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Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9780780020214
Format: Black & White, Letterboxed, Widescreen, NTSC
ISBN: 0780020219
Label: Pathé-America Distributing Company
Manufacturer: Pathé-America Distributing Company
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Pathé-America Distributing Company
Release Date: June 13, 2000
Running Time: 90 minutes
Sales Rank: 36742
Studio: Pathé-America Distributing Company
Theatrical Release Date: 1961
Editorial Review:
Description:
A cinematic milestone, Victim was one of the first films to deal seriously and openly with homosexuality. Basil Dearden's (The League of Gentlemen) taut thriller focuses on a bisexual lawyer (Dirk Bogarde, The Servant, The Woman in Question) who risks his marriage and reputation to prosecute a ring of blackmailers that targets gay men. Made when British law still outlawed 'homosexual acts,' Victim was a risk to the careers of all those involved, but screenwriters Janet Green and John McCormick skillfully avoided both sensationalism and stereotypes. Victim marked a turning point for matinee idol Bogarde, who moved from lightweight to serious, attention-getting roles. Shot on location in London with an impeccable cast, Dearden's stylish film helped forge a new realism in British cinema.
Amazon.com:
Dirk Bogarde risked his career to make this 1962 film about a lawyer who risks his career to stand up to blackmailers. Part crime thriller and part plea for tolerance, Victim uses the terror of a blackmailing ring to point out the injustice of Britain's antisodomy laws. Bogarde plays Melville Farr, a married lawyer who learns of a blackmail scheme when one of its victims, an old friend, commits suicide rather than tell the police. As Farr conducts an investigation, he must confront his own past. Victim was ahead of its time--it was the first English-language movie to use the word 'homosexual'--and as such it seems quaint and stilted at times. Straw-man clichés about homosexuality must be knocked down, and, like in all first-wave issue movies, occasionally characters need to have rather stilted debates. Still, the crime plot stands on its own, the performances are excellent, and the film is brave enough to make some very good points. This is an interesting and worthy bit of cinematic history. --Ali Davis
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Roger Ebert, 2004: The film; Dirk Bogarde
Victim (1961)
BY ROGER EBERT / May 23, 2004
Recent critics find "Victim" timid in its treatment of homosexuality, but viewed in the context of Great Britain in 1961, it's a film of courage. How much courage can be gauged by the fact that it was originally banned from American screens simply because it used the word "homosexual." To be gay was a crime in the United States and the U.K., and the movie used the devices of film noir and thriller to make its argument, labeling ... Read More
Rating: - Victim
Basil Dearden's tense, gripping drama was daring for the time in addressing the victimization of closeted homosexuals by unscrupulous criminals. Bogarde is superb as Farr (no relation), and Sylvia Syms shines as his stoic wife. Extremely effective film helped launch a reform of laws against homosexual activity in England.
Rating: - great movie
this is an excellent movie.
great story, great direction, and wonderful acting!!!!!
Rating:  - Fascinating Time Capsule of 1960s Perception of Homosexuality
Daringly forthright, this suspenseful story of blackmail (expertly performed by a great cast led by Dirk Bogarde) is a valuable time capsule of the pervasive homophobia that dominated all reaches of 1960s society. There are great, timeless moments that remind the audience of simultaneously how far and how little we have progressed since then.
A 30 minute television interview from 1961 with Bogarde is also quite interesting, particularly for American audiences who may only be peripherally ... Read More
Rating: - Controversial classic that's more than historically interesting
Melville Farr (Dirk Bogarde), a married and highly respected barrister on the verge of making QC, becomes embroiled in a homosexual blackmail plot when a youth he befriended is arrested and commits suicide. As Farr attempts to track down and expose the blackmailers, much to the distress of his secretly gay acquaintances and colleagues, Farr and his wife are forced to confront his own ambiguous sexuality... I hunted this film down because it came up time and again in reviews and discussions about "Brokeback ... Read More
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