Sapphire details
| Format: | PG DVD |
|---|---|
| Starring: | Michael Craig, Yvonne Mitchell, Nigel Patrick |
| Director: | Basil Dearden |
| Genres: | Drama, Thriller - Crime |
| Studio: | SPIRIT ENTERTAINMENT |
| Name | Discs | |
|---|---|---|
Sapphire |
PG Feature |
DVD Information
| Run time: | 1 hour 32 minutes |
|---|---|
| Rental release: | 05 Sep 2011 |
| Main languages: | English |
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Most helpful review
A little bit of history
By touchstones (68 reviews) , 11 Nov 2011[Highly rated reviewer]
A curious survivor from a distant era, nonetheless, Sapphire wears better than many a later film. The theme, racial prejudice in pre-sixties London, and its effect on the murder of a coloured girl passing for white, was quite daring at the time: it probably rings more truly to anyone who lived through those times, and I remember it was quite a sensation on first issue. Obstacles to a modern audience will be the rather mannered acting, the RP accents, the clumsy cutting scene for scene and the scarcely credible living and working conditions of the time. There was a shortage of coloured actors, and some of the minor characters are not convincing. Technically, though, in some ways it was ahead of its time: the colour is great, the incidental detail is clever (look for a low shot of a startled cat as a police car hurtles past) and the background music mercifully discrete. Worth a look then, nostalgia for older viewers and for a younger generation a glimpse of the genuine 50s, not the frequently inaccurate reproductions of many modern 'historical' dramas.- Was this review helpful to you?
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(2)A hidden gem
By itstinks (681 reviews) from North of Reading , 07 Feb 2012An excellent crime thriller based around the murder of a mixed race girl who has been passing herself of as white in the still fairly out and out racist times of the 50's.
The film steers away from too many pat answers and tries to cover as many different views as possible.
Some of the characterisations can be a little too simple but the fact that a number of black professionals are portrayed counter balances some of the more colourful ones.
A reasonable drama dealing with race issues and a look back at London back then makes this a worthwhile watch.- Was this review helpful to you?
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A little bit of history
By touchstones (68 reviews) , 11 Nov 2011[Highly rated reviewer]
A curious survivor from a distant era, nonetheless, Sapphire wears better than many a later film. The theme, racial prejudice in pre-sixties London, and its effect on the murder of a coloured girl passing for white, was quite daring at the time: it probably rings more truly to anyone who lived through those times, and I remember it was quite a sensation on first issue. Obstacles to a modern audience will be the rather mannered acting, the RP accents, the clumsy cutting scene for scene and the scarcely credible living and working conditions of the time. There was a shortage of coloured actors, and some of the minor characters are not convincing. Technically, though, in some ways it was ahead of its time: the colour is great, the incidental detail is clever (look for a low shot of a startled cat as a police car hurtles past) and the background music mercifully discrete. Worth a look then, nostalgia for older viewers and for a younger generation a glimpse of the genuine 50s, not the frequently inaccurate reproductions of many modern 'historical' dramas.- Was this review helpful to you?
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