Trivia / Victim (1961)

• Playing Against Type: Dirk Bogarde, the dashing matinee idol and light comedy star, was about the last person 1960s audiences would expect to play a tormented homosexual in a dramatic film. Fortunately, Bogarde had more than enough chops to pull it off.
• Queer Character, Queer Actor: Dirk Bogarde was, like Melville, a closeted gay man. He not only wasn't out at the time but never actually came out publicly (friends, however, knew of his orientation).
• Wag the Director: Dirk Bogarde insisted on rewriting much of his dialogue on the set, and Basil Dearden went along with it.
• What Could Have Been: Jack Hawkins (who had starred in Basil Dearden's The League of Gentlemen) was Dearden's first choice to play Melville Farr. Hawkins declined either because he was busy filming Lawrence of Arabia at the time or because he feared the role would harm his screen image (accounts differ).
• Working Title: Boy Barrett.