The Secret Life of Edward James

Overview

Documentary about Edward James, an aristocrat who patronized surrealist artists such as René Magritte, Leonora Carrington, and Salvador Dalí, among others. His life is a whole catalog of incredible moments that constitute the prelude to his final monument in the middle of the Mexican jungle: Las Pozas, a surreal garden filled with giant structures as useless as they are beautiful. James divorced his wife Tilly Losch in 1934, accusing her of adultery with Prince Serge Obolensky, an American hotel executive; her countersuit, in which she made it clear that James was homosexual, failed. James was actually bisexual. After the divorce, James joined a social set in England which included the Mitford sisters and the composer Lord Berners.

Cast

George Melly

Narrator

Anthony Quayle

Readings