It’s Pride Month and you should be talking about Dirk Bogarde in Victim (1961)

Highly believed to be partly responsible for the changes in the illegalization of homosexuality in the UK (the Sexual Offences Act of 1967) and the general attitudes of the British public regarding the subject, Victim (1961, dir. Basil Dearden) is as impactful now as the day it came out.

What’s it about?

Melville Farr (Dirk Bogarde) is a successful barrister who takes on the case of a young man, Jack Barrett (Peter McEnery), after he kills himself as a result of being blackmailed for being gay. When the blackmail ring proves to be much bigger than initially thought, Mel’s own private life and involvement with Jack come to light…

Let’s just get a few things out of the way first: Sir Dirk Bogarde was gay in real life and it’s obviously not a surprise that this was an extremely personal project for him and perhaps his greatest performance. As you probably know, I’m not a big fan of the ambiguous expression ‘ahead of its time’ but in this case, it is totally deserved.

Place in British film history

In 1961, homosexuality was still a crime in the United Kingdom. Screenwriters Janet Green and John McCormick took a risk when they wrote such a brave, bold and frankly badass story. Victim…