Can a Movie Change the Law?

the movie victim starts with a man at a construction site who sees the police arrive and runs for his life his name is Barrett why is he running at this point it's impossible to say all we know is he's desperate and afraid of something you've got to promise me you'll never tell anyone and he's not the only one who's scared when Barrett turns to a friend for help if I hear from you again I shall inform the police do you understand why is he so tense what does he know that we don't when Barrett turns to another friend you look at me as if you hate me that's a very good guess what happened between them it's a mystery but with everyone afraid to be seen with Barrett he's running out of places he can turn the World's closing in as he makes his way to the outskirts of London plotting his Escape I've got to get out of the country and he finds some sympathy at last I'm in terrible trouble Frank can I help but then why can't he stick with his own sword what does she mean what sort is he is Barrett a criminal a victim a witness finally a friend promises to slip him some money in the morning and it seems like Barrett's found an escape at last but while he's waiting for his ship to come in the police catch up with him and we finally learn why they've been in Pursuit all told you've appropriated around 2,300 adjusted for inflation he's stolen about $60,000 but the cops don't seem to care they're fixated on a bigger crime come on open up we don't like blackmailing more than you do someone's blackmailing Barrett but over what we mean to find out what's behind this Barett and why won't he tell them you got yourself in a real Jam son look far better come clean than we can help you Barrett realizes he'll have to talk and that's too much for him to Bear alone in his cell Barrett's fear overtakes him and he takes his own life it's only when the police start questioning Barrett's friends that we learned part of the Scandal he was trying to hide oh you knew of course that he was a homosexual Barrett's terrified run serves as the Intriguing opening of 1961's victim but victim is more than just a tense Thriller it was crafted to serve as a stealthy challenge to a British law that criminalized the very existence of homosexuals a law that police used to throw thousands of people into jail every year and that terrified others to the point of ending their lives it was a law that many had tried and failed to overturn but at the dawn of the swinging 60s A new challenge emerged victim brought together an unlikely team of writers producers and a matina Idol with a secret private life together they'd use this movie to take on some of the most powerful figures in the British government and confront a moral Panic that had gripped England since the reign of Henry VII this is the story of victim and the moment when a million men stopped living in fear Our Story begins with a woman named Janet green she was a screenwriter who'd written a series of successful detective Thrillers with her husband John McCormack by the late 1950s Janet started looking for ways to use her writing for something more personally meaningful addressing important social issues of the time she and John had written a film tackling racism called Sapphire and it was well received so Janet decided that for her next film she'd take on one of the most controversial topics imaginable Janet had recently been reading articles about England's ban on homosexuality homosexuality had been criminalized in England since Henry VII passed the buggery act in 1533 originally men found to be homosexual were executed over the centuries the penalty was reduced to years of hard prison labor which still meant terrible suffering the law was often used against brilliant people the writer Oscar wild Alan Turing who helped crack German codes in World War II celebrated actor John gilg good by the 1950s a thousand men a year were being detained for homosexuality and millions more lived in constant fear of exposure evading detection was so important that queer people developed elaborate techniques for evading the police like a secret language called polari it's where we get slang that's still used today like J Janet had been reading about the suffering that gay men endured and she wrote to some colleagues that she felt impelled to write an original screenplay which would reflect the plight and life of the homosexual in London her goal a film that would spur lawmakers to overturn the ban on homosexuality and that might seem like quite a long shot taking on a centuries old law all by herself but Janet wasn't doing it by herself she knew just the people to approach with her idea she made Sapphire with a director named basil deeran and a producer named Michael Ralph and she knew they were eager for more ambitious topics they immediately got what she was going for one of them wrote to Janet what I think we were trying to say is that the homosexual is deserving of our understanding simple as that seems it was a revolutionary idea for the time and as luck would have it deeran and Ralph had a company that could produce a film with just that message an independent studio called Allied filmmakers that they'd founded with their friend the