Sapphire (film)

Sapphire is a 1959 British crime drama film. It focuses on racism in London toward immigrants from the West Indies and explores the "underlying insecurities and fears of ordinary people" that exist towards another race.[1] The film was directed by Basil Dearden and stars Nigel Patrick, Earl Cameron and Yvonne Mitchell. It received the BAFTA Award for Best Film and screenwriter Janet Green won a 1960 Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for Best Foreign Film Screenplay.[2] It was considered a progressive movie for its time.[3]

Sapphire
UK release poster
Directed byBasil Dearden
Produced byMichael Relph
Earl St. John (executive producer)
Written byJanet Green
StarringNigel Patrick
Yvonne Mitchell
Michael Craig
Paul Massie
Earl Cameron
Bernard Miles
Music byPhilip Green
CinematographyHarry Waxman
Edited byJohn D. Guthridge
Production
company
Artna Films
Distributed byRank Film Distributors
Release date
  • 21 April 1959 (1959-04-21) (United Kingdom)
Running time
92 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Earl Cameron, who played the part of Sapphire's brother,[1] would appear two years later in another English film dealing with racial issues, the film Flame in the Streets (1961).[4]

Plot

The body of a young woman is found on Hampstead Heath, stabbed to death. Although appearing to be white, when her brother (Earl Cameron) arrives at the police station to give evidence, the officers are surprised to see that he is black. He explains that they were the mixed-race children of a black mother and a white father, but Sapphire has recently been passing for white.[5] Sapphire's white boyfriend, a student, immediately becomes the chief suspect. He is followed by plainclothes police and seen acting suspiciously around the crime scene. The discovery in the police postmortem that Sapphire was 3 months pregnant is an added complication. As the investigation proceeds other aspects of Sapphire's social life bring further suspects to light.

Cast

Reception

Critical reception

Nina Hibbin, writing about the film on its initial UK release in the Daily Worker, commented: "You can't fight the colour bar merely by telling people it exists. You have to attack it, with passion and conviction. Commit yourself up to the hilt. Otherwise you're in danger of fanning the flames".[6]

At the time of the film's US release, The New York Times reviewer A.H. Weiler wrote that while it is "not entirely in a class by itself, the combination of murder mystery and racial issues puts it several interesting cuts above standard movie melodrama".[7]

The reviewer for the British Film Institute's Screenonline website writes: "Dearden is not immune to prevailing prejudices, equating a young woman living alone in London with promiscuity, and seeing an enthusiasm for jazz as evidence of dubious character. The film is littered with casual, unchallenged racism".[6]

Box Office

The film reportedly made a profit of £100,000.[8]

Paperback novelisation

In April 1959, Panther Books of London issued a screenplay novelisation by prolific mystery and thriller novelist E.G. Cousins.

References
  1. screenonline Sapphire (1959)
  2. Awards for Sapphire on IMDb
  3. "Britmovie.co.uk".
  4. Britmovie.co.uk Flame in the Streets Archived 21 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  5. Britmovie.co.uk Features, Sapphire (1959) by David Cairns
  6. Ogidi, Ann (2003–14). "Sapphire (1959)". BFI Screenonline. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  7. Weiler, A.H. (3 November 1959). "Sapphire; British Crime Story Opens at Sutton". The New York Times. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  8. Hill, William John (1985). CLASS, SEXUALITY AND THE*BRITISH CINEMA 1956-63 (PDF) (Thesis). University of York. p. 375.
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