Victim centred on Melville Farr (Dirk Bogarde), a successful barrister who is on the verge of becoming a Queen's Counsel. Farr also happens to be gay. Jack "Boy" Barrett (Peter McEnery), a young man with whom Farr had a romantic, if platonic relationship, was being blackmailed. To play the blackmail he stole £2,300 from his job and as a result is being pursued by the police. He wants Farr's help in leaving the country. Unfortunately for Barrett, he is picked up by the police, who wants to know why he was being blackmailed. Barrett ultimately hangs himself in a police cell to avoid revealing the reason why he was being blackmailed and compromising Farr as well. Farr then decides to take on the ring of blackmailers himself.
Victim emerged from the social and political climate in the United Kingdom at the time. The Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885 had made homosexual acts between men illegal. It was after the end of the Second World War that arrests and prosecutions for violating for homosexual offences had increased dramatically. Following the convictions of such high profile men as John Gielgud, Lord Montagu of Beaulieu, Peter Wildeblood and others, that the government set up a committee within Home Office and Scottish Home Department to examine homosexual offences and prostitution. The Report of the Departmental Committee on Homosexual Offences and Prostitution was published on September 4 1957, and is often called the Wolfenden report after Sir John Wolfenden, the chairman of the committee. The report ultimately recommended that "homosexual behaviour between consenting adults in private should no longer be a criminal offence."
Janet Green, the screenwriter who had written such films as Eyewitness (1956) and Sapphire (1959), read the Wolfenden report and as a result took in the reform of the laws regarding homosexuality. She and her husband John McCormick then wrote a screenplay originally titled Boy Barrett. Janet Green had previously worked with director Basil Dearden and produce Michael Relph on Sapphire, and the two men decided to forward with Victim. They decided to take an approach to Victim similar to that they took with Sapphire, which addressed racism against Afro-Caribbean immigrants in London.
Basil Dearden and Michael Relph would have some difficulty finding their leading man. Victim was offered to Jack Hawkins, but he turned it down. An offer was made to James Mason, but he turned it down as well. Even Stewart Granger was considered for the lead role. Finally, Victim was offered to Dirk Bogarde, then one of the United Kingdom's top matinee idols. He had starred in the successful Doctor series of films, as well as such movies as The Blue Lamp (1950), Cast a Dark Shadow (1955), and A Tale of Two Cities (1958). What was not well known at the time was that Dirk Bogarde was gay himself. He lived with his partner, Anthony Forward, and the two men would remain together until Mr. Forward died in 1988. Given homosexual acts were illegal in the United Kingdom at the time, as well as the possible adverse affect a revelation that he was gay could have upon his career, it should come as no surprise that Mr. Bogarde hid his sexual orientation for years.
In making Victim producer Michael Relph made the decision to approach the subject of homosexuality very cautiously. It was decided that the movie would feature no discussion of sexual acts between men, let alone scenes addressing sexual relations between men. That having been said, the movie approached homosexuality with sympathy, something that was somewhat revolutionary at the time. Michael Relph ultimately said that Victim was a story of "not glands, but of love."
Even without any mention of homosexual acts, let alone any portrayal of such, Victim ran afoul of censors on both sides of the Pond. The British Board of Film Censorship (BBFC) demanded four lines of dialogue be cut, and suggested shortening two other scenes. Even so, the BBFC would ultimately give Victim an "X" certificate, which meant no one under the age of 16 could see the film. At the time "X" certificates were generally given to only adult films and horror movies. The Production Code Administration in the Unites States would have a much stronger reaction to Victim. Quite simply the PCA refused to give Victim its seal of approval. Victim was released in the United States without the PCA's seal.
While Victim proved controversial with the censors, it did receive positive reviews in the United Kingdom and the United States. Seen today Victim seems dated. Farr and Barrett never had sex, nor does Farr ever mention having had sex with any other man. In fact, there is no mention of sexual relations between men at any point in the film. The photograph for which Barrett being blackmailed is not one of him en flagrante with another man, but a simple photo of Barrett crying on Farr's shoulder. While Victim was certainly groundbreaking at the time, today its approach to homosexuality seems prudish. Of course, as pointed out above, this approach was intentional. Producer Michael Relph knew better than to push the envelope too far with regards to the censors.
Regardless, Victim was a groundbreaking film in addressing the topic of homosexuality directly in a way that it never had before. It also proved to be a turning point in Dirk Bogarde's career. Previously and with but a few exceptions, Mr. Bogarde had been confined to roles befitting his status as a matinee idol. Afterwards he would appear in such films as The Servant (1963), Darling (1965), Death in Venice (1971), and yet others. Although Victim might appear dated today, at the time it was a positively revolutionary film.
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