Back home

Sapphire

48 votes

Producing House

Two Scotland Yard detectives investigate the murder of a young woman of mixed race who had been passing for white. As they interview a spate of suspects -- including the girl's white boyfriend and his disapproving parents -- the detectives wade through a stubbornly entrenched sludge of racism and bigotry.

movie

Status: Released

Released Date: 1959-11-02

Runtime: 92 mins

Director: Basil Dearden

Writer: Janet Green

Spoken language: English

Genres: Mystery, Crime, Thriller

Original title: Sapphire

Production Companies: Artna Films Ltd., The Rank Organisation

Production Countries: United Kingdom

Reviews

G

Geronimo1967
When the eponymous girl is found murdered, it falls to "Supt. Hazard" (Nigel Patrick) and his sidekick "Learoyd" (Michael Craig) to get to the bottom of things. There seems a genuine sense of shock amongst her friends, her landlady and her fiancée "David" (Paul Massie) and his family but when her brother, a doctor, arrives the whole investigation takes on an whole new complexion. What now ensues in a rather unsophisticated police drama, admittedly, but the social and racial aspects of life in London in the late 1950s are writ large - a poignant and frankly rather shameful indictment of attitudes amongst people of various social classes who allow bigotry to remain an accepted part of day-to-day life - even amongst those looking into the crime. Patrick is solid here, as is the victim's would-be father-in-law Bernard Miles ("Ted") and though the denouement has shades of Agatha Christie to it, it's still quite a well paced, compelling and uncomfortable, watch.
2022-11-13

Recommendations

2001: A Space Odyssey
4

2001: A Space Odyssey

1968-04-02

Humanity finds a mysterious object buried beneath the lunar surface and sets off to find its origins

Absolute Power
3.3

Absolute Power

1997-02-14

A master thief coincidentally is robbing a house where a murder—in which the President of the United

Memento
4.1

Memento

2000-10-11

Leonard Shelby is tracking down the man who raped and murdered his wife. The difficulty of locating

Blade Runner
4

Blade Runner

1982-06-25

In the smog-choked dystopian Los Angeles of 2019, blade runner Rick Deckard is called out of retirem

Beverly Hills Cop
3.6

Beverly Hills Cop

1984-12-05

Fast-talking, quick-thinking Detroit street cop Axel Foley has bent more than a few rules and regs i

Beverly Hills Cop II
3.3

Beverly Hills Cop II

1987-05-18

Axel Foley returns to the land of sunshine and palm trees to investigate the near-fatal shooting of

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
4.1

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels

1998-08-28

A card shark and his unwillingly-enlisted friends need to make a lot of cash quick after losing a sk

Léon: The Professional
4.1

Léon: The Professional

1994-09-14

Léon, the top hit man in New York, has earned a rep as an effective "cleaner". But when his next-doo

Snatch
3.9

Snatch

2000-09-01

Unscrupulous boxing promoters, violent bookies, a Russian gangster, incompetent amateur robbers, and

The Big Lebowski
3.9

The Big Lebowski

1998-03-06

Jeffrey 'The Dude' Lebowski, a Los Angeles slacker who only wants to bowl and drink White Russians,

Match Point
3.7

Match Point

2005-10-26

Chris, a former tennis pro, takes a job as an instructor and befriends his wealthy young student, To

Donnie Darko
3.9

Donnie Darko

2001-01-19

After narrowly escaping a bizarre accident, a troubled teenager is plagued by visions of a large bun

Fight Club
4.2

Fight Club

1999-10-15

A ticking-time-bomb insomniac and a slippery soap salesman channel primal male aggression into a sho

Dogville
3.9

Dogville

2003-05-21

A woman on the run from the mob is reluctantly accepted in a small Colorado community in exchange fo

The Birds
3.8

The Birds

1963-03-28

Thousands of birds flock into a seaside town and terrorize the residents in a series of deadly attac

Frenzy
3.5

Frenzy

1972-05-25

London is terrorized by a vicious sex killer known as The Necktie Murderer. Following the brutal sla

The Man Who Knew Too Much
3.7

The Man Who Knew Too Much

1956-05-16

An American doctor and his wife, a former singing star, witness a murder while vacationing in Morocc

A Fish Called Wanda
3.6

A Fish Called Wanda

1988-07-15

While a diamond advocate attempts to steal a collection of diamonds, troubles arise when he realises

Trainspotting
4

Trainspotting

1996-02-23

Heroin addict Mark Renton stumbles through bad ideas and sobriety attempts with his unreliable frien

The 39 Steps
3.7

The 39 Steps

1935-06-06

Richard Hanney has a rude awakening when a glamorous female spy falls into his bed - with a knife in