VICTIM
The Sexual Offenses Act in Britain made male homosexuality (among other things) a crime. The Act was repealed in 1967, some six years after the film was made. It is thought that the film had some inpact on this.
The male lead in the film had been offered to a number of actors, all of whom turned it down on the grounds that it would damage their careers. Dirk Bogarde was offered the part and was told of the people who had turned it down. At that time Bogarde was one of the biggest stars in Britain having played war heroes in such films as The Sea Shall Not Have Them, and Ill Met by Moonlight .He had also starred in films like Tale of Two Cities, Dr. at Sea, which was related to highly popular TV series Doctor in the House. He was headed for an American career as well having played the composer Liszt in the biopic Song Without End. He appears to have taken the role without hesitation.
The film seems to have damaged him in that he appears to have lost his younger fan base (oddly enough – one would have suspect that the younger generation not the older would have been more liberal). Part of the problem was separating the star from the character, but there had been hints that Bogarde had been involved in some homosexual affairs, and that there was more of a relationship between the character he played in the film (Farr) and him. However he never mentioned it during the filming. He did come out later in his career however.
The kinds of roles he played shifted and appeared in films of a more sexual mature including Accident, The Servant, The Damned and of course The Night Porter.
The film was seen as having a great deal of social and political significance in Britain, but was banned in the US
Since masculinity as tied to sexual orientation is at issue there are a number of examples of Male imagery
Barrett is photographed initially high on the building where he works in bright light and from there are in there is a descent (literally by elevator) but figuratively into darkness. Shots with Barrett in them as he attempt to escape become progressively darker until his capture. AT that point he is returned to the police station where the illumintaed lamp which labels the police station is seen being turned off as dawn breaks.
Barrett is seen framed in frames as a typical image of entrapment. He is seen in telephone booths, behind prison bars, behind the fence at the construction site and so on.
The film links Farr to Barrett by showing Farr riding in a car and staring at the crane of a construction site.
Lighting in scene with wife: dark shadows, dull face lighting
Faces frequently half black and half white
Wife moves out of light into darkness when Farr tells her about Barrett
Similarly police in office move in and out of light when discusing whether the sex laws should be changed (one is against and one is apparentl;y for change)
Two police on understanding (Det. Inspector Harris (John Barrie) one not (Bridie -sort of pun (John Barrie)).
Scenes of darkness as things are hidden away.
The film was the first to have a person whose sexual orientation was "deviant" and illegal as a heroic figure. His willingness to destroy his family and career in an attempt to get the law changed indicates his somewhat heroic status. Some feel the fact that he is repressing his desires makes him slightly less heroic since he refuses to become "trangressive" and yield to his sexual urges. His wife's decission to stay with him is also positive. This was a serious change from films in which people with different sexual orientations more or less had to die.
Basil Dearden
1961