The title character - a wealthy, upper class gentlemen living out his life in a Dickensian London, makes a chance encounter with a young chimney sweep named Faulty Bristles.
What starts as mild fascination quickly spirals into an uncontrollable and at times dangerous obsession that threatens to rock the foundations of a then fiercely conservative Britain.
Thoughtful, moving and explicit; follow the hesitant, softly spoken Sexington on his voyage of discovery as we the audience have our notions of class, privilege and sexuality assaulted at every corner by a script that dares to look the viewer in the eye and ask them unabashedly; “Go on, you’ve thought about it, right?"
A shakespearian actor was penned to play lord Sexington and a youthful star was snapped up for the role of Faulty Bristles.
My good director friend AF - delighted with the script – wanted to start production as soon as possible. However, due to the young star's status as a minor at the time of filming, the Screen Actors Guild insisted on having a monitor on set to watch over the young actor.
He was not pleased with the “Whooping cough-death bed” sex scene.
Production was shut down three weeks into shooting. AF did his best to save the film based on its artistic merits but the censors, blinded by prejudice, stood their ground.
Whilst the shakespearian was able to shrug off the whole thing and move onto Hamlet, the trauma of the event left a deep impression on the future fantasy blockbuster star, who, to this day, has no clear recollection of his time spent shooting Lord Sexington.
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