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| a film by Basil Dearden |
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| 1961 | 95 mins | UK |
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| ›› Victim |
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| a landmark work that shone the spotlight on an antiquated law |
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| available on DVD as part of the Network catalogue |
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starring: Dirk Bogarde, Sylvia Syms, Dennis Price, Anthony Nicholls, Peter Copley,
Norman Bird, Peter McEnery, Donald Churchill, John Barrie
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On the verge of being appointed to serve on the Queen's Council, happily married English
barrister Melville Farr has a life that is as morally sound, as it is successful. Or so it would
appear. For into his world of law and order enters one Jack Barrett, a young working class lad
who brings to the surface his long repressed homosexual proclivity. Aware of the social and
political repercussions of such an inclination, Farr promptly ends their brief relationship,
unaware that their final moments together have been captured in photographic form. Namely the
very medium that subjected many at this time to extortion, by way of an antiquated law
that made being a practicing homosexual in Great Britain, a criminal offence.
In short, this landmark work bravely shone the spotlight on the injustice of a law that prior to
1967 was in effect, none other than a blackmailers charter. That Barrett could no longer deal
with such and resorted to suicide was sadly an act not confined to fiction, but the seemingly
sole means of escape for those not willing to submit to blackmail, but equally aware that to
do otherwise let risk social and employment ruin. Yet in depicting such, writers John
McCormick and Janet Green were all too well aware of just how serious a political
statement they were making.
For here was a film that in the wake of the
Peter Wildeblood trial and the noted
Wolfenden Report,
was literally telling the British Government to get its act together and decriminalise homosexuality.
It was, in effect, a cinematic affirmation of gay rights, complete with a star not afraid to cast
his matinee idol image to the cutting room floor in favour of the cause. Then again, this is
Bogarde's career defining performance and whilst Sylvia Syms shines in her portrayal of a
woman torn between her love for her husband and the realisation of the social
implications of his homosexuality being made public, it is Bogarde who
delivers the emotional foundations of the piece, in a role that he
would later cite as being "the wisest decision I ever made in my cinematic life."
Highly controversial in its time; today this b/w feature can be seen as an entertaining drama, backed
by a series of exemplary performances from the supporting cast. Yet the historic importance
of VICTIM will remain in this compelling work having played its part in the eventual
decriminalisation of homosexual acts between consenting adults of twenty-one-years
or over in England and Wales, through the Sexual Offences Act of 1967. The
struggle for full equality in the eyes of the law would
however continue for many years to come.
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| Copyright 2007 David Hall - www.gaycelluloid.com. |
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