A Question of Attribution is a 1988 one-act stage play, written by Alan Bennett. It was premièred at the National Theatre, London in December 1988, along with An Englishman Abroad. The two plays are collectively called Single Spies.[1]
The one-act play formed the basis of a 1992 television film of the same name broadcast as part of the BBC's Screen One series. The film was directed by John Schlesinger and starred James Fox as Anthony Blunt and Prunella Scales as Elizabeth II "H.M.Q".[2] The film was produced by long-time Bennett collaborator Innes Lloyd.
The New York Times called the film a "razor-sharp psychological melodrama" and it won the 1992 BAFTA TV award for Best Single Drama.[3] Prunella Scales was nominated for Best Actress.
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The play and subsequent film is based on Anthony Blunt's role in the Cambridge Spy Ring and, as Surveyor of the Queen's Pictures, personal art advisor to Queen Elizabeth II. It portrays his interrogation by MI5 officers, his work researching and restoring art, and his relationship with the Queen. Bennett described the piece as an "inquiry in which the circumstances are imaginary but the pictures are real"[2]
While supervising the restoration of a dual portrait attributed to Titian, Blunt discovers a further three figures that had been painted over. As Blunt's public exposure as a spy in 1979 draws near the play suggests that he has been made a scapegoat to protect others in the security service.
One of the main themes is over whether or not the Queen knew that Blunt was a former Soviet spy. In one scene Blunt discovers that a painting in the Queen's collection is a fake. When she is told this, the Queen discusses the nature of fakes and secrets. After she has left and an aide asks what they were talking about, Blunt replies "I was talking about art. I'm not sure that she was."[2]
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