VICTIM [1961 / 2014] [Blu-ray] [UK Release] The Forbidden Film That Was Given by the British Board of Film Censors an “X” Certificate Rating! Their Future Was Menaced By The Post!
Banned on its original theatrical release in the United States and highly controversial in Britain, this BAFTA nominated story of deception, blackmail and revenge stars Dirk Bogarde in a brave, career-best performance as a prosperous young barrister with a dark secret. With powerful direction from Basil Dearden and strong supporting performances from both Sylvia Syms and Dennis Price, ‘VICTIM’ is featured here in a High Definition transfer made from original film elements in its as-exhibited theatrical aspect ratio.
The police are after Jack Barrett, who has stolen several thousand pounds and is now on the run. He tries desperately to get in touch with Melville Farr, a prosperous young barrister with a beautiful wife but, cornered and arrested by the police he commits suicide in his prison cell rather than answer their questions.
FILM FACT No.1: Awards and Nominations: 1961 Venice Film Festival: Nominated: Golden Lion Awards for Basil Dearden. 1962 BAFTA Film Awards: Nominated: Best British Actor for Dirk Bogarde. Nominated: Best British Screenplay for Janet Green and John McCormick.
FILM FACT No.2: The script was originally entitled ‘Boy Barrett,’ changing to ‘VICTIM’ late in production. A number of controversial scenes were cut during discussions with the BBFC, including scenes with teenagers. ‘VICTIM’ became a highly sociologically significant film; many believe it played an influential role in liberalising attitudes, as well as the laws in Britain, regarding homosexuality. It was not a major hit but by 1971 had earned an estimated profit of only £51,762. Dennis Price's character, which was a prominent Gay Theatre star, would have been fairly easy for contemporary audiences to identify with Noël Coward. ‘VICTIM’ premiered at the Odeon Cinema in Leicester Square on 31st August, 1961. The U.S. premiere followed at two theaters in New York on the 5th February, 1962. It was the only British entry in the Venice Film Festival in 1961, where an Italian critic commented: "at last the British have stopped being hypocrites.”
Cast: Dirk Bogarde, Sylvia Syms, Dennis Price, Anthony Nicholls, Peter Copley, Norman Bird, Peter McEnery, Donald Churchill, Derren Nesbitt, John Barrie, John Cairney, Alan MacNaughton, Nigel Stock, Frank Pettitt, Mavis Villiers, Charles Lloyd Pack, Hilton Edwards, David Evans, Noel Howlett, Margaret Diamond, Alan Howard, Dawn Beret, Frank Andrews (uncredited), John Bennett (uncredited), John Boxer (uncredited), Victor Brooks (uncredited), Fred Davis (uncredited), Jack Dearlove (uncredited), Nora Gordon (uncredited), Richard Gregory (uncredited), George Holdcroft (uncredited), Colin McKenzie (uncredited), Jim O'Brady (uncredited), Bill Reed (uncredited), Arnold Schulkes (uncredited), Jeff Silk (uncredited) and Frank Thornton (uncredited)
Director: Basil Dearden
Producers: Basil Dearden (uncredited) and Michael Relph
Screenplay: Janet Green and John McCormick
Composer: Philip Green
Cinematography: Otto Heller, B.S.C. (Director of Photography)
Image Resolution: 1080p (Black-and-White)
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
Audio: English: 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo Audio
Subtitles: English
Running Time: 100 minutes
Region: Region B/2
Number of discs: 1
Studio: Rank Film Distributors / Network
Andrew’s Blu-ray Review: The film ‘VICTIM’ [1961] is one of those films impossible to separate from its historical significance. Judged purely on its own merits, it’s a clever and suspenseful thriller, amongst the all-time best British film, in which a lawyer goes after a blackmailer even though exposing him will lead to his own downfall. Against this political background, ‘VICTIM’ is an undeniably significant milestone film, but it is also a remarkably a very good one, thanks in no small measure to the superb performances of all the actors in the film and of course was helped along the way in having a brilliant director. It was a career-defining moment for its stars, especially Dirk Bogarde, who had earlier been Britain’s top film star and a matinee idol.
The film was banned on its original theatrical release in the United States and highly controversial in Britain, this BAFTA Awards nominated story of deception, blackmail and revenge stars Melville Farr [Dirk Bogarde] in a brave, career-best performance as a prosperous young barrister with a dark secret. With powerful direction from Basil Dearden and strong supporting performances from both Laura Farr [Sylvia Syms] and Calloway [Dennis Price]. ‘VICTIM’ is featured here in a High Definition transfer made from original film elements in its as-exhibited theatrical aspect ratio. Back in 1961 homosexuality was not discussed in polite society. So when Victim hung its entire story upon the persecution of a gay barrister, there were a lot of people writing to their MP or dashing off pompous letters to 'The Times'. Such was the fuss that, while again as already stated ‘VICTIM’ was banned in America, and it was edited for release pretty much everywhere.