actor Richard atenor and you might not recognize him here but you probably know him as John Hammond from Jurassic Park we have a T-Rex so now a team was coming together to make a film that could challenge this unjust law but it was going to be tough British films never acknowledged homosexuality for example one recent movie called The Trials of Oscar wild had danced around the topic even though homosexuality was the whole reason he was put on trial instead the film presents him as a passionate lover of women when I married you I didn't believe it was possible to love anybody more than I loved you and the accusation simply a misunderstanding The Importance of Being Honest the importance of friendship Far Cry from Steven Fry's interpretation Not only was it going to be hard to talk about homosexuality but Janet and her colleagues knew that taking on this topic could make them some powerful enemies starting with the British Home Secretary he was a man named sir David Maxwell F not to be confused with Barney [Music] F and F hated homosexuals he' recently promised a new drive against male Vice that would rid England of this plague he gave Furious speeches about how homosexuals were exhibitionists and needed to be put in jail to protect children he directed the police to crack down on gays wherever they were and he wasn't alone politicians of the time loved giving speeches about how homosexuality was harmful although when pressed they struggled to identify any specific harms the Earl of Winton declared that homosexuality was ruining British theater the theater is certainly not what you what and unfortunately the public accepted that rhetoric as truth public opinion in the 1950s was strongly opposed to homosexuals and to reforming the law that was fed by misinformation from so-called experts at the time it was the position of the British Medical Association that homosexuality could be acquired and many doctors believed that it was infectious the medical association endorsed gay blood tests one doctor claimed that you could identify homosexuals on sight because they lacked body hair evidently he was never invited to underwear KN at the Eagle that public fear was great for politicians who could use the language of disease to whip up outrage and convince the public that they needed protection and that worked for centuries to keep the law in place it was essentially a 400y year long moral panic and those politicians wouldn't take kindly to a film suggesting that the law should be overturned but they weren't the only obstacle Janet and her team also needed to be careful about the film sensors who were on the lookout for anything that might come off as gay at the time England's Chief film sensor was a man named John travelan after he caught wind of what Janet was planning he sent a strongly worded letter to the great majority of Cinema goers homosexuality is shocking distasteful and disgusting if they absolutely had to make a film about a gay man he told Janet I would like this film to be essentially a story of his tragedy and sensors were even more aggressive in the US over here a quasi industry organization called the production code Administration or the hay office banned any explicit mention of homosexuality on those rare occasions that it was hinted at it had to be punished by the end of the film The Producer Ralph noted how onerous that made their job they'd hoped to finance their movie with backing from a US Studio but he wrote Every American major has turned it down because of its homosexual theme which means in effect little or no us revenues so in other words even if they managed to make the film sensors on both sides of the ocean might not let anyone see it in light of those challenges it seemed like a Fool's errand but on the other hand there are some signs that the time was right for a challenge to the law by the late 1950s movie theaters were struggling to compete with TV broadcasts not unlike how they're struggling today with streaming television had more freedom to Broach controversial topics and a few shows had tentatively discussed homosexuality if movies wanted to compete with TV they need to push the boundaries as well for another thing younger audiences were hungry for more realistic films that was reflected in the emerging British New Wave movies shot on location taking on controversial issues with realistic performances those films also feature daring actors who are willing to take on edgier roles many would go on to be recognized as giants like Richard Burton Lawrence Olivier and there were others who might not be household names but still left a big impact on culture like Hermione battley who you probably know from Mary Poppin if the victim team could attract the right Brave actors to their project their film could be what audiences were ready for another thing working in their favor at the time there was renewed public interest in reforming the law a few years earlier a British Lord had been arrested for kissing an Airman it was a huge Scandal he was in prisoned for a year just for a kiss it was only kiss it was news coverage of his trial that had partially inspired Janet green to write victim it also inspired some politicians to push for legal reform in the mid-50s they formed a group known as the wolfenden committee to review the law and ultimately they recommended that it be repealed but with the public strongly opposed that recommendation was seen as too controversial the wolfon recommendations were rejected and the film sensor John travelan pointed to that failure as proof that the public wasn't ready for Janet's film he wrote in our circles we can talk about homosexuality but the general public is embarrassed by the subject so until it becomes a subject that can be mentioned without offense it will will be banned but Janet and her team looked at it another way if public opinion was standing in the way of Reform then maybe they could use their film to change public opinion the producer Ralph wrote that they had to make a film with an unmissable message it is wrong for the law to pill the homosexual because of his inversion so they got to work Janet conducted interviews with homosexuals doctors social workers police and the producers did their best to butter up trevellion they took him to with celebrities at Pinewood and that worked they wrote after the lunch that travelan was Star Struck and he gave them cautious approval to proceed but initial attempts at casting the film were rough they got a lot of rejection from Stars steuart Granger said absolutely not James Mason turned them down claiming he couldn't take any more roles that year for tax reasons a third star Jack Hawkins claimed to be unavailable because he'd be busy filming Lawrence of Arabia that's a little fishy because filming on Lawrence wouldn't start for another year but the victim team noticed that Hawkins was up for a Knighthood and was probably worried that taking a gay rooll would jeopardize that but then came a lucky break when they reached out to Sylvia Sims Sylvia was an actress known for serious stiff upper lip dramas she was deeply respected a bafta winner and she was interested in joining the project Sylvia had her own personal reasons for wanting to overturn the law for one thing she was friends with John gilg good and she was Furious that he'd been arrested for homosexuality a few a few years earlier she also had a family friend who was accused of homosexuality and not long after died of suicide Sylvia saw what they were trying to do with victim and she immediately signed on they got another lucky break when the producer Ralph reached out to an actor he' worked with before Dirk Bogart Dirk was a huge matina star he was known as the idol of the odion he played Leading Men for years in films like doctor in the house A Tale of Two Cities usually he played a pretty face in roles that were not exactly Challen in but Dirk was getting bored of those parts he wanted to shake off the pretty boy image and take on a more serious role victim could be just the opportunity that he was looking for the movie attracted Durk for personal reasons too his manager Tony Forwood was secretly also his lover to the outside world they posed as heterosexual colleagues who just happen to live together for business purposes and were close personal friends of Judy Garland but to close friends there was no pretense they were simply known to be a warm loving couple they were even on good terms with Tony's ex-wife glennis Johns who you probably know as the mom from Mary Poppins I don't know why Mary Poppins keeps coming up in this video and a side note many of the actors in Mary Poppins had personal lives and careers that were surprisingly adventurous and often queer from drag performances to bisexual husbands to the time the first lady of the United States caught Julie Andrews making out with Carol Bernett in an elevator we don't have time for those stories here but if you want to know more I'm posting bonus videos on patreon with all the the details Durk was interested in taking the lead role in victim but for a gay actor playing a queer character was like playing with fire other closeted actors had taken on roles with gay undertones Rock Hudson played characters who were mistaken for gay or danced around with inuendo well there are some men who just uh well they're very devoted to their mothers you know the type that likes to uh collect cooking recipes or exchange bits of gossip but Rock's characters always turned out to be heterosexual in the end victim was different Dirk would play a character who was unambiguously queer this was Far riskier than what other actors of his stature were willing to do when one of Dirk's friends the director Ralph Thomas heard what he was planning he didn't pull any punches he said this would ruin Dirk's career so he faced a tough choice on one hand if victim was successful it could help eliminate a law that threatened people exactly like Dirk and Tony but it could also expose them to more scrutiny or even blackmail themselves ultimately decided that risk was worth it he said yes and he joined the team production got underway in January of 1960 with a Monumental goal toppling an unjust law that had survived for over 400 years there were a lot of forces that had kept that law in place politicians scapegoating queer people public fears of gays as some amorphous threat misinformation out andout lies countering all that was going to