they come to like you.
It is telling that intelligence, straightforwardness and good manners have come to be labelled as eccetricity.
Sublime.
Dame Edith, what a divine human being.
Her vulnerability and courage are an inspiration.
Looking at her face, I can see some very similar features to the portraits of royals and nobility in the Plantagenet - Tudor periods. I've always wondered how close or far off the accuracy was, and she is like a living portrait. Very very cool.
Incredible, we wanted to teach people manners so we quoted their expression to teach them manners. So wonderful, a great mirror that really stops ill.
This is so interesting. And John Freeman was an excellent interviewer.
There's no one like this anymore
What an intellectual, this interview is as old as I am 1959 was the year I was born, still relevant to date what she said then : being patient with stupidity, Winter is the time of comfort , for good food and warmth.....talk beside the fire, it is time for home .
I just realized that Tilda Swinton is related to her...and Quintin Crisp in Orlando looked VERY similar to Edith.
John Freeman, "I suspect you've become a member of the establishment". Dame Edith Sitwell (with the utmost indignance) "OH NO I'VE NOT!"
She was practically a twin to an aged Elizabeth I. The resemblance (to the queen's death mask ... sorry, Your Ladyship) is amazing.
This was so fascinating, loved this, thank you for posting.