This man is Melville Farr [Dirk Bogarde], who at the young age of 40 has just been offered the opportunity to become a Queen's Counsellor. Melville Farr will lose that appointment, his career and his marriage if he's identified in the press as gay, and yet he decides that someone must stand up to the blackmailers to demonstrate the injustice of the law. As he tracks the blackmailers through a network of their victims, the movie follows him through the London of the time and its courts of law, police stations, pubs, clubs, barbershops, used bookstores, cafes, drawing rooms, car dealerships and showing how ordinary life is affected in countless ways by the fact that many of its citizens must keep their natures a secret.
Melville Farr [Dirk Bogarde] was played as a smooth, skilled barrister who projects a surface of strength and calm. He only raises his voice two or three times in the movie, but we sense an undercurrent of anger: Melville Farr finds it wrong that homosexuality is punished, wrong that gays cannot go to the police to complain of blackmail, wrong that hypocrisy flourishes. There is a moment in the film when he unexpectedly hits someone who has just insulted him, and it comes as a revelation: Beneath Melville Farr;s silky personality are a wound, resentment, and a fierce determination to act at last on his convictions.
The opening sequences of the film involve him only slightly, as we follow a young man named Jack Barrett [Peter McEnery], on the run from the police. We learn fairly soon that he is gay, but only gradually do we understand he is wanted for embezzlement. Broke, desperate for the money to get out of London, he calls Melville Farr, is rebuffed, and is also turned away by a book dealer [Norman Bird], a car dealer and others. His desperation is closely observed in a pub where many of the characters hang out, including an odd couple: a rat like little man and his heftier companion, who is blind but hears all the gossip.
Jack Barrett is arrested, and found with a scrapbook of clippings about Farr. To the almost unconvincingly wise and civilised Detective Inspector Harris [John Barrie], it's an open-and-shut case: Jack Barrett has no money, lived simply, had stolen thousands from his employer, seemed gay, and therefore was a blackmail victim. Jack Barrett calls in Melville Farr, who offers no help, but when Harris tells him that the young man has hanged himself in his cell, Melville Farr, is deeply shaken. He has good reason: He loved Jack Barrett.
Melville Farr’s wife Laura Farr [Sylvia Syms] immediately reads his mood and eventually learns of his friendship with Jack Barrett. She knew when they married that he'd had a youthful infatuation with a fellow Cambridge student, but that it was "behind him." Melville Farr never had sex with Jack Barrett, he tells her, and stopped seeing the young man when he sensed their feelings were growing too strong, but for her it's as much of a betrayal as physical contact, because he shows that what he felt for Jack Barrett was different, more powerful, than what he feels for her.
For too long now, interest in ‘VICTIM’ has almost entirely focussed upon the film bringing a taboo subject out into the open. The merits of the film have been all but forgotten, which is a shame because ‘VICTIM’ is a brilliantly acted, fantastically ballsy piece of British cinema. Dirk Bogarde, whose effete manner and epic integrity make him the perfect man to play Melville Farr who is staggeringly good, turning a potentially stereotyped character into a man of true substance. Sylvia Syms is also excellent as a good woman whose efforts to understand her husband isn’t clouded by her love for him. There are also notable supporting turns from an underused Dennis Price, a young Derren Nesbitt and John Barrie, who is superb as the sympathetic policeman.
Since its bread-and-butter camerawork and uninspired sets make it seem like any other British film of the era, it's easy to dismiss ‘VICTIM’ as being dated. However, the fact that it shares the trappings of no end of other films actually makes ‘VICTIM’ quite remarkable. By setting the story in an immediately recognisable world using the film language of the time, Basil Dearden made the sad tale of Melville Farr seem rather mundane and therefore all the more shocking. Tolerance levels might have changed, but ‘VICTIM’ continues to tap into something truly timeless of man's inhumanity to man. In a nutshell: For a long time, it's been fashionable to think of ‘VICTIM’ as a little film that made a big fuss over a long word. With this is brilliant Blu-ray release, one can only hope this re-release awakens people to the true power of Basil Dearden's film and the extraordinary bravery of Dirk Bogarde's performance, as it did me, as it is a real tour de force performance from everyone in the film and now can be viewed to see what all the fuss was about on the release of this film.
Most critics at time, especially in America, condemned the film for daring to show compassion to so called "degenerates." Nevertheless, ‘VICTIM’ was a quantum leap forward in 1961 and helped pave the way was slow as it was in coming to today's wealth of gay films. Today, yes, things are different, but Dirk Bogarde was born in 1921, and homosexuality was only finally legalised in Britain in 1967. As an actor, he risked a great deal to take a crucial role at a time when it made a difference. And didn't he anyway, through his work, tell us whatever it was about him we thought we had the right to know?