require that this film depict homosexuals in a way that most people had never seen them before so here's how they did it the first job was to show audiences just how much suffering the law caused that's what the audience sees from the first moments of the film although they don't yet know the cause all we know is that a young man named Barrett is at work sees the police arrive and immediately runs this opening does double duty first the mystery of Barrett situation raises a lot of curiosity about what sort of trouble he's in and then there's a second mystery when he begs friends for help why did they react so strongly like his roommate who agrees to help him but takes great pains to avoid being seen and then there's a book seller who takes bared into a back room and then refuses to help for God's sake get out a friend who works at a c dealership refuses as well and he tries to stay calm but the camera lingers on his fidgeting hands and when Barrett encounters a couple that he knows if chat wants to shake down for the night he's welcome no I told you last time he came I wouldn't have him anymore and the most hostile reaction of all comes from a lawyer if I hear from you again I shall inform the police as it's written we don't know why these people are scared just that something is striking fear across a broad cross-section of British Society from workingclass folks like the roommate to middle class like the car salesman to the Upper Crust lawyer it's like a monster movie where you can't see or even talk about the monster at least not yet and there's another important element for this first half hour of the film we're seeing almost everything from Barrett's point of view the camera is close to him making it feel like we the audience are going through what he's going through and for most viewers that creates a feeling of sympathy for Barrett even if he's committed some kind of crime we want to see him get away with it it's similar to the technique that Hitchcock uses in Psycho to get us on Marian's side the reactions of Barrett's friends are important too an audience going to a crime Thriller is going to be looking for suspects and they get a ton everyone Barrett talks to is nervous they clearly have something to hide that draws the audience in it invites us to figure out who's committed a crime here but then there's a Twist when it's revealed that many of them are gay men it turns out the law has made all of them guilty of a crime simply being gay it shows how gay people have to live in a climate of fear always having to be careful about who they're seen with they face a constant risk of being rejected losing their livelihoods getting blackmailed going to jail facing violence so from the very beginning of the film we can see that something is causing a lot of people harm even though we don't yet know what it is for audiences of 1961 this would have been pretty astonishing films had never presented gays as sympathetic point of view characters before or shown them suffering under the effects of criminalization but that's just the start of several surprising firsts in this film after Barrett's arrested he's terrified a guard warns him about what's going to happen next I'd have to tell the truth in the end may as well make up your mind to it and Barrett's so frightened that he takes his own life police bring his friends in for questioning and that's when the film has another impressive first with this line oh you knew of course that he was a homosexual this might seem pretty tame to our ears but for context when this hit screens in 1961 it was the first time homosexual had been said out loud in a mainstream film prior to this anything hinting at gays had to be hid behind a euphemism and what Mr wild is the love that dare not speak its name that reinforced the idea that there was something wrong taboo unmentionable about homosexuality it's not the kind of a thing I want to talk about for audiences of the time it would have been shocking that the movie would even be allowed to have this word said out loud and the fact that the officer is so nonchalant would have been pretty jarring as well but his nonchalant is important as the film goes on we see more characters talking openly about homosexuality there's no doubt that a law which sends homosexuals to prison offers unlimited opportunities for blackmail sometimes it's direct sometimes it's a casual reference why should I be forced to live outside the law because I find love in the only way I can but each time it happens it's a little less shocking further from the taboo of previous films and more normal we see queer people too from a wide range of backgrounds laborer ticket taker luxury car salesman Aristocrat lawyer we see them at home at work going on errands getting a drink at the pub they seem like familiar people you might see in any other film or in your real life compare that to how gay characters had been depicted before in earlier films G Gatherings of queer people were vanishingly rare they were usually shadowy dangerous in part that's because just like homosexuality Gatherings at places like gay bars were against the law and they had to exist as secret hideouts but in victim when a group of queer people grab a drink together it's Pleasant there's a warm friendly atmosphere looks like any other afternoon at a pub making gay people seem familiar was exactly the intent of the filmmakers in one memo the producer Ralph reminded screenwriter Janet green of their message the homosexual is a human being subject to all the other emotions of other human beings and the director Ralph deeran wrote that they should make sure the gay characters are different in only one respect from heterosexuals and remember at the time the public was getting a highly distorted idea of what queer people were often from doctors and politicians that they're dangerous diseased exhibitionists but when you compare those claims to the people that we see in this film treating this timid hairdresser like a scary threat just seen seem ridiculous another important aspect of Janet's strategy had to do with the movie's hero Dirk Bogard the idol of the odion plays a lawyer named Melville far he's got a successful practice he's about to get a special government designation as Queen's Council that's a real legal thing in the UK not gay slang Mel has a loving wife a posh home he does philanthropy in a spare time and when we meet him Mel's just decided to take on a client who can't pay very much but Mel says the money doesn't matter some someone needs his help so he's going to help them he's presented like a attacus finch character and To Kill a Mockingbird the most important thing in his life is Justice and doing what's right even if it comes at personal cost Dirk Bogard tended to play Heroes and Mel's no different or at least he seems no different at first when Mel learns of Barrett's death he's stunned he says he worked in the same neighborhood as Barrett sometimes gave him a lift home he resolves to find the blackmailer and bring them to justice it's kind of valiant heroism that audiences would expect from a Dirk Bogard character but what they wouldn't expect is Mel's real reason for getting involved as Mel pursues every lead he can find his wife Laura starts to suspect there's something strange about her husband's obsession with the case she presses him for an explanation takes two to make a reason for black male were you the other man and that's when Mel reveals they were more than just friends in an early draft of the script Mel confesses that he and Barrett were physically intimate the sensor John travelan made them take that out but the dialogue that remains is still pretty clear I stopped seeing him because I wanted him you understand because I wanted him it's an amazing performance and that line was actually added by Dirk Bogard he wanted to make it as clear as possible that Mel desired other men and to show that it pained him to say the words out loud when you look at victim as a challenge to the law against homosexuals making Mel a lawyer is a fascinating idea for a couple of reasons before this queer characters in movies when they appeared were generally violent criminals outcasts low status don't forget plenty of room in there oh sir here's where you need the room such a muscle seldom leads and never Heroes but far is an extremely virtuous man people look up to him and yet the mere fact that he desired another man means he's a criminal and that's plainly absurd for another thing making Mel a lawyer provides an inside look at the harm that the ban caused Es as he searches for the blackmailer he discovers other men being blackmailed other men living in fear of being found out I can't help the way I am but the law says I'm a criminal I've been to prison four times I couldn't go through that again and now he faces a tough choice whether decide with the justice system that he's dedicated his career to or whether decide with people who he can see are being harmed and it's a great idea from a dramatic perspective Mel's investigation puts him at terrible risk because he soon attracts the black mailer's attention he's in an especially precarious situation because if the truth gets out about him it could mean the end of his career as a lawyer and the end of his marriage Mel's wife Laura becomes a crucial character as the film goes on she's introduced as a kind intelligent person with a career working with children who have special needs not only does Laura figure out why her husband is so interested in this case she also has surprising dialogue in which we learn she knew Mel had a close relationship with a man before they they were married this F stain all over again no you felt for him what you felt for stainer she knew about Mel's past and she chose to marry him because she thought that was behind them now the news about Barrett throws her into a crisis she questions whether Mel truly loves her you haven't changed in spite of our marriage and your inmost feelings you're still the same not only that but the blackmailer decides to send them both a [Music] message essentially a threat to both Mel and Laura the dirty words on the garage door a final test of strength they're a gentle reminder that you could be included in the failed operations too at this point it might seem like Laura has plenty of reasons for siding with the law against homosexuality and for turning her back on Mel I feel completely destroyed