Neither comes near to the truth. In Thompson’s film, the critic is centre-stage. His portrayal, by Greg Wise, is nearer the mark, at least visually. But Wise plays Ruskin as an austere ascetic, whose passions are reserved for the stones of Venice and the paint of the pre-Raphaelites....
“Death of a Wizard, James Murrell last of the old “Cunning men” of Essex” from a correspondent. An article that came out in the newspaper, The Times, in the Thursday 15 December 1960. The story came out on the eve of the 100th year of James Murrell’s death which occurred on 1...