The actor, who played Dirk Bogarde’s blackmailing boyfriend in the 1961 film, reflects on how it changed attitudes – including his own – to homosexuality six years before decriminalisation
Victim was one of those rare films that actually made a difference. Its sympathetic portrayal of homosexuality in 1960s Britain helped pave the way for decriminalisation, six years later, via the 1967 Sexual Offences Act. The Act’s chief architect, Lord Arran, even wrote to Victim’s star, Dirk Bogarde, thanking him. The movie smuggled its courageous campaigning into British cinemas in the guise of an accessible London mystery thriller, in which Bogarde’s respectable, married barrister is drawn into a sprawling blackmail plot by Barrett, a young, gay construction worker, with whom he has been photographed. Peter McEnery, who played Barrett, reminisces on the experience. Sr
I had no reservations at all about taking the role; it was a good part. And I...
Victim was one of those rare films that actually made a difference. Its sympathetic portrayal of homosexuality in 1960s Britain helped pave the way for decriminalisation, six years later, via the 1967 Sexual Offences Act. The Act’s chief architect, Lord Arran, even wrote to Victim’s star, Dirk Bogarde, thanking him. The movie smuggled its courageous campaigning into British cinemas in the guise of an accessible London mystery thriller, in which Bogarde’s respectable, married barrister is drawn into a sprawling blackmail plot by Barrett, a young, gay construction worker, with whom he has been photographed. Peter McEnery, who played Barrett, reminisces on the experience. Sr
I had no reservations at all about taking the role; it was a good part. And I...
- 7/13/2017
- by Peter McEnery and Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
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