Sapphire - Directed by Basil Dearden (1959)

A very unusual British police procedural from the 1950s, 'Sapphire' begins with the murder of a young music student. What could have been a very ordinary 'B' movie is transformed by its exposure of racial bigotry in post-War Britain. 'Sapphire' is no masterpiece and its stereotyped characters and wooden dialogue haven't aged well, but this film certainly deserves a DVD release.

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• Sapphire

[alisadm]

can you post up the whole thing?

[BuffOrpington7]

Sorry, but it took me a ridiculously long time to even do this clip - I'm rubbish at that sort of thing. There are usually copies available on eBay - there's one on sale now from someone in Ireland.

[BuffOrpington7]

I thought he looked familiar...

[CashMyCheque]

@rankingtrevor Seeing as they're all dressed like Sam Spade, I'm afraid so: film-noir had been big business for most of the '50s, and in true British fashion, the London-based studios came late to the party with this kind of thing when Hollywood had already tossed out the trilbies in favour of Marilyn fever.

[rankingtrevor]

Terrible acting, dialogue and black minstrel stereotypes LOL

[rankingtrevor]

Why the fuck are they all talking in that American jive sort of manner? Was the world cinema so enthralled with Hollywood that that even British films had to adopt this pseudo beatnik twang.

[fanatic709]

i was shocked the first time i saw this movie. it was b4 i really became aware that movies like this & pinky & imitation of life existed. i wonder why this is a topic that cinema no longer feels the need to explore among the plethora of period dramas that come out every year. how about a family finding out that their legendary matriarch was a "lily white" & the effect that discovery has on the family? i'd watch. i'm no expert if anybody knows of more put me on.

[norristerse]

1:36 johnny "awful-pullover"

[TheLizzie12]

No masterpiece, I agree, and with some awful dialogue, but it was one of the first British films to take Black characters out of the African "jungle", rid them of spears and loincloths, and place them in a British (urban) context. This was ground-breaking stuff for 1959 but giving it a BAFTA for Best British Film was silly. Read Stephen Bourne's acclaimed book Black in the British Frame - The Black Experience in British Film & Television (Continuum, 2001) for more info on the subject.

[Ocelot1962]

I've never seen so much bad acting in such a short clip. And the stereotyping is hilarious. It makes this film appealing in a cheesy kind of way.

[funkstagazza]

Been wanting to wacth this film for years.