Mel even says that if she wanted to leave he'd understand and would make it as easy for her as possible and I've taken enough away from you already when I come home I should expect to find you there leaving him would be easy for her to do the film makes a point of showing that Laura has her own career that she has a wealthy family that wants her to leave Mel you're young enough to start again clear it off leave Mel to fight this battle on his own it would certainly be the expected thing for her to do but Laura takes some time to consider in spite of everything I I can't stop loving him and when her brother criticizes Mel is he going to sit on the bench knowing that he himself has covered up a serious crime he's done nothing I tell you she comes to Mel's defense but she's not just thinking about what's best for Mel she's also thinking about what's best for her there hasn't been a day that I haven't thanked God for you Mel I'm not a life belt for you to cling to I'm a woman and I want to be Lov for myself the fact that she's genuinely wrestling with what to do makes her ultimate Choice all the more meaningful if he was alive and standing beside me who would you choose you've had your answer to that but he's still in your heart while Laura is trying to make up her mind Mel tells her he's decided to cooperate with the police and try to catch the black mailer I believe that if I go into court as myself I can draw attention to The Fault in the existing law it's the only way to set an example and challenge the law but it'll also mean testifying and Outing himself in the process they're going to call me filthy names my friends are going to lower their eyes and my enemies say they always guessed if she stays Laura's life will become pretty difficult as well you mean you can't avoid being destroyed whichever happens yes I do Laura and I don't want you to be destroyed with him and in the end she agrees that for her own safety it's best if she steps away but she's also thinking about what she'll do after the Scandal dies down shall I come back you must have time to you must have time to decide that for yourself she knows coming back won't be easy but she believes in what Mel's doing I'm going to need you so desperately need that's a bigger word than love suddenly I feel very strong strong enough I think so laur's decision shows how challenging and unjust law takes personal sacrifice that doing the right thing might come at a cost but it's worth it and without accepting that cost nothing will change her decision to support her queer husband is incredibly unusual for a movie character of the time but she's not the only person in victim to respond with unexpected compassion that's part of one more technique that the filmmakers use to push back against the law sometimes that comes in dialogue about bigotry in general like with this bartender I hate the bloody gut hey watch how this woman who's friends with the gay men pushes back with a response that's pretty compassionate for the time they're just not quite normal dear what's it matter to you and other times the film's much more direct about addressing why the law is bad when two cops are talking about it there's no doubt that a law which sends homosexuals to prison offers unlimited opportunities for blackmail throughout the film numerous characters Express hostility to Gaye and support for the law and then other characters take the opportunity to refute what they just said nowhere is that clear than when far helps the police set up a sting to catch the blackmailer it works and the police discover there are actually two blackmailers who are in it for very different reasons one is a Sly calculating man named Sandy who's in it for easy money there even a few hints that you could read as signs that he's gay himself like this camera move to some suggestive Decor the other blackmailer is a woman named Miss Benham who worked for one of the victims her reasons are more ideological someone's got to make them pay for their filthy blasphemy but although their motives differ they're both awful hateful people they're a perfect illustration of who the law really benefits greedy cruel jerks who line their pockets with the suffering of others this is pretty similar to the conclusions of the wolfenden report the committee that had recommended decriminalization a few years earlier and was thought too radical to act on but by putting the same ideas into a piece of popular media victim illustrates them much more vividly and reaches more members of the public than a dry government report ever would John travelan the film sensor didn't like that when he saw the film coming together he demanded changes he wrote it seems to us to come down rather heavily in favor of the homosexuals that was an ominous note the victim team had succeeded in making their film but now they were going to have to figure out how to get it seen without giving into the sensor and diluting their message travillian had a long list of objections he wanted this line cut I stopped seeing him because I wanted him in other words to make victim like every other movie that touched on homosexuality where the topic is danced around but never made clear he also objected to this line of