Produced after Graham Greene died in 1991, this trilogy sheds light on Greene’s secret world, where the characters are typified by morbid obsession: weak men, traitors, hypocrites, failures. In the film, the cast of characters includes Kim Philpy talking about his time with Greene in the Secret Service, Greene’s contemporaries John le Carré and Anthony Burgess, his wife Vivien, his mistress Jocelyn Rickards and the secretive Yvonne Cloetta, his companion for the last thirty years of his life. Greene’s work is read by Sir Alec Guiness and narrated by Robert Powell.
Part one, “England Made Me”, examines Greene’s early career, his conversion to Catholicism, and his intense but unhappy marriage. The programme includes an interview with his widow Vivien (not speaking to the camera).
The second part, “The Dangerous Edge”, covers Greene's career from the Second World War to the writing of `A Burnt-Out Case' (1940-60). The film looks at his work in the light of his fascination with disloyalty, secrecy and spying. Includes archive footage of Greene in the Belgian Congo and interviews with Kim Philby who recruited Greene as a spy in 1940. There are also contributions from Greene's widow Vivien, Jocelyn Rickards, Auberon Waugh and John Le Carré.
“A World Of My Own” is the last in the three part documentary on the writer, covering the period of his life between 1961-1991, including an interview with his companion Yvonne Cloetta.
Special:
The Other Graham Greene
For some 25 years, the author Graham Greene found himself the victim of a bizarre masquerade. Another man calling himself Graham Greene opened hotels in Jamaica, courted high society in the South of France and was entertained in India by tea planters convinced that he was the real author. However, is the 'other' perhaps a decoy, invented by the secretive Greene to confuse and deceive his chosen biographer Norman Sherry?
Greene was so intrigued by the idea of this film that he co-operated fully in tracking his doppelganger in a search for the real Graham Greene. He provided Nigel Finch with the precious evidence he had collected over the years, reads the narration and encouraged his beloved sister Elizabeth to take part in this intriguing film.