VICTIM: a brave performance from a star with much to hide

The decision by Dirk Bogarde to play the part of a repressed homosexual who fights back against his blackmailers looks even more daring today than it did when VICTIM was first released in 1961. Forty eight years ago Bogarde was one of the biggest stars in British cinema with a following that owed as much to his good looks as it did to his undeniable talent as an actor. He'd graduated from "tortured youth in a trenchcoat" roles to light comedy to serious drama but the role of barrister Melville Farr was potential career suicide.
In 1961 homosexuality was still a criminal offence in the UK, regarded by many as an unspeakable perversion, "the weak rotten part of nature" as one character describes it, practiced by men who'd chosen not to live a "normal" life. VICTIM addresses these prejudices head-on and makes a powerful case for the legalising of homosexuality by showing these "unfortunate devils" to be everyday ordinary folk who might be a barber, a car salesman, a businessman, or even a leading barrister with a beautiful wife and a glittering career within his grasp.
Bogarde is to be admired for risking his reputation in a film which was so far ahead of its time (homosexuality was finally legalised in the UK in 1967)but it's only with hindsight that we can appreciate the real courage involved in his decision. Although Bogarde always denied he was gay towards the end of his life he did confirm that he'd been in a long term relationship with the man who was his manager. He had to have known what public exposure of his sexuality would have done to his career so to invite attention by taking on the starring role in a film addressing such a controversial issue takes balls.
Bogarde and director Basil Dearden deserve praise for their refusal to dilute the character of Farr to make him more palatable to mass audiences. The story remains true to it's original intent right to the very end. Flagwaving aside VICTIM is also a gripping drama, verging on film noir, filled with characters that defy convention to hold the attention until the last. This is a 5 out of 5 film. If you can find it - buy it!