In 1950 Basil Dearden cast Dirk Bogarde in a groundbreaking film called THE BLUE LAMP , groundbreaking because it was the first film to use the word " bastard " . Eleven years later Dearden cast Bogarde in an even more groundbreaking film called VICTIM which was the first film to use the word " homosexual " . Not only does it use the word but the whole plot revolves around homosexual characters ! This must have shocked the world at the time
!!!! MILD SPOILERS !!!!
Looking upon it today it may not be so shocking but it certainly remains one of the most intelligent British movies from that period . Unlike a lot of screenwriters today Janet Green and John McCormick leave the audience to make up their own minds as to the rights and wrongs of whether homosexuality should remain illegal or not . There are a couple of very good points the screenplay makes
1 ) Being gay is only a crime if it can be proved that you were committing homosexual acts . The victims are more guilty of living a lie than committing a crime . Their indiscretion rather than their sexuality is what got them into trouble
2 ) The police aren't portrayed as being pro actively hunting down homosexuals like a bunch of Nazis . It's interesting to note that in an era like today where liberal values dominate the British police force have never been held in greater contempt by the public . If they're not hunting down people committing homosexual acts ( or smoking weed ) how come they're too busy to catch burglars ?
As I said this is an amazingly intelligent script that lets the audience think for its self . One running subplot is two characters being constantly followed by a character who ( Bitterly ironic with hindsight ) looks like Jeremy Thorpe . All through the narrative I was certain that these two men were victims of blackmail while their stalker was the blackmailer . Get ready for a shock when it's revealed how these three men fit into the story
The cast are very good , more so when you consider that most of the original choices turned the roles because of the movie's subject matter , but Dirk Bogarde is nothing less than superb and probably gives a career best performance as gay barrister Melville Farr though he does come across as perhaps a little too self righteous to be truly effective and perhaps if he came out to both his wife and firm earlier he could have saved himself a lot of grief . As I stated being gay wasn't the crime , you were only prosecuted for being indiscreet . But all in all very good film on a controversial topic ( Much more so in those days ) that never once becomes patronising or polemical
!!!! MILD SPOILERS !!!!
Looking upon it today it may not be so shocking but it certainly remains one of the most intelligent British movies from that period . Unlike a lot of screenwriters today Janet Green and John McCormick leave the audience to make up their own minds as to the rights and wrongs of whether homosexuality should remain illegal or not . There are a couple of very good points the screenplay makes
1 ) Being gay is only a crime if it can be proved that you were committing homosexual acts . The victims are more guilty of living a lie than committing a crime . Their indiscretion rather than their sexuality is what got them into trouble
2 ) The police aren't portrayed as being pro actively hunting down homosexuals like a bunch of Nazis . It's interesting to note that in an era like today where liberal values dominate the British police force have never been held in greater contempt by the public . If they're not hunting down people committing homosexual acts ( or smoking weed ) how come they're too busy to catch burglars ?
As I said this is an amazingly intelligent script that lets the audience think for its self . One running subplot is two characters being constantly followed by a character who ( Bitterly ironic with hindsight ) looks like Jeremy Thorpe . All through the narrative I was certain that these two men were victims of blackmail while their stalker was the blackmailer . Get ready for a shock when it's revealed how these three men fit into the story
The cast are very good , more so when you consider that most of the original choices turned the roles because of the movie's subject matter , but Dirk Bogarde is nothing less than superb and probably gives a career best performance as gay barrister Melville Farr though he does come across as perhaps a little too self righteous to be truly effective and perhaps if he came out to both his wife and firm earlier he could have saved himself a lot of grief . As I stated being gay wasn't the crime , you were only prosecuted for being indiscreet . But all in all very good film on a controversial topic ( Much more so in those days ) that never once becomes patronising or polemical