Basil Dearden directs Nigel Patrick, Earl Cameron and Yvonne Mitchell in this British mystery where police detectives investigate the complicated life of a murdered biracial girl who could ‘pass’ for white.

A complex, vivid movie – very progressive in many aspects but still struggling with stereotypical portrayals of certain black characters. Dearden’s issues pic masquerading as a potboiler works best when letting the two white detectives flinch against each other. One is casually racist, the other more worldly and sensitive but not willing to openly challenge the status quo prejudice. Interestingly it is the older investigator who has the more modern, humanist outlook. Black British life is leant some rare detail (still largely missing from this nation’s cinema) showing a mix of middle class characters who have little to do with the vibrant but seedy underworld the film flirts with. The ultimate whodunnit spine of the movie goes around the houses to reach the most guessable suspect. The mystery trappings are a gateway to the wider intent. A Citizen Kane for a life less prominent, a riff on Otto Preminger’s Laura with a social conscience. Do we ever really get to know Sapphire? Also, I’m a sucker for London crime flicks were you can experience the forgotten streets and lost pubs from before I was born.

7

Perfect Double Bill: Peeping Tom (1960)

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