course youth must be protected we all agree about that but that doesn't mean that consenting males in private should be pillared by an Antiquated law trilian wrote we feel that the case for homosexual practices between consenting adults is too plausibly put and not sufficiently countered essentially that the very idea that gays should enjoy each other's company in private needed some kind of counterargument as writer Janet green had made a lot of concessions to travelan during production but these Cuts she and the team felt went too far they told travion those lines would stay tron's response was to slap the movie with an x- rating now a British X back then didn't mean it was pornographic just that the movie couldn't be shown when children were present that might not seem like such a big deal since this really isn't a movie that a lot of kids were likely to be interested in anyway but it was still a setback it meant that some theaters would just rather not show it at all than have to check the age of every ticket buyer and over in the US the fight with sensors was even rougher in America the production code administration had a long list of strict rules about homosexuals victim flew in the face of of just about all of them starting with the pca's ban on sex perversion and also a rule that said movies couldn't ridicule any law or create sympathy for its violation that was a problem for victim the whole purpose of the movie was to create Sympathy for the victims of the law another problem the PCA required that criminals which would include homosexuals get punished in the end and have their actions condemned but in victim far isn't punished at least not on screen there's an expectation that he'll suffer in some way but we don't actually see what happens and as for condemnation Laura's brother has some harsh words look how he's behaving now what's happened to his Integrity but far's legal aid gets the last word on that topic I've believed in your integrity for 10 years sir I can see no reason to question it now we never see far punished we never see him cured or brought into compliance with the law if anything it looks like the law might fall instead of him so how could victim possibly get PCA approval well it didn't they just went ahead and released it anyway without the pca's approval and that was quite a gamble without the PCA certificate only a handful of theaters would show the film mostly art houses and major cities that meant ticket sales would be quite limited making it hard for the film to recoup its costs and at the time that was a very unusual move for a major film of this caliber so although they'd set out to challenge Britain's law against homosexuality victim had also become an international challenge to film sensors an in test to see if a film about such a controversial topic could succeed with viewership limited by an x- rating in the UK and no certificate in the US when victim hit screens critics were generally positive especially about Dirk bogard's performance at last Bogard becomes a heavyweight said the critic for the evening news and Bogard pulls off his biggest gamble wrote the evening standard many of the reviews called the film Brave the New York Times said it was unprecedented extraordinary bold but there were also some negative reviews even though the evening standard liked the film their publisher prohibited them from mentioning homosexuality in the review Time Magazine was even harsher their critic complained that the film should have presented homosexuality as a curable disease the worst was from the LA Times their critic called it distasteful and said it makes one wonder if there'll always be an England that sounds ridiculous today but reviews like those illustrate just how entrenched the ignorance and hostility was at the time it shows the kind of attitudes that victim was up against and why as a film it was so needed so the critical response leaned positive but was by no means unanimous what did the public think audiences were curious victim's opening week was strong it set a record for opening week box office at one London theater and Word of Mouth carried fast at one point victim was the number one highest grossing film in England despite the limited rollout it turned a profit and it was nominated for a bunch of awards best actor and screenplay at the baas it also won a golden line at the Venice film festival for the director and even though many theaters refused to show it victim had a huge impact on those who made it to a screening years after its release the writer Steven Bourne collected letters from queer people who saw it and their memories are extremely moving one man wrote that victim helped him figure himself out as a closeted teen that he'd cried for the entire last half hour another wrote that the moment when Dirk bogard's character says I wanted him the whole theater burst out into Applause there's a letter from from a man who recognized his own life in the film he'd been sent to prison and met numerous other men sentenced to up to 4 years simply for being gay and there's a letter from a man who said that just buying a ticket for victim changed his life that walking into the theater was his first act as a gay man he