Incannerax What a waste of my time!!!

Mjeteconer Just perfect...

Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Roy Hart If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

GusF The first English language film to use the word "homosexual" in dialogue, this is an excellent social justice drama / thriller. The first rate script by Janet Green and John McCormick is a scathing indictment of Section 61 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 and related legislation which criminalised homosexual acts between males in the UK. It was still in force at the time that the film was made. Such acts were finally decriminalised in England and Wales by virtue of the Sexual Offences Act 1967, though they remained a criminal offence in Scotland until 1980 and Northern Ireland until 1982. It is worth mentioning that the UK was far from unusual in this respect as, for instance, homosexuality was an offence in East Germany until 1968, West Germany until 1969 and the Republic of Ireland, where I'm from, until 1993. Returning to the matter at hand, the film was very progressive and groundbreaking for its time in its liberal and sympathetic attitudes towards homosexuality. While it may appear a little diffident by today's standards, such social issues films are best considered in the context of their time. The same is true of the very condescending reference to gay men as "little people" who are afraid to come forward and one or two other comments of this nature. The film is very well directed by Basil Dearden, who is able to maintain a high level of suspense throughout the proceedings.The film stars Dirk Bogarde in a characteristically wonderful performance as Melville Farr, an extremely successful London barrister who has been called to the silk at the young age of 40 and is expected to one day become a judge. However, Farr is a closeted gay man who is desperate to hide his sexuality as, even if he managed to avoid a prison sentence, the revelation would destroy him professionally. As such, he ignores the multiple attempts made by Jack "Boy" Barrett, with whom he previously shared a romantic relationship, to contact him. He had assumed that Barrett was attempting to blackmail him over their relationship, which was never consummated, but he discovers that Barrett was himself the victim of blackmail and was seeking his assistance. Farr is guilt stricken when he is informed that Barrett has committed suicide. Although she is aware that he had a dalliance with another young man named Phil Steiner in Cambridge, Farr's wife Laura, played very well by Sylvia Syms, is shocked to learn of his relationship with Barrett. The reason behind her astonishment is that she thought that she had been able to cure him through their marriage. Farr says at one point that he has attempted to deny his sexuality for most of his life. The clear implication is that he has never had sex with another man and perhaps even that he hoped that marriage would indeed cure him. Farr admits that his feelings for Barrett had more to do with lust than love and that he broke up with him after he realised that he "wanted him." He later tells Laura that he loves her deeply but I got the feeling that he may have trying to convince himself of that since there is no indication that he is bisexual. Bogarde is excellent at conveying the character's inner turmoil and there is always a real sense of conflict and tension in his performance.Although Bogarde was both a major box office draw and a brilliant actor (two things which do not always go together), the first choice was Jack Hawkins, who turned it down because it thought that playing such a role would damage his career. Since Bogarde was gay in real life, he had far more to lose than Hawkins but accepted it nonetheless. By this time, his sexuality had been an open secret in the British film industry for over a decade. After the release of "So Long at the Fair" in 1950, Rank intended to release a cover story that he was dating his co-star Jean Simmons but those plans were ruined when she married Stewart Granger. By all accounts, Bogarde was a shy and intensely private man so it is perhaps unsurprising that he never publicly came out. While it was a courageous decision on his part to make the film, it did damage his career as it ended all serious prospects of him having a major Hollywood film career. It has been suggested that he might have had more luck in the US if he had entered into a marriage of convenience with a woman, as Rock Hudson and Charles Laughton did.Charles Lloyd Pack is excellent in his small role as Henry, a gay barber and another victim of the blackmailers. He has been imprisoned four times over the years and does not have the strength to go through it again. He claims that nature played him a "dirty trick" but nevertheless says that homosexuality can't be cured, not least by putting people behind bars. Dennis Price is very good as the gay theatre actor Calloway, a thinly veiled version of Noël Coward which was probably obvious to everyone in 1961. It also features an appearance by Hilton Edwards, who founded the Gate Theatre in Dublin with his lover Micheál Mac Liammóir in the late 1920s. Their romantic relationship was a very open secret but no one really passed any remarks on them. They were actually very well liked. The film also features strong performances from Nigel Stock, Norman Bird, Anthony Nicholls, Derren Nesbitt, John Barrie and John Cairney. John McEnery, who plays Barrett, is certainly the weakest link but he does not have a huge amount of screen time.Overall, this is an extremely effective social justice film which is serves as a powerful statement against homophobia in whatever form that it might take.

SnoopyStyle Jack Barrett is a young construction worker who is hunted by the police and in over his head for something mysterious. He races throughout London but few of his contacts are willing to help. He tries to find married lawyer Melville Farr. Somebody is blackmailing homosexuals which is illegal at the time. Barrett has stolen £2,300 from his employer to pay the blackmail. Police Detective Inspector Harris is actually more interested to find the blackmailer and seeks the help of Farr after Barrett hangs himself in jail.The first thirty minutes is quite a compelling paranoid thriller. I'm probably not smart enough or maybe the audience at the time would understand some of the hints being thrown around. I just didn't realize the blackmail was about homosexuals at first until Harris literally spells it out. This is edgy socially-dangerous material for its time.

edwagreen Dirk Bogarde must be given a lot of credit for starring in a movie deemed quite controversial for its times.He plays a successful man about to become a judge and yet he is hiding a terrible secret. That is, he was friends with a young man being blackmailed who ultimately killed himself in jail. Seems that the young man was forced to steal money as the blackmailers knew of his homosexual relationship. It doesn't take long to guess that Bogarde was part of this relationship.Trouble with this film is that the 1:43 minutes that it takes to tell the story could have been done in 20 minutes.The big surprise here is the discovery who was part of the blackmailing conspiracy. When it comes out, our maiden reveals the nature of anti-homosexual hatred in society. Of course, the financial benefits for her were secondary. Right?The story could have been stretched to further detail the relationship's effect on his marriage. His wife seems willing to continue, but that was probably a story in itself.When you think of this situation, it's a very sad commentary on the bigoted view of society on this topic. It shows how such a relationship could destroy a career.

ianlouisiana It is 1961 but the so - called "Swinging Sixties" are still in the unimaginable future.Homosexual acts between males are against the law.A married barrister is so deep in the closet he's in Narnia.A young male friend "Boy" Barrett is desperate for help as he is on the run after embezzling money to pay off a blackmailer.His calls to the barrister go unanswered and he hangs himself in a police cell,in his possession a scrapbook with press cuttings referring to the barrister's career. Melville Farr (Mr Dirk Bogarde) is about to take silk,the first step to a possible judgeship down the line,but his guilt over his feelings towards Barrett and his deception of his wife finally leads him to try and track down the blackmailer whatever the cost to himself. "Victim" cleverly weaves a straightforward detective story with a plea for tolerance towards homosexuals in an age when it was in rather short supply. Mr Bogarde gives a very moving performance as Melville Farr,a man who has for many years subjugated his natural instincts to conform with the perceived "normality" of his class and profession.After a disastrous gay affair he married the very young and naive daughter of a judge and clearly loves her but is still tortured by his feelings towards his own sex. The wife is played by the very beautiful Miss Sylvia Sims,hot on the heels of playing Mr Laurence Harvey's showgirl lover in "Expresso Bongo". This stunning,versatile actress is as sensitive and vulnerable as Bogarde's wife as she was brash and hard - boiled as Harvey's girlfriend. Mr Derren Nesbett is brilliantly slimy as the repressed gay blackmailer's bagman.Looking for all the world like a malevolent Zoot Sims,he plays his part with lip - smacking relish. But much of the joy in "Victim" is in the careful casting of the smaller roles,none of whom falls into the easy trap of stereotyping gay men. Having been brought up in gay - friendly Brighton I was familiar with the demi- monde homosexuals felt they were forced to inhabit and it is well - realised in this picture.I am a little surprised that the pub featured in "Victim" wasn't one of the several London venues which gays had made their own,even in the 1950s.Still,perhaps the producers were using the "pub as a microcosm of society" argument. Despite perhaps a slight over - egging of the "gays are just folks" pudding,this is a fine picture,one which signalled a change of direction for Mr Bogarde's career,gave notice to the public that there were severe inequities in the way the law regarded sexuality,and demonstrated that British Cinema was still a force to be reckoned with. If you wish to learn for yourself the injustices visited on homosexual men prior to the Wolfenden report,read "Against The Law",a 1954 memoir by Peter Wildeblood who - along with Lord Montagu and Michael Pitt - Rivers - was imprisoned for having sexual relations with servicemen. his account of hypocrisy in high places details the price paid by gay men 50 years ago that helped achieve the freedom they enjoy now.