The Life and Times of Robert Tressell. In 1910 Robert Noonan (pen
name RobertTressell) completed his socialist classic 'The Ragged
Trousered Philanthropists'. This film is a dramatisation of the
nine years spent by Noonan in Hastings while he wrote the book,
based on the fragments known of his life, his writing and the political
events of the time. It records his disgust at the conditions suffered
by the English working-class, his work as a poorly-paid house-decorator
and his conflicting relationships with his employers, his fellow
workers and his family. It shows how the book itself grew out of
a commitment to socialism which the prevailing conditions of depression
and unemployment prevented him from putting into practice, particularly
when he tried to encourage his colleagues to join a union.
The film offers a sympathetic and personal account of Noonan which
stresses the isolation and determination of a socialist thinker
whose convictions and ideals outran those of many of his friends
and fellow workers. Writer/Director: Phil Mulloy Cast: Frank Grimes
- Robert Tressell, Andrew Boxer-Bill, Eva Griffith-Kathleen Noonan
Production Company: Spectre Productions Ltd © Arts Council
of Great Britain 1982 Colour, 65mins
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