Turned Towards the Sun

Michael “Micky” Burn (1912-2010) was an Englishman whose life often played like a wild thriller. His father was employed by the House of Windsor and as a young man Burn was briefly enchanted by the early economic promise of Nazism in rebuilding the German economy (he even had an audience with Hitler). But Burn quickly became disillusioned with the Third Reich and served in the Royal Army in World War II, participating in the commando raid on St. Nazaire. Captured and held in a POW camp, Burn later won the Military Cross for his valor. Burn would go on to embrace Marxism and enjoy a successful writing career. Greg Olliver's documentary plays up Burn's links to many prominent individuals—some on an intimate basis (a bisexual, Burn was once the lover of future Soviet spy Guy Burgess) and some that are rather tenuous (Burn's claim to have rescued Audrey Hepburn during wartime was based on his sending food and cigarettes to the future star's mother, who sold them on the black market in the Nazi-occupied Netherlands). Burn found new audiences as a journalist while covering the frontlines of the 1956 Hungarian uprising, and in his final years was a beloved raconteur. Offering a glowing tribute to a man whose life was fascinating, fast-paced, and full of adventure, this biographical profile is recommended. Aud: C, P. (P. Hall)