T.P. O'Connor film

[Cris Malone]

With so much discussion about the Star of late, I thought this bit of a filmed interview of T.P. O'Connor might be of interest. Regardless of what one thinks about his politics or his sensationalist publications, he appeared to be quite a character.

http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=8699

[Howard Brown]

Good going Cris ! Nice find

[Chris G.]

I hope you noted his collection of snuff boxes at the end of the film, and particularly the one that had been given to him by Jack the Ripper.

[Robert Linford]

Great find, Cris.

And in the spirit of TP :

"TP in snuff film sensation!"

[Chris G.]

Although I am a smoker of small cigars, I must say that I experienced some revulsion at seeing T.P. inhale that pinch of snuff. Ugh!

[Stephen Thomas]

Ah, a hunt and hit one hand typist just like me.

Thanks for this great find, Cris

[Cris Malone]

I found that literally amazing... a man who's career was writing and journalism... typed like that... and he said he always typed everything! His secretary earned her keep, for sure.

T.P. O'Conner was no stranger to the emerging movie industry. He was Britain's first movie censor; appointed in 1916 at the height of World War I. Given his past proclamations, his selection was kinda like the philosophy that Lyndon Johnson later put forward in regards to people that could give you trouble... 'Better to have him inside the tent pissin' out, than to have him outside the tent pissin' in'.

O'Connor had a history of denouncing wars and military excursions in the name of the Crown. When the Ripper murders started, he was condemning Sir Charles Warren and the actions he took in South Africa (and everything else about Sir Charles, for that matter). O'Conner was a staunch opponent of the Boar War and when World War I developed, he proposed a peace settlement with Germany. Giving him the post of movie censor made him responsible for how the public viewed the war effort and he did not disappoint the government.

His publications still touted Irish nationalism, but he pulled his punches in regards to the war effort. As a result, some of his radical supporters sensed the hypocrisy by claiming that O'Conner split much ink over lamenting the deaths of a handful of Irish 'patriots' in bombings and such, but had no qualms about the thousands who were dying every day in the fields of France and Belgium.

[Chris G.]

His publications still touted Irish nationalism, but he pulled his punches in regards to the war effort. As a result, some of his radical supporters sensed the hypocrisy by claiming that O'Conner split much ink over lamenting the deaths of a handful of Irish 'patriots' in bombings and such, but had no qualms about the thousands who were dying every day in the fields of France and Belgium.

It should be noted that many of the thousands who were dying every day in the fields of France and Belgium were Irish. Through the First World War, the British Army continued to have a large number of Irish-born troops.

Chris

[Cris Malone]

'Tay Pay' believed that the Great War was a chance to rid Europe of 'Imperialist Despotism' and I guess he figured the many thousands of Irish dead were a worthy sacrifice to that end. He welcomed the entry of 'the one true democracy' - The United States - into the Allied camp in 1917 and applauded the fall of 'Imperialist Russia' that same year; although Russia had been an ally and her exit from the war would enable Germany to concentrate almost entirely on the western front.

From the New York Times, Aug. 30, 1915: