This Basil Deardon movie addresses the pernicious topic of racism in contemporary England, with the film itself shot in 1959. It's dressed up in a murder mystery which in the end is rather crudely resolved but not before making some telling comments on racial attitudes of the time.
Let's not forget this was Harold MacMillan's England, the "you've never had it so good" generation, now, in certain parts of the country being asked to accept in sometimes considerable numbers, black immigrants for the first time. Then, and I would argue, now, especially when considering how big a part the subject of immigration played in the recent United Kingdom Brexit vote, there has always been a strain of racism, sometimes casual, sometimes deep, running the length of this country.
The Sapphire of the title is the young girl whose lifeless body is shockingly dumped on the local common in the arresting beginning to the feature. We learn that the girl was of mixed race but of what is termed the "light" variety, meaning that she can usually pass for a white girl. A fun-loving, even what you might call a good-time girl, it transpires she has a straight-laced white boyfriend who lives with his father, mother and an older sister who has young twin daughters of her own. While the mother appears to be a tolerant soul, it soon becomes obvious that the father and daughter aren't. No reason or explanation is given for their bias, it's just skin prejudice, no more no less.
We also learn that Sapphire was pregnant at the time of her death, which turns out to be a further motive for her eventual demise. While Nigel Patrick and Michael Craig as the two investigating cops dig deeper into the slain girl's background, her doctor brother, a dark-skinned black man, arrives to help with the police enquiries. The investigation also takes in a local club where foreign nationals meet socially, each, it seems, with their own story to tell about suffering racial abuse, before the murderer is finally revealed in a somewhat clumsy, contrived fashion.
Never mind that though, the film is still a brave one in exposing to cinema audiences of the day the vileness of racial discrimination. We see examples of such practices by many white folk in the cast (such as the common practice of white landlords and here, landladies denying accommodation to blacks), although the scenes taking in the black community itself, implying black-on-black prejudice are less successfully rendered. These characterisations too seem exaggerated plus the crude way that Deardon introduces the dead girl's brother, with a big "Ta-da" musical chord, is somewhat heavy-handed. The "N" word is used however in dialogue and there are other examples of the director pushing the envelope as it were, although I'm not sure the right balance is struck throughout in tone or emphasis.
Patrick is very good as the tolerant and persevering lead detective as is Yvonne Mitchell as the bigoted big sister.. Other pluses are a low-key jazz soundtrack by Johnny Dankworth and the use of actual street locations in and around London. As imperfect and occasionally offensive it may well be to modern day viewers, "Sapphire" still stands out as a significant attempt to at least recognise, address and indeed challenge racial attitudes of the day a good year or two before the more celebrated "A Taste Of Honey".
Let's not forget this was Harold MacMillan's England, the "you've never had it so good" generation, now, in certain parts of the country being asked to accept in sometimes considerable numbers, black immigrants for the first time. Then, and I would argue, now, especially when considering how big a part the subject of immigration played in the recent United Kingdom Brexit vote, there has always been a strain of racism, sometimes casual, sometimes deep, running the length of this country.
The Sapphire of the title is the young girl whose lifeless body is shockingly dumped on the local common in the arresting beginning to the feature. We learn that the girl was of mixed race but of what is termed the "light" variety, meaning that she can usually pass for a white girl. A fun-loving, even what you might call a good-time girl, it transpires she has a straight-laced white boyfriend who lives with his father, mother and an older sister who has young twin daughters of her own. While the mother appears to be a tolerant soul, it soon becomes obvious that the father and daughter aren't. No reason or explanation is given for their bias, it's just skin prejudice, no more no less.
We also learn that Sapphire was pregnant at the time of her death, which turns out to be a further motive for her eventual demise. While Nigel Patrick and Michael Craig as the two investigating cops dig deeper into the slain girl's background, her doctor brother, a dark-skinned black man, arrives to help with the police enquiries. The investigation also takes in a local club where foreign nationals meet socially, each, it seems, with their own story to tell about suffering racial abuse, before the murderer is finally revealed in a somewhat clumsy, contrived fashion.
Never mind that though, the film is still a brave one in exposing to cinema audiences of the day the vileness of racial discrimination. We see examples of such practices by many white folk in the cast (such as the common practice of white landlords and here, landladies denying accommodation to blacks), although the scenes taking in the black community itself, implying black-on-black prejudice are less successfully rendered. These characterisations too seem exaggerated plus the crude way that Deardon introduces the dead girl's brother, with a big "Ta-da" musical chord, is somewhat heavy-handed. The "N" word is used however in dialogue and there are other examples of the director pushing the envelope as it were, although I'm not sure the right balance is struck throughout in tone or emphasis.
Patrick is very good as the tolerant and persevering lead detective as is Yvonne Mitchell as the bigoted big sister.. Other pluses are a low-key jazz soundtrack by Johnny Dankworth and the use of actual street locations in and around London. As imperfect and occasionally offensive it may well be to modern day viewers, "Sapphire" still stands out as a significant attempt to at least recognise, address and indeed challenge racial attitudes of the day a good year or two before the more celebrated "A Taste Of Honey".