considered seeing victim to be his coming out but one of the most significant letters is from a viewer who recalled a coworker seeing the film and saying afterwards that she thought the law needed to change and she wasn't alone when victim came out in 1961 one about 43% of the public favored reforming the law but within just a few years that had risen to 68% now that wasn't only because of victim there were also activist groups like The homosexual law reform Society pushing for change but victim's role is undeniable a member of the House of Lords named Arthur Gore wrote to Dick Bogart That in talking to the public he saw firsthand how victim had changed opinions as a result Gore reintroduced a bill to decriminalize homosexuality and unlike a few years earlier this time the effort was taken seriously and in 1967 they finally passed a bill that began the process of decriminalization 434 years after Henry VII first enshrined it into law in a letter to Dirk Bogard Gore wrote I just want to say how much I admire your courage in undertaking this difficult and potentially damaging part and that it is comforting to think that perhaps a million men are no longer living in fear and victim's success wasn't just limited to politics after it came out and was profitable victim was followed by more British films with queer themes the leather boys the family way if Sunday Bloody Sunday the first mainstream film with an on-screen kiss between two men victim proved it could be done it invited more queer stories to be told it opened a door that hasn't closed since but things didn't go as smoothly for dirk Bogart in the years that followed offers dried up his co-star Sylvia Sims wrote after making victim Dirk couldn't get a Ed ironic in interviews Dirk said it was because he looked too old in the part and nobody wanted to hire an old man and there may be some truth to that but I have to think that industry homophobia played a much bigger role whatever the cause Dirk accepted that victim had changed his career and that it didn't necessarily have to be for the worse he started looking for more daring independent roles between films he launched a successful writing career and he treasured the letters that flooded in from gay viewers to the home that he and Tony shared for the rest of their Liv lives in later years looking back at all that victim had accomplished Dirk called it the wisest decision I ever made in my cinematic life so what made victim such an effective challenge to the law there's a couple factors showing the harm of criminalization normalizing what was once taboo humanizing gay men rebutting the bigotry of the time but I think everything that works so well about the movie can be boiled down to the title calling the film victim makes a clear statement that someone's been harmed someone is the victim and it invites the question what's the crime at first it seems like the crime that's been committed is Barrett's theft then it seems like the crime is homosexuality by the end the ultimate crime is the blackmail the victims are gay people not just the ones targeted by the blackmailer but everyone living in fear that they could be next and while the blackmailers are the criminals ultimately the real villain of the film is the law that empowered them it's the law that created victims victim shows just how powerful popular entertainment can be at changing public opinion it's something we've seen repeated many times in the years since like in the 1970s there's an explosion of complex queer characters on American broadcast TV from all the family to The Jeffersons to soap accepted as neighbors members of the family and that had a huge impact on viewers attitudes for more about that you can check out my book hi honey I'm homo then into the ' 80s and 90s films like longtime companion and Philadelphia highlighted the lack of protections for people with HIV and helped motivate reforms in that area many of those movies and shows did exactly what victim did humanized queer people showed the harm of unfair laws and moved viewers attitudes victim demonstrated how mass media can help overturn bad laws and it shows why it's so important to expose those moral panics and lies for what they are before we're struck with more terrible laws that'll take centuries to overturn now there's a lot more to say about victim that I just didn't have room for in this video like the surprising connections between those early British Queer films Mary Poppins and Star Trek there's more about the Lost gay language of poi and a story about Dirk bogard's weird Uncle who got lost for years in a jungle hunting for orchids I'll have all those stories and hours more bonus videos over on patreon thanks to Sasha coward for helping me with interpretation of British history and culture check out Sasha's upcoming book queer is folklore huge thanks to everyone on patreon who makes these videos possible now if you'll excuse me I'm meeting a friend to talk about British culture you know what's great about you English octopusy man I must have seen that movie twice

Channel: Matt Baume

Views: 188,928

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Id: GF0nkN8MabA

Length: 39min 33sec (2373 seconds)

Published: Sun Mar 24 2024