Films

Sapphire

Plot

The film is about a murdered pregnant girl who initially passed for white. She by appearances is a white woman who is found stabbed on Hampstead Heath. Her brother played by Earl Cameron arrives at the police station to give evidence and he is black. It then becomes evident to the police officers that this girl has been passing for white. This film reveals the underlying insecurities and fears of ordinary people that exist towards another race.

Reviews

When a young woman's body is discovered on London's Hampstead Heath, the ensuing investigation quickly focuses on racial bigotry and hatred in 1950s Britain, exposing the prejudice amongst those under investigation AND those investigating.

Like so many other films from the 1940s and 1950s, Sapphire is yet another piece of groundbreaking British cinema now long forgotten. A little clunky and overly reliant on stereotyping by today's standards, but still a fascinating exploration of the fears and struggles inherent in a newly mixed-race society. Dearden has brought together an interesting cast here, cleverly giving matinée idol Craig a fairly unsympathetic role as a racist police officer, and being superbly served by Mitchell - her final scene is at once both compelling and distressing. Too many British cinema actors of the 40's and 50's have now been forgotten, and Mitchell is a prime example of why individual and collective reappraisals and retrospectives are long overdue.

Director

Basil Dearden has created films from genres, to thrillers to war films working at the famous Ealing Studios. However, he then worked with someone and made films that had subjects that the cinema had not gone for yet; including homosexuality and race relations.