Victim (1961)

[DB7]

Filmmakers on film: Terence Davies

Last Updated: 12:01am BST 21/04/2007

The Liverpool-born writer-director discusses Basil Dearden's Victim (1961) with Sheila Johnston

In 1961, Terence Davies, then 16, was working in the accounts department of a Liverpool shipping office, where he became friends with a colleague. "I thought he was dead sophisticated but also slightly different. We'd have lunch in town, and afterwards he'd go to British Home Stores and buy make-up.

Dirk Bogarde in Basil Dearden's Victim (1961)
Brave: Dirk Bogarde as a married barrister who is blackmailed for being gay in Victim

"Eventually he said, 'There's something I need to tell you: I'm queer.' I said, 'So am I.' And I felt that at last there was someone else like me.

"One Friday he said, 'Let's go to the pictures - there's a Dirk Bogarde film on at the Odeon.' " As Davies recalls it, they had no idea what the movie was about, and indeed, at the beginning, as a young man is seen running from the police through a building site, it's by no means clear what's going on. Then he commits suicide, an investigation begins, and the bombshell falls.

"The police inspector says, 'Of course he was a homosexual.' And you could have heard a feather drop in the cinema - the atmosphere was electric. That word was never used in England. Never! Because it was such a shock, I couldn't concentrate on the rest of the film."

Bogarde's character, a married barrister, is secretly gay and one of a number of men targeted by a blackmail ring. The dead youth was his ex-lover, and this impels him to testify against the blackmailers, at the cost of his reputation, his career and possibly his marriage.
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"It was extremely brave to make the film at a time when homosexuality was still a criminal offence. Changing the law took another six years. But I think Victim helped: it was part of a general move towards being more liberal." Did it make Davies feel militant himself? "Well," he replies wryly, "Dirk Bogarde making a stand in the Inner Temple was a bit different from being the youngest of 10 in a working-class family in Liverpool."

Davies documented the dark age of his childhood in a semi-autobiographical trilogy of shorts and his first feature, Distant Voices, Still Lives, currently revived at BFI Southbank in a retrospective of his work. He conjured intimate family memories in free-form images, sometimes bleak and brutal, at others tender, nostalgic and achingly beautiful.

He proved that he could move beyond personal material with two adaptations: of John Kennedy Toole's The Neon Bible and Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth. Both had splendid reviews, yet failed to establish his commercial credentials and he has not made a feature since, though not for want of trying. He is understandably waspish on the subject.

"British cinema is about being liked in America," he asserts. "If you win an Oscar, not only is your knighthood assured, your sainthood is. But what if that's of no interest to you? What do you do then?"

Victim, by contrast, is the least ingratiating of British films, and a courageous choice for Bogarde, then enormously popular for playing war heroes and heartthrobs, notably in the Doctor in the House comedies. Freed from his long contract with Rank studios, he intended to focus on more exacting fare such as Victim, despite being advised against it. His original fan base withered thereafter. But it paved the way for some extraordinary work including The Servant, Accident, Darling, Death in Venice and The Night Porter.

'When I saw Victim again, what struck me was the exquisiteness of Bogarde's performance," Davies continues. "Not only in the way he delivers the lines but also his gestures. Partly because he was gay himself, although he couldn't say so, he could play with all those little nuances of guilt and terror that a straight actor wouldn't know about."

He singles out two scenes. In the first, Bogarde is phoned by his lover and hangs up on him.

"He pauses just a second before he puts the phone down. It's full of regret: one of those hovering moments that change your life. Another great sequence comes at the end, when he confesses to his wife. The thing that makes it touching beyond belief is when he coughs and you understand just how embarrassed he is. It's British acting at its best, utterly restrained but deeply moving. At the time, they had to make Victim very crusading and wave the banner. But what comes across today is the delicacy and the humanity of it."

The director, Basil Dearden, had a reputation for addressing social issues; two years previously, he had made Sapphire, about racial prejudice. "His films are conventional but well-crafted. Victim has some very nice black-and-white photography and the interiors especially are lovely to look at. He's a good jobbing director and there's nothing wrong with that. I wouldn't mind being one myself. I'd work more!"

Ever hopeful, Davies is seeking finance for a new script: Mad About the Boy (nothing to do with Noël Coward; he just likes the title). "It's a ménage Ã* trois set in the fashion world in London and Paris: a contemporary romantic comedy, in colour and with a happy ending," he says, and laughs, semi-incredulously. "Who would have thought it?"

[stevie boy]

a haunting and thought provoking film. Great performances from all especially Bogarde and Sims and Nesbitt. Great little side plot played out in the pub also. Absolutely fantastic

[Phil Turner]

Originally Posted by stevie boy a haunting and thought provoking film. Great performances from all especially Bogarde and Sims and Nesbitt. Great little side plot played out in the pub also. Absolutely fantastic

I also love this film, and I personally think it ranks alongside The Servant and Death in Venice as Bogarde's finest. Terrific acting all round, and a thought provoking film that handled a delicate issue with intelligence.

Regards
Phil Turner

[stevie boy]

I watched this again last week, and it is a perfect film, everything is just right. The acting,dialogue and music and ,of course, the locations. Dirk Bogarde at his considerable best, first class.

[Merton Park]

Wonderful British Film that has passed the test of time. It's still very pognant, even today and really conveys the fears of the time. Excellent!

[susanduic]

It certainly is an excellent film and of course a great breakthrough but surely having a rather doubtful premise. A central figure managing to overcome his naturual instincts? In the then fashionable mode, those unwilling to be 'outed' by the blackmailers were shown as cowardly 'toffs' with plums in their mouths or cowardly sniffling outsiders........There is an oblique suggestion that a good woman was a great help. On the other hand the Bogarde character did have the guts to put his head above the parapet...........

[stevie boy]

Originally Posted by saduic It certainly is an excellent film and of course a great breakthrough but surely having a rather doubtful premise. A central figure managing to overcome his naturual instincts? In the then fashionable mode, those unwilling to be 'outed' by the blackmailers were shown as cowardly 'toffs' with plums in their mouths or cowardly sniffling outsiders........There is an oblique suggestion that a good woman was a great help. On the other hand the Bogarde character did have the guts to put his head above the parapet...........

both Bogarde the actor and Farr the character get to put their head/s above the parapet

[theuofc]

Originally Posted by stevie boy I watched this again last week, and it is a perfect film, everything is just right. The acting,dialogue and music and ,of course, the locations. Dirk Bogarde at his considerable best, first class.

Total agreement, Stevie Boy. Dirk's courage in taking on this role helped change homophobic laws in England.

I'm watching Victim tonight in honour of Dirk's birthday today 28th March.

Cheers,

Barbara

[stevie boy]

Originally Posted by theuofc Total agreement, Stevie Boy. Dirk's courage in taking on this role helped change homophobic laws in England. I'm watching Victim tonight in honour of Dirk's birthday today 28th March. Cheers, Barbara

hope you enjoyed the film again Barbara, have you seen my pictures that I took last week in Chiswick?? location location

[theuofc]

Originally Posted by stevie boy hope you enjoyed the film again Barbara, have you seen my pictures that I took last week in Chiswick?? location location

Hi, Stevie,

Wonderful! I'll go look and get back with comments. Smashing idea to track down some of the locations. I wish more fans would do it. I'm always fascinated to find out where a film was actually shot. Congratulations!

Best,

Barbara