A web of blackmail and murder attracts the attention of a barrister with a seemingly idyllic life, threatening to derail his career on the path of success.
Acting
Bogarde's haunted eyes say what 1961 legally couldn't.
Writing
Dialogue that weaponizes politeness into devastation.
Direction
Dearden makes London's shadows feel like suffocation.
Director
Basil Dearden
Dirk Bogarde
Melville Farr
Sylvia Syms
Laura Farr
Dennis Price
Calloway
Anthony Nicholls
Lord Charles Fullbrook
Peter Copley
Paul Mandrake
Norman Bird
Harold Doe
Peter McEnery
Jack Barrett
Donald Churchill
Eddy Stone
Derren Nesbitt
Sandy
John Barrie
Inspector Harris
John Cairney
Bridie
Alan MacNaughtan
Scott Hankin
Mavis Villiers
Madge
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This film directly contributed to the 1967 decriminalization of homosexuality in England. Bogarde, closeted in real life, took enormous career risks — and his performance remains a landmark of queer cinema history.
The word 'homosexual' was banned from British film dialogue until this production. Screenwriter Janet Green smuggled it through by making the entire film ABOUT the silence surrounding it.
GB
