Can a Movie Change the Law?
The 1961 film VICTIM isn’t just a tense thriller. It was crafted to serve as a stealthy challenge to a British law that criminalized the very existence of homosexuals. It was a law that many had tried — and failed — to overturn. But at the dawn of the swinging sixties, a new challenge emerged. VICTIM brought together an unlikely team of writers, producers, and a matinee idol named Dirk Bogarde with a secret private life. Together, they’d use this movie to take on some of the most powerful figures in the British empire … and confront a moral panic that had gripped England since the reign of Henry the 8th.
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@PNPVideomixNYC-v1o
July 7, 2026 at 1:29 am
I started streaming VICTIM by accident on Watch TCM…I thought it was great, but they danced around the whole idea until the end.
@vickiesalandy1299
July 7, 2026 at 1:29 am
I saw "Sapphire" yesterday (2nd time) and "Victim" a while back. Didn't know the filmmaking history. Appreciate this video. ❤
@I_am_not_your_sister
July 7, 2026 at 1:29 am
This reminds me of the reaction to Anora, for too many people they only saw SW in media as "morally corrupt" "diseased" "temptress" exactly the same things they said about queer people. The government has some audacity to think they have a right to tell anybody who or how they can consent as an adult. I'm not queer but I love people who are so I really like learning this history these stories are great ty
@thomasbrown2347
July 7, 2026 at 1:29 am
Can't understand Turing gets chemical castration yet Guilgud gets fined a fiver same period I d love an explanation Not gay but like Matt subject matter
@Janster59
July 7, 2026 at 1:29 am
your videos are so wonderful-I thought I was dying in the hospital 2 yrs ago-I was very afraid I got the video – of Victim up and played it constantly-I wanted the last voice I would hear was Dirk Bogarde;s…Obviously I survived-thanx for this special movie
@WVAlmostHeaven
July 7, 2026 at 1:29 am
That was just a silly kiss between very good friends and Carol Burnett introduced Julie Andrews as Mrs Poppins to Lady Bird Johnson and her security team.
@oak_meadow9533
July 7, 2026 at 1:29 am
Life is better when lived privately. But I love the asides i hear.
@MadameChristie
July 7, 2026 at 1:29 am
Hey Matt, you might be interested in South, a gay TV drama that prmlemiered in 1959, two years before Victim.
@vahi37
July 7, 2026 at 1:29 am
I first saw this watching "The Celluloid Closet" in the mid – 90s. Turner Classic Movies shows this from time to time.
@nowherels64
July 7, 2026 at 1:29 am
As a queer brit, I'm surprised and outraged that I've never even heard of this film and the changes to the law surrounding it before! I'll have to find it somewhere and watch it, along with the other queer films you mentioned, especially that one at 36:05 – Music by Paul McCartney?? now I've gotta see it! Thank you for covering this, Matt, it's a fascinating look at my own country's queer history!
@Taxtherich2
July 7, 2026 at 1:29 am
Another wonderful review/analysis. I did think you might give a shout out to The Servant made just two years later and also starring Dirk Bogarde.
@JamesDenning
July 7, 2026 at 1:29 am
No mention of lord Montague and his case?
@baggismonhag
July 7, 2026 at 1:29 am
we need a trans remake of victim
@annapajak5116
July 7, 2026 at 1:29 am
Matt you are brilliant❤
@henrikechers9995
July 7, 2026 at 1:29 am
And in so many ways, we are going backwords. Spreading hate, and people again talking about "The Gay Agenda"….. At least it`s not Russian, of African, conditions we are see, but facism, racism, and gay-hate, are on the rise….
@matthewcappadocia9668
July 7, 2026 at 1:29 am
I despise the use of the word ‘queer”. I don’t know why it ever started. By definition, it is an “oddity”. I prefer to not be associated with an “oddity”. I prefer gay, which implies a lighter hearted tone. That is my choice. Why don’t you respect my choice of pronoun?
