Victim

<b>This screening is part of <a href="https://www.filmhouse.org.uk/lavender-lens">Lavender Lens</a>, our queer film strand created in collaboration with the Lavender Menace Queer Books Archive and Programmed with Pride.</b> Our Lavender Lens screening to mark LGBT+ History Month 2026 is Basil Dearden's <i>Victim</i>. Released in 1961 during a time where homosexual acts between males were still illegal, <i>Victim</i> is the first British film to ever explicitly discuss being gay and treat the subject sympathetically. Due to this, the film was subject to extensive direct and indirect censorship, receiving an X rating in the United Kingdom, and having its seal of approval denied by the American Motion Picture Production Code. Despite this, <i>Victim</i> received widespread critical acclaim, and Dirk Bogarde's lead performance is considered to be one of his best ever. A married barrister with an ostensibly idyllic life, on the way to becoming a Queen's Counsel and judge, is drawn into a tangled web of blackmail and homicide when an old friend gets in contact with him.DramaPT1H41MPG2026-02-03
Dirk Bogarde
Sylvia Syms
Dennis Price
Basil Dearden
Michael Relph
Victim"Victim"

Showtimes

February 3, 6:15 pm

Filmhouse Cinema