Talk:Anthony Asquith

Sexuality

I seem to recall hearing that he was homosexual. His interest in filming plays by Oscar Wilde and Terence Rattigan would support that (but of course don't prove it). JackofOz 02:16, 25 October 2005 (UTC)

First Successful Film

I would take issue with the suggestion that his first 'successful' film was Pygmalion: judged by the criterion of critical acclaim, this was arguably Shooting Stars (1927). In the context of Asquith's career this film is often overlooked because, for contractual reasons, the on-screen director credit is attributed to the studio's technical supervisor, A.V. Bramble (reference: Geoff Brown, Monthly Film Bulletin, January 1976). LDGE 21:25, 16 June 2006 (BST)

New image

File:Anthony Asquith; Sylvester Govett Gates; Goldsworthy Lowes Dickinson; Charles Percy Sanger by Lady Ottoline Morrell.jpg

I recently uploaded File:Anthony Asquith; Sylvester Govett Gates; Goldsworthy Lowes Dickinson; Charles Percy Sanger by Lady Ottoline Morrell.jpg. Asquith is seated far left in this image. It's not the best image of him, but it might be better than nothing. Dcoetzee 03:29, 1 April 2009 (UTC)

He was NOT "widely believed" to be "the man in the mask"

I've just removed a claim that Asquith "was widely believed" to have been the infamous "man in the mask" at an orgy tied to the Perfumo scandal. This claim was added 31 October 2007 by an anonymous editor without any references, but was left uncontested for several years. On 22 September 2010, Philip Cross added a reference for the claim, but that reference turns out to be a review in Time Magazine from 1989 of the film Scandal. The review states that the naked gentleman at a party hosted by Mariella Novotny was "thought to be film director and Prime Minister's son Anthony Asquith".

However, all the other rumours as to the identity of 'the man in the mask" claim that he was an extremely well-known politician and friend of the royal family. Mandy Rice-Davies said in her autobiography that he was a cabinet minister, and Christine Keeler has said that Stephen Ward told her that the man was a senior figure in the House of Lords. At the time (1961), Anthony Asquith was well past his prime as film director and could by no accounts be described as extremely well-known, nor was he ever a politician. Most of all, he was not part of the jet-setting party scene of the 1960s. On the contrary: between films he often worked nights at a friend's transport cafe in Catterick, serving lorry drivers breakfast, and tried to kick his alcohol problem at a notoriously tough clinic. He was also an active union man, trying to improve conditions for people in the film industry - hardly the kind of man welcome at those parties... Thomas Blomberg (talk) 02:59, 12 December 2010 (UTC)

'The man in the mask' reference you removed appears to be a direct quote taken from History's greatest scandals: the salacious stories of powerful people by Ed Wright (2006) which is online here. Fade to black: a book of movie obituaries (2003) by Paul Donnelley also details this rumour which the author thinks is probably true. The passage in the Scandal review in Time refers to real events rather than the version the film presents. I think we have enough source material to restore a mention of the claim to the article. Philip Cross (talk) 10:55, 12 December 2010 (UTC)

As part of the research for their book "The Honeytrap", Anthony Summers and Stephen Dorril interviewed Horace "Hod" Dibben, Mariella Novotny's husband and one who definitely was at the infamous "Man in the Mask" orgy. It was held in their house in Hyde Park Square. Dibben always said he would never reveal the identity of the so-called "man in the mask" but by process of elimination, the authors came to the conclusion that it was probably Anthony Asquith. The process of extracting the information from Dibben was vague and the authors make no claim to it being factual but conclude that, on the balance of probability, it was him. Some previous suspects, such as then-Transport Minister, Ernest Marples, were eliminated almost straight away. When pressed, Dibben agreed that Asquith was at that party but would not say it was him in the mask. On the other hand, he did not deny it, as he had with all the other possible candidates. In this game of "20 Questions", they could only take him at his word. Hod Dibben was in his 80s when interviewed 25 years ago so the secret would have died with him.

The party hostess, Mariella Novotny, died in the 1980s so no information can be gleaned from her. All her extensive diaries and journals from that era were stolen shortly after she died. However, she did leave one note in what remained of her writings which referred to the man in the mask as "Lord Asquith". The real Lord Asquith was, at that time, living in the Seychelles and not a part of the London party scene. According to Summers and Dorril, Anthony Asquith was occasionally referred to as "Lord".

Hod Dibben and Mariella Novotny knew better than anyone who it was.

For what it's worth, I agree with the decision to remove references to it. This is supposed to be reference standard so something as vague as this doesn't really belong. By the way, it was "the Profumo Affair" and not "the Perfumo Affair"... Flanker235 (talk) 22:59, 19 November 2013 (UTC)

Although, if he was the man in the mask in the Profumo affair, would this be at odds with the claim that he was a repressed homosexual? PatGallacher (talk) 19:32, 10 July 2024 (UTC)