Blu-ray Image Quality – The Network Company has done a really wonderful job in bringing this 1961 film on the Blu-ray format in a pristine 1080p encoded image and of course the 1.66:1 original aspect ratio. It's always heart-warming to see a British film of this vintage restored to close to its former glory, and the transfer here certainly has its share of strong points. The contrast is punchy, and while the strong black levels do pull in some of the darker picture information, the mid-range greyscale is most attractively rendered. There's not a dust spot to be seen and the image is rock solid in frame, and the detail is still crisper than you would find even on a high quality DVD. But the film also has a funny mélange of styles and the exteriors are shot in an almost documentary vérité manner, while the interiors are highly stylised, full of shadows and contrasts typical of a film noir type effect, especially with the black levels that are very solid looking. Please Note: Playback Region B/2: This will not play on most Blu-ray players sold in North America, Central America, South America, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. Learn more about Blu-ray region specifications.
Blu-ray Audio Quality – Once again the Network Company has done a really wonderful job in bringing this 1961 film with an upgrade on the Blu-ray format in realising the audio soundtrack in a pristine 2.0 Dolby Digital Audio track. Surprisingly for this Blu-ray, there is no degrading of this soundtrack on offer for the age of this film, and the 2.0 Dolby Digital Audio track here still does the job. The dialogue and music exhibit the sort of narrowed dynamic range you'd expect for a film of the early 1960s, but it's always very clear and is also free of any damage or background hiss. The dynamics on the stereo track are fine, as is the balance; there is a little bit of popping, though, but not enough to interfere with the audibility of the dialogue.
Blu-ray Special Features and Extras:
Special Feature: Dirk Bogarde In Conversation [1961] [480i] [1.37:1] [28:34] This is a very extensive interview with Dirk Bogarde where he talks frankly about his career. A thoroughly relaxed Dirk Bogarde is interviewed in his own home in that very middle class manner that was prevalent in filmed interviews of the time. He talks in detail about what he regards as the most significant films in his career to that date, ‘VICTIM’ included, which he clearly believes is one of his best roles. He's not wrong there. A number of other subjects are briefly discussed, and there are sizeable extracts from three of the key films. The interview survives in bad condition, both picture and sound, and Dirk Bogarde speaks in the odd clipped manner British actors adopted at the time, but it’s worth persevering because it has moments of interest, especially Dirk Bogarde’s evasion when quizzed on why he took on the part in the film ‘VICTIM.’ This is a really interesting and fascinating interview piece. But one strange aspect of this interview is right at the end, where the sound suddenly goes silent and has an abrupt ending, very strange. Rank Film Distributors Limited.
Special Feature: Production Image Gallery [1961] [1080p] [5:03] A rolling gallery of promotional stills of scenes from the film, including a couple that didn't make the final cut where we see Melville Farr and his wife in bed, for a start. The images themselves could have been much bigger, but are of excellent quality.
Special Feature: Behind the Scenes Image Gallery [1961] [1080p] [1:51] Here again we get to see some very interesting similarly sized and equally crisp behind-the scenes stills. Once again these are of excellent quality.
Special Feature: Portrait Image Gallery [1961] [1080p] [2:39] Here get to see more promotional stills, but focussed on individual actors and we also get to see a few are more obviously posed for the camera. Once again these are of excellent quality.
Special Feature: Promotional Image Gallery [1961] [1080p] [2:06] Here we get a set of different images, that mainly consist of Posters, pages from press books and colourised front-of-house stills, all of interest and crisply reproduced. Once again these are of excellent quality.
Theatrical Trailer [1961] [1080p] [1.66:1] [2:19] This is the Original Theatrical Trailer for the film ‘VICTIM.’ One of a series of questions asked by the earnest voice-over is, "What threads of strange emotion puts this brilliantly successful barrister on the wrong side of the law?" Well you will have to see the film to find the answers.
Finally, the film ‘VICTIM’ is a totally gripping and forward thinking 1961 film, whose drama and social commentary are so intrinsically linked that one simply would not function half as well without the other. Excellent performances and measured direction avoid sensationalising a subject that was ripe for exploitation, and the plea for equality and understanding comes through strongly without ever being hammered home. Network's Blu-ray boasts a decent HD 108p transfer and a sprinkling of interesting extras and for that and the film alone has to come to give us a flavour and reflection of what the gay society and life style was like in 1960s Britain and well worth the wait in getting released on this excellent Network Blu-ray disc. Highly Recommended!
Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No.1 Film Aficionado
Le Cinema Paradiso
United Kingdom
