"Victim"

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I just saw "Victim", the British film from 1961, at the local movie archive, and was, put simply, deeply impressed. Defending homosexuality the way it did back in 1961, when homosexual acts were still a crime, must've been very courageous for everyone involved, especially for those playig the gay parts. Also, the film was so well scripted and acted that it was still a gripping watch, even though the issues it raises are (hopefully) out of date.

I was wondering, do any of you Britons (or anyone else) know how the film was received in the UK? According to the archive handout it was (not surprisingly) banned in the US, but what about in Britain? Was it censored? Did it raise discussions about the gay laws?

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Wednesday, 22 December 2004 23:25 (twenty-one years ago)

I haven't seen this in ages but I remember it was yet another performance to make me love Bogarde.

― Michael White (Hereward), Wednesday, 22 December 2004 23:30 (twenty-one years ago)

Raymond Durgnat discusses it very persuasively in "A Mirror for England"... I am not altogether aware of the reaction at the time; presumably not as censorious as that to "Peeping Tom" or "Freaks", to name two... though I doubt it was approved of in all corners. But isn't it meant to be very carefully, sensitively handled? It could never be taken, I gather, by the realist dogmatists on the left or the moral guardians of the right, as badly as "Peeping Tom" was... Powell's career in blighty was entirely put paid to by the almost complete chorus of disgust aimed at the film by critics.

― Tom May (Tom May), Thursday, 23 December 2004 00:01 (twenty-one years ago)

Well, I think someone must've reacted to Victim... I mean, for better or worse, Peeping Tom was just a thriller, whereas Victim was promoting something that was crime at the time, and a widely reviled one (by the left and the right, I'd suppose - I don't think the left was pro-gay at such an early date) for that matter.

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Thursday, 23 December 2004 10:39 (twenty-one years ago)

Indeed, you will be right... would be interesting to read about what the audience reactions were, particularly.

― Tom May (Tom May), Thursday, 23 December 2004 16:29 (twenty-one years ago)

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