Victim (BFI Film Classics)

Victim (1961) was a landmark film, not only for Dirk Bogarde in taking on the role of the title’s victim - the homosexual barrister who takes on the blackmailers who prey on gay men - but also in the personal lives of many who went to see the film. Its message about the need for society to remove, by decriminalization, a means of persecuting a specific minority was one with which Bogarde identified fully, but could, for obvious reasons, champion only through a work of fiction. James Mason and Jack Hawkins had turned down the role; Bogarde, with more to lose than either of them, seized it with relish. Published to mark the 50th anniversary of the film’s release, John Coldstream’s insightful study addresses the film’s importance in the campaign to decriminalize homosexuality; the contribution of its stars Dirk Bogarde and Sylvia Syms to its emotional impact; and the risk Bogarde took in taking on the central role.