“Has it ever struck you that life is all memory, except for the one present moment that goes by you so quick you hardly catch it going?”― Tennessee Williams............
Thanks for that quote. Despite TW being a favourite author of mine, I had to look it up. Oddly enough it was written about the same time as I was having the same thought as a young teenager, although obviously not as eloquently expressed. I can even remember where I was & what I was doing when I thought it bc it's stuck with me. I didn't realise the 'The Milk Train....' was rewritten as 'Boom' Taylor/Burton film, which I enjoyed. I understand neither play or revised film were well received. Pity. Thanks again for the memory. I now need to watch the play & film again.
@@tonywalsh5444 Haha. I wonder if people like JM comment about the way WE speak? I saw a clip once of someone saying that the Queen is a great mimic but I don't suppose we will ever see her on the stage. Blessings and peace
Curious. Can you explain all the attributes, described as *wonderful* and *amazing* from your point of view? If we wanted to emulate these fabulous qualities in our daughters, tell me how to begin?
Funny how she mentioned the family home at Swinbrook, I'm currently working on the old Mitford house which is now under new ownership. You can't help wondering if only the walls could talk the tales they could tell..
Indeed. I am quite jealous of you, and were I in your position, I’d really take a good listen to those walls! The house was up for sale some years ago, and I was able to look at the pictures from the estate agent, which was fun, but nothing like being there yourself, of course.
00:58 That’s not Diana Mitford. That’s Lady Cynthia Curzon Mosley. Edit: But I really appreciate the kind lady who uploaded this! Big fan of Jessica Mitford. Thank you. ❤
It was a pleasure to listen to this truly intelligent and articulate lady. Her good humour, reflections and charm are indicative of what we don't seem to now have in society today. One seldom hears such well spoken and correct English either.
Agreed, though one must have a least favorite and Jessica is mine; though there are endearing characteristics there was a pretty vicious side, too. @@louisetaylor3643
We have few people like this nowadays. Compare this woman to the stupid actors and actresses of today, 2015. She is so articulate , speaks clearly , a joy to listen to.
She is a communist. It is great for her because she is in the aristocracy, so, likely to gain money with as a communist. She disgusts me that she lives in America. We don’t like communists
amazing woman, what an inspiration. The way she mocks herself, her class, the ambitions and pretentions of her younger self is really refreshing and makes her look like a genuine person.
@@cheechalker8430 Why should they give up their inheritance? Only greed-driven people would even think that someone else might want to give up their inheritance.
Ruby Nibs isn’t that the whole point of socialism? Everyone is equal and everyone shares what they have? Wealth re-distribution? I don’t think anyone should give up their money under the guise of a system (socialism) that has never ever worked in the history of man. When these socialists start giving away their money then I will believe they believe what they are saying. It’s easy to be a socialist, as long as you don’t have to abide by any socialist principles.
@@cheechalker8430 What you are talking about is communism. Politics can be demonstrated with a line where most politically ideologies are placed from right to left, with the ends being the most extremes (communism left to fascism /or 100% capitalism right). Socialism is after communism on that line, and it's not about 100% equality and sharing. The main difference is that under communism, most property and economic resources are owned and controlled by the state (rather than individual citizens); under socialism, all citizens share equally in economic resources as allocated by a democratically-elected government. People, especially in the US, use the words communism and socialism as if it is the same thing, it is not.
Extraordinary life. And though much of it seemed undue rebellion through it she produced quite a lot of legacy that educates. And I think this is what she was about showing the Western world what is so topsy turvy about it all. Indeed.
She was no "brighter" than Nancy or Diana. And the 'family name' needed no redeeming, then or now. She plus each of her siblings represented 1/7 of the 'family name' as passed on by them. Your opinion is an expression of your politics -- all political opinions are not the same.@@charlieclark983
That's John Pilger. He used to have a reputation as a great journalist; his book HEROES is a great read. Sadly these days he spouts all kind of tosh. See his wiki for the details.
How did she manage all this without formal education? Eloquent, rational argument without waving her hands around, stays on topic and all with a gentle sense of humour. Wonderful interview of one of those Mitford sisters!
in the first 2 minutes of the program, the photo of oswald mosley and "diana" is mis-identified; the photo is of cynthia mosley, cimmie, oswald mosley's first wife, not diana mitford. suyen mosley
The accent is definitely toned down when compared with her sister Diana.Good to see the great John Pilger who is still plying his trade during the Covid plandemic.
I read "The Sisters" which was about the Mitford sisters. It was a fascinating read. Jessica became an avowed communist and her older sister Diana became a rabid fascist. I found it incredibly amazing considering that both these women were born into the highest echelons of British society and had wealth. How they formed these political leanings is beyond me.
The oddest bit of the whole USA Communist story is: McCarthy was right, there were Reds under the Beds .. aka Sleeper Agents (and the CIA/ FBI, more or less, knew about it). Moreover, the British (upper crust and security services) didn't seem to mind too much if there were Post-War Communists milling around, so long as they were gentlemen and played the game; if they didn't play the game they were an embarrassment - and if they were not gentlemen, well, they weren't, therefore different rules applied. This is one of the few really interesting interviews on You Tube; so, many thanks for posting it (it is good to see it still hanging around in the ether).
Simiformes How does an accent make you a decent person? For all you know she could be a stuck.up, self-centered bitch. The English class system is weird
@@teenherofilms No judgement is made about her decency or lack thereof. The original comment simply described how this is a perfect example of a British upper class accent of that generation. Frankly she and her accent are a pure joy to behold in this dreary age of ordinariness.
@@seerjc123 I know a lot of people who have upper class accents and they are far from a joy to behold. The UK class system is something beyond me, I live in Europe and we have nothing like that here.
Wow what an insightful interview - I like her forthright expression and how she relates her experiences. It seems to be a personality feature in people of her background, like the way she relates the attempted rape account for example. No post traumatic syndrome, no years of counselling needed to 'deal' with it; just 'brush it orff' and carry on!
(as an American, a New Yorker) I'm going to do an experiment where I try and speak with an aristocratic British accent for an entire day and see what happens. today is 4/6/24, a Saturday... I'll do the experiment on Monday when I get to work and report back. If I forget - someone comment on my message so I get an alert! lol!
I am 69 years old. I have had close friends who were Holocaust survivors, and several who suffered under the Communist regimes in central Europe. At 69, I am still waiting for someone to explain to me how it is that the monstrosities of the Nazis are today seen for what they were, but the fully comparable sins and crimes of Marxism-Leninism are still -- STILL! -- minimized, or even made out to be some sort of faintly endearing ideological eccentricity, like the Flat Earth Society. That bedroom of Unity's and Jessica's, with the swastika facing the hammer and sickle, was a case of Evil greeting Evil; and all of Miss Mitford's undeniable charm and intelligence doesn't alter or mitigate that fact.
Yes, I noticed that, Not only did her husband cheat on her with her sisters and possibly also with their mother - and anything else with a pulse - now she is not even allowed her own name in the beginning of this programme. Then again, the focus is on Jessica Mitford, so I let it slide ... (couldn't have done much about it anyway)
An extraordinary historical record! The Mitfords all seemed to be searching for something to give their life meaning, grasping at some very disparate straws. Funny that Jessica seemed to think she received 'almost love letters' from Reagan, asking for money at the end, when in reality, many people would have have gotten that same begging letter.
I think that is the common link between the Mitford sisters, all searching for something. Just read Jessica's first autobiography and just starting Debos. Their childhoods set them off on this quest for some meaning whatever the consequences.
It is funny how one listens to this lady differently because of her accent. Imagine her saying the same thing with, say, a scouse accent and how she'd come across then.
Yeah, she certainly didn't know what communism did to ordinary people in many parts of the world. When you're privileged and rich you can dabble in all sorts of things with few consequences. It's always a comical irony when the rich are 'pro communist' without having ever experienced an all out communist system first hand.
That's right! A client told me her aunt was made to do forced hard labour in Communist Ukraine in the 1970s- road mending. No choice. Do it or be executed. Hard reality. I usually ask my fellow traditionalists/Conservatives "Why do all the people in the big houses in Holmfirth vote Labour?" . But he just said " I don't know. I don't understand it."
Read up on Jessica Mitford before letting a posh accent prejudice you against a highly intelligent journalist and a lifelong member of the communist party who came up against the HUAC
I am not particularly technically minded. Are you referring to the aspect ratio? I put the video up the way I found it, and it is old. Even if I could, I would not have changed it. Content over format, my friend!
@@hoonnu54 Sorry my english may not be very good. I just wanted anybody who read my comment and lives/lived in England to answer me this, because I am curious (although I don't even live in Europe): Jessica says "...there's a huge strain of anti-semitism that runs through that class in England..." I wanted to know if that is still accurate nowdays in England. Because by the way she says it, I understand there was anti-semitism on the Brittish aristocracy before and during WW2 but also during the time this interview was made. I really hope I made myself clear here :(
Decca always comes across as enormously self-satisfied in contrast with her sisters, even Debo, who was Duchess of Devonshire, seemed much more humble and more interested in others rather than herself. Decca speaks as if she's the heroine of her own story.
Debo is my favourite of the sisters, she's was a duchess that raised chickens and became a successful chatelaine. Nancy was witty but her wit had a mean-spiritedness to it. Diana is beautiful but at the same time, she is hard to read and her political leanings are hard to stomach. Pamela seemed like a static character amongst some very colourful sisters. Unity, well, she seemed to like to shock people and her attempted suicide was pitiable but really? The callousness she exhibited over getting her apartment in Germany when the tenants were forced to move out is just horrible. They were Jewish and all she said was, "I need to change these curtains. They are terrible." Then there is Decca who is witty but also very very caustic. She in many ways is the heroine of her own story but at the cost of warping her family into caricatures of themselves. The appeasement policy tore her family apart. Her parents separated and she never saw her father again despite him wanting to see her. When her sister Unity died, he hoped that he would see Decca come through the doors. How sad is that for a father?
@@absolutelyalice1754 I had no idea you knew the Mitford sisters so well. You were with Unity in Germany? You should write a book about it. Do add the part about )ews being moved out of Germany due to their being Communists who were, at the time, the enemy of Germany. Read rabble-rousers, too, but of course, you were there, so you know this. It's terribly important people learn what was really going on in Germany at that time, and telling the story through the eyes of your good friends, the Mitfords, would make for an amusing point of view.
Flipswop I agree. But keep in mind her bitterness towards her family had everything to do with WWII. Her family largely supported Hitler for a long time, and the war took brother Tom, her husband Edmond Romilly (leaving her a widow with an infant), and caused her sister Unity (the closest to her growing up, they spoke a secret twin like language) to shoot herself in the head at the outset of war leaving her mentally challenged for life. Jessica had a hard time accepting her family’s role in defending the enemy and cause of so much loss. Her opposite political reaction was a response. Her parents separated over it all too- her father couldn’t stomach the pro-Germany stuff after losing his son and daughter.
Cheryl Lynne: Jessica Mitford was British - hence a British communist. The British Communist Party did not "mass murder" anyone. Nor did it advocate such a thing. Also, the mass murder by communists in other countries was only realised long after it happened. You may have had advanced notice of it, but few others did. Jessica mitford comes over as anything but a hypocrite.
@@roberthutchins4297The Moscow Show Trials were occurring in the late-30s, but it is true none of the Mitfords had read Eli Wiesel or Solzhenitsyn when they formed their convictions.
Brezhnev Fanboy meets Last Surviving Stalinist. And Pilger is like a 1970s laugh track: Open-neck shirt with giant collar, helmet hair, pea-soup jacket. Where are the aviator glasses?
I thought she might say she regretted her time living in the east end of London and losing her daughter to measles. I thought that was exactly what Pilger was alluding to when he asked that question!
"..married a jew" I just started this because I admire JM very much but that insensitive and racist comment makes me stop now. His name was Robert Treuhaft and he was a successful attorney in The Bay Area defending minorities and fighting to defend civil rights against McCarthyism _ not just some some "Jew"! I am from San Francisco and had the pleasure of meeting Decca a year before her death. lways
nevada531 ... if you knew of the immense body of work already behind John Pilger at the time of this interview with Jessica Mitford, you wouldn't have commented on his referencing of Robert Treuhaft being Jewish, in any other fashion than realising the interview was made in 1983, when such bombs would take twenty years of the internet to explode the way they do. Year Zero: The Silent Death of Cambodia : - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-FTmEy2GEVL8.html If you were born in 1939, and had been a journalist since the 60's, covering Vietnam, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Libya, Venezuela, etc, on the ground, at the time, standing before a camera, representing the people of those country's in the production of over 60 documentaries since 1970, where would your accuracy stand in regard to Israel? Well, I suggest, start here and work back : - How Palestine Became Colonized : - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-BT5L4YU_Fl4.html
Is calling someone “a Jew” an inherently racist statement? I wouldn’t object if someone called me “a Christian” or “a Scot.” (I’m a Canadian of English and Scottish descent.)
Let’s see: Hated Reagan, hated Mccarthy, was an un-ironic communist, had no concept of contextual relevance with regard to historical events, believed the FBI was out to get her (& probably everyone else,) thought it cute to say, “this was before rape was fashionable,” thought America wasn’t terribly “free,” thought the liberals were just as worthless & ineffective as republicans were authoritarian...yes...she seems as though she was delightful. And incredibly ONE DIMENSIONAL!! So glad she was FINALLY able to escape such a god-forsaken land of gulags! Don’t know how America has survived the loss...🙄
Amazing to see a woman who was raised with all this and benefitted from it. Lived the life she did because of it. Then mocks it, acts as if she’s still not a toff but one of a different sort. John Pilger accent, that is the accent of privilege. Preaches about aboriginal rights when he comes from the class that has never had to suffer from they’re behaviour. Even the way he says the “hammer and sickle” as if he’s talking about an old friend. Have these people no shame? Have they no shame on coming from privilege,then pretending to be holier than thou they’re entire life’s? Then being adjacent to a genocidal ideology until they day they die? All they are is left wing toffs,who want to tear down a world in which they had every benefit.