@RoderickFernandez-ps5ci
July 7, 2026 at 1:29 am
In the 1980s, I was assistant to Rex. Harrison who made a movie called the staircase, where he plays a queer character. I'd never see the movie till long after I'd not been with him. He plays a terrible queer, and of course, he would be bad at it because he was so masculine. And so into women
I don't know what point i'm trying to make here.Maybe none at all, but wash the staircase.Sometimes it's not very good, but you get a laugh.You're in there
@RoderickFernandez-ps5ci
July 7, 2026 at 1:29 am
I would love to see you.Do a talk on the l shaped room.I know it's not a gay film but it has the wonderful cecily cortinage in it.Who is very touching in her story
@RoderickFernandez-ps5ci
July 7, 2026 at 1:29 am
Why did you say underwear knight at the eagle?It brings back so many pleasant memories.I wish you hadn't said it.But if I'd met you there, I would have been more than pleased to say.Hi, cause you are cute and smart and funny.What else do you need
@harrietandrade9284
July 7, 2026 at 1:29 am
Great and enjoyable analysis of this distinguished film.
@AngusStewart01
July 7, 2026 at 1:29 am
Your channel is my favourite channel to learn about queer history and queer media you have a great channel man .
@foeyyz
July 7, 2026 at 1:29 am
Omg i watched this in my Queer cinema class !
@oulafursson
July 7, 2026 at 1:29 am
My dumb ass cried from seeing this video. Seeing people fight for queer cause, being from a country that currently tries to go back into caveman times with it's laws concerning queers… It makes me feel hope still.
Thank you very much, Matt!
@rainbowkenz
July 7, 2026 at 1:29 am
Genuinely chills all the way through. Thank you as always.
@melindaboulton9070
July 7, 2026 at 1:29 am
If being gay was contagious, no one would be straight.
@Treasonandplot
July 7, 2026 at 1:29 am
I love you. Thank you.
@MarkStubington
July 7, 2026 at 1:29 am
I'm here to fuck you all
@MarkStubington
July 7, 2026 at 1:29 am
Barry you lil nonce
@Sm0key-owo
July 7, 2026 at 1:29 am
I find it funny how Henry the VIII is known for wearing the Gayest piece of underwear ever conceived by man(his codpiece)and yet hated Gays.
@evanrigel954
July 7, 2026 at 1:29 am
richard attenborough: also one of the guys on the (film) the great escape, also: brother to the beloved david attenborough
@phillipholtzman3888
July 7, 2026 at 1:29 am
I watched Victim on TCM during Pride month several years ago. Dave Karger seemed to enjoy introducing it.
@tegan_paige
July 7, 2026 at 1:29 am
“An unjust law is no law at all”- Martin Luther King Jr
@MasterpieceLost
July 7, 2026 at 1:29 am
I work in games, and for years any attempt at advocacy for inclusion has been dismissed, even by progressive bosses- “there isn’t money in chasing minority groups”, “CIS male men play the most games, and sex sells” “there are so many games out every year, no one will care if ours doesn’t happen to contain _ people”. “Chasing inclusion for the sake of inclusion can only get in the way” etc. I’ve gotten pretty discouraged about what difference I can actually make. So this filled me with some hope that a single “niche” work can actually have a real impact.
@sherlocksfeet
July 7, 2026 at 1:29 am
great video 🙂 !!
@patriciabutler651
July 7, 2026 at 1:29 am
Matt – why have you never done Staircase? It’s one of my favorites.
@davidwareham6337
July 7, 2026 at 1:29 am
Beautiful
@gameXylinder
July 7, 2026 at 1:29 am
36:54 no but when you said 'the home [they] shared for the rest of their lives", that gave me goosebumps. Of course I don't know the whole story, but it warms my heart that they were able live together and (hopefully) live "happily ever after"
@JohnMckay-m5x
July 7, 2026 at 1:29 am
I saw this film one late night on TV when I was a young teen. Like most of my peers I didn't think much about homosexuality or the anti-gay slurs that were common place in our day to day speech. Gay people were the "other" and had no effect on me or my life. This film changed my thinking completely and made me angry that people were being treated in an obviously unfair way. I'm so happy this horrible law was removed.
"The state has no business in the bedrooms of the nation".
@CCNuck
July 7, 2026 at 1:29 am
God bless you, Janet.
@TheSaltydog07
July 7, 2026 at 1:29 am
Oscar Wilde was the toast of the theatrical world when he was sent to prison for criminal conviction for "gross indecency for homosexual acts." Having been sentenced to hard labor for two years, he died three years after his release.
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