After mastering the mix of comedy, suspense, and horror that
helped define the golden age of British cinema, Basil Dearden
(along with his producing partner Michael Relph) left the
legendary Ealing Studios and, in the late fifties and early
sixties, created a series of gripping, groundbreaking, even
controversial films. In dealing with racism, phobia, and the
lingering effects of World War II, these noir-tinged dramas
burrowed into corners of London rarely seen on-screen. This set
of elegantly crafted films—Sapphire, a dissection of a hate
crime; The League of Gentlemen, a deft heist adventure suffused
with postwar melancholy; Victim, a landmark gay character study,
starring Dirk Bogarde; and All Night Long, a provocative
transposition of Othello to the swinging London jazz scene—brings
this quintessential figure of British cinema out of the shadows.
Sapphire A beautiful female college student is found dead in a
public park; the soon discover that her murder may have
been racially motivated. Basil Dearden’s bold, direct
procedural, starring Nigel Patrick as the detective in charge of
the investigation, is a devastating look at the way bigotry
crosses class divides, and a snap of late-fifties England’s
increasingly interracial culture.
1959 · 92 minutes · Color · Monaural · 1.66:1 aspect ratio
The League of Gentlemen Jack Hawkins wittily embodies a colonel,
bitter about being forced into retirement, who ropes a cadre of
corrupt former British army men into aiding him in a
one-million-pound bank robbery—a risky, multitiered plan that
also involves infiltrating a compound. A delightful cast
of British all-stars, including Richard Attenborough, Bryan
Forbes, and Roger Livesey, brings to life this precisely
calibrated caper, which was immensely popular and influenced
countless Hollywood heist films.
1960 · 116 minutes · Black & White · Monaural · 1.66:1 aspect
ratio
Victim An extraordinary performance by Dirk Bogarde grounds this
intense, sobering indictment of early-sixties social intolerance
and sexual puritanism. Bogarde plays Melville Farr, a married
barrister who is one of a large group of closeted London men who
become targets of a blackmailer. Basil Dearden’s unmistakably
political taboo buster was one of the first films to address
phobia head-on, a cry of protest against British laws
forbidding sexuality.
1961 · 100 minutes · Black & White · Monaural · 1.66:1 aspect
ratio
All Night Long Othello is translated to the world of sixties
London jazz clubs in Basil Dearden’s smoky and sensational All
Night Long. Over the course of one eventful evening, during the
anniversary celebration of the musical and romantic partners
Aurelius Rex (Paul Harris), a band leader, and Delia Lane (Marti
Stevens), a singer, Johnny Cousin (Patrick McGoohan), racked by
ambition and jealousy, attempts to tear the interracial couple
apart. This daring psychodrama is also remarkable for its
on-screen appearances by such jazz legends as Charles Mingus,
Dave Brubeck, and Tubby Hayes.
1962 · 91 minutes · Black & White · Monaural · 1.66:1 aspect
ratio
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Veteran British director Basil Dearden shaped mid-20th-century
English film with his prolific body of work--but upended
everything after World War II and going independent. The amazing
Criterion Collection set Basil Dearden's London Underground shows
Dearden's fearless take on weary postwar London. The films in the
set--Sapphire, All Night Long, The League of Gentlemen, and
Victim--share unsettling noir qualities, creative and unnerving
scores, and groundbreaking takes on controversial topics.
Victim: Dearden takes a cue from Hitchcock's Strangers on a
Train in this tale of phobia, blackmail, and desperation.
Dirk Bogarde gives an unforgettable performance as a respected
barrister who gets caught up in a scandal that threatens to
unravel the British judicial system--and, maybe worse, its status
quo.
The League of Gentlemen: This seminal caper film influenced
dozens of later movies like Ocean's Eleven and even the Beatles'
Help! Jack Hawkins stars, along with Richard Attenborough (a
favorite of Dearden's), Roger Livesey, and Bryan Forbes--though
the shaping character in Gentlemen is the War--and how it shaped
each man for the thrilling task at hand.
Sapphire: The only film of the four in color, Sapphire
still carries deep elements of film noir in its mystery and
affect. Nigel Patrick plays the world-weary inspector
investigating the murder of a young college student--a murder
that may have been racially motivated.
All Night Long: Dearden retells Othello against the backdrop of
the London jazz scene of the late '50s and early '60s. The cast
is headed by Patrick McGoohan and a spunky Richard Attenborough,
but the true stars of All Night Long are the jazz musicians who
play themselves, and who jam together during the entire film.
Jazz fans will love seeing Charles Mingus, Dave Brubeck, and many
others mill around as characters in an increasingly tense tale
that can only end in tragedy.
Basil Dearden's London Underground is a fascinating piece of
film history for fans of British film, film noir, and all
mid-century filmmaking. --A.T. Hurley