Rent Sapphire (1959)
3.8 of 5 from 76 ratings
1h 32min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
Scotland Yard are investigating the murder of a beautiful young woman found stabbed on Hampstead Heath. Superintendent Hazard (Nigel Patrick) and Inspector Learoyd (Michael Craig) lead the investigation and quickly discover that Sapphire (Yvonne Buckingham) had been leading a double life, her light coloured skin allowing her to pass for white when in fact she was black. The police discover a motive for the murder when they discover that Sapphire was pregnant by her white boyfriend David Harris (Paul Massie), a fellow student. Police enquiries lead them on a manhunt through both the black and white communities in London where they encounter distrust and racial prejudice. Whilst the chilling climax to this tense thriller illustrates how racial prejudice can tear apart even the most loving of families. - Actors:
- Nigel Patrick, Yvonne Mitchell, Michael Craig, Paul Massie, Bernard Miles, Olga Lindo, Earl Cameron, Gordon Heath, Jocelyn Britton, Harry Baird, Orlando Martins, Rupert Davies, Freda Bamford, Robert Adams, Yvonne Buckingham, Grace Arnold, Thomas Baptiste, Victor Brooks, George Curtis, Basil Dignam
- Directors:
- Basil Dearden
- Producers:
- Michael Relph
- Writers:
- Janet Green, Lukas Heller
- Studio:
- Spirit Entertainment Ltd
- Genres:
- Classics, Drama, Thrillers
- Collections:
- The Instant Expert's Guide, The Instant Expert's Guide to Basil Dearden, Top 10 Films By Year, Top 10 Films of 1959
- Awards:
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- Not released
- Run Time:
- 95 minutes
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Reviews (2) of Sapphire
Social Drama. - Sapphire review by Steve
Amazing that a film critiquing the racism in 1950s London should hit so relatively few bum notes when viewed from today. Basil Dearden and scriptwriter Janet Green examine prejudice and social injustice from multiple perspectives, only a year after after the Notting Hill riots. And also tell a compelling detective story.
Sapphire is a young woman of mixed race who has been 'passing for white' in a society where being black imposes so many impediments. When she is found dead on Hampstead Heath, a conventional police procedural is set in motion, with racial hatred the likely motive.
The cast is uniformly superb, with Nigel Patrick as the (comparatively) liberal police inspector. Earl Cameron is a GP and the victim's more obviously Caribbean brother, and Yvonne Mitchell a lonely mother consumed by anger and resentment. Daniel Craig, normally a B picture romantic lead, plays the racist cop.
The cinematography is dynamic and John Dankworth contributes an exciting jazz score. And the suspense really pays off. Anyone determined to seek out dated attitudes to race will inevitably find them. But at the heart of this film, is huge compassion for the bigotry and poverty suffered by so many of the Windrush generation on arriving in the UK.
3 out of 3 members found this review helpful.
Who knew. Who cared. Who looked away - Sapphire review by griggs
Not every film about race has the sense to trust its audience. Sapphire does. Set at a moment when Britain’s social fabric was shifting, Basil Dearden’s 1959 murder mystery uses a whodunit to reveal British attitudes — who knew, who cared, who looked away — without once climbing onto a soapbox. It plays more like social observation than sermon, and is much better for it.
Nigel Patrick gives the procedural its backbone, but Earl Cameron carries the deeper charge. The London locations have real texture, and the plotting stays sharp throughout.
For 90 minutes of quietly confident British cinema, Sapphire makes its point without ever needing to shout. That’s rarer than it should be.
1 out of 1 members found this review helpful.