1992, 88 minutes. Produced, directed, photographed, and edited by Gary Conklin.

Question of Class traces the intellectual, social and political journey of the
Brideshead Revisited generation of the 1920's and the more politically engaged generation of the 1930's, from Eton, Oxford and Cambridge to Mayfair, Chelsea, Bloomsbury and abroad, and explores the influence their common origins and education had on their lives and work.

The film features interviews with Christopher Isherwood, Stephen Spender, Anthony Powell, Alan Pryce-Jones, Harold Acton, Peter Quennell, James Lees-Milne, John Lehmann, A.L. Rowse, Diana Mosley, David Herbert and Nigel Nicolson.

“[They] speak about their school days (primarily at Eton), their “naughty” years at Oxford, their burgeoning writing careers and peripatetic travels, their embrace or disdain of politics, their class sensibilities, and the prelude to and experience of the Second World War. But most fascinatingly, they talk about each other with barbed affection, respectful admiration, and gossipy intimacy. Primarily composed of talking head footage (with some period stills, portraits, and popular songs, pleasingly intertwined), this retrospective tribute achieves an engaging, flowing pace. While the decades were apparently populated by a lot of eccentric, irascible characters (whose antics are related in a wonderfully droll British manner), they were also noted for some brilliant, innovative artists (whose shining and often quite memorable moments are portrayed in marvelous vignettes). From the high jinks of the carefree aristocratic days between the wars to the somber moments during the horrors of London in the Blitz, these hilarious, riveting, and priceless personal recollections make wonderful viewing."
-Irene Wood, Booklist



Please go to the official James Lees-Milne website to learn about James Lees-Milne and to watch clips from this film, in which he appears: www.jamesleesmilne.com