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Victim PG rating

This thought-provoking classic stars Dirk Bogarde as a homosexual lawyer who risks his career to hunt down a blackmailer.

Crime 1961 100 mins

Director: Basil Dearden

CC

Overview

This thought-provoking 1961 classic stars Dirk Bogarde as a prominent lawyer who risks his career to hunt down a blackmailer. Jack Barrett (Peter McEnery), a blackmail victim who has stolen a large sum of money from his employer, desperately tries to contact married barrister Melville Farr (Bogarde) but is arrested before he can reach him and commits suicide in his cell. Farr realises someone must know about their homosexual relationship - still illegal at that time - and Barrett was attempting to save his reputation. With his loyal companion dead and wife Laura (Sylvia Syms) demanding answers, he must think and act fast.

This sociologically significant film played an influential role in liberalising attitudes regarding the illegality of homosexuality in 1960s Britain.

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