Victim (1961)

Homosexual acts were illegal in England and Wales until the Sexual Offenses Act in 1967. Despite the law, police in 1960s England tended to be somewhat lax about actually enforcing an antiquated law that even then seemed an affront to personal liberty in a changing society. But in a climate where the police weren’t necessarily posing a threat to closeted gay men, blackmailers were having a field day, threatening to ruin the lives of gay men by exposing them unless they paid up.

In the groundbreaking 1961 British film Victim, Dirk Bogarde plays Melville Farr, a successful and prominent barrister who also happens to be a closeted homosexual. With a beautiful, devoted wife and a skyrocketing, well-respected career, the exposure of his secret gay life could cost him everything. He, among numerous other gay men, both prominent and regular, is being blackmailed. When his former paramour, Boy Barrett (Peter McEnery), who was also being blackmailed, hangs himself in jail, Farr is overcome with guilt since Barrett repeatedly tried to contact him in the days just prior to his suicide. The film follows Farr as he leads a fight – with the help of the police and of other victims – to take the blackmailers down.

Victim first came onto my radar when it was initially released on DVD about ten years ago. I’m still struck by how daring it was in light of it’s time (1961), being the first English language film to ever use the word “homosexual.” When it was released, it was arguably the most daring English language film ever made… so daring that it was initially banned in the United States.

The maturity and sophistication with which the material is handled is astounding, especially Farr’s “coming out” to his wife Laura, astutely played by Sylvia Syms. She’s no passive “yes” woman. Rather, she backs Farr into a corner and demands an explanation for Boy Barrett and the graffiti whitewashed on their garage (“FARR IS QUEER”). Her reception, acceptance and ultimate management of her husband’s confession is one of the most remarkable and mature character treatments I’ve ever seen on film.

Though Victim very pointedly and openly deals with homosexuality, I wouldn’t necessarily consider it a “gay movie.” To me, Victim is about many things: hypocrisy, freedom, integrity, repression, change and, most pointedly, fear. As Farr says in the film, “Fear is the oxygen of blackmail.” But most importantly, I think Victim is about a man putting it all on the line and risking everything to do the right thing. Melville Farr ultimately becomes a man not fully ruined but a man fully realized.

Beautifully shot and lit in black and white, Victim is also a great looking, wonderfully acted movie. It captures a pre-swinging ’60s London still wrapped tightly in the constraining societal formalities and influences of the 1950s. For the men (and women) in this world, the bar was the safe haven. The modest production was directed by Basil Dearden with a bold script written by Janet Green and John McCormick.

The film is available from the Criterion Collection as part of director Basil Dearden’s London Underground DVD set. It is also available for streaming on Hulu Plus.

Watch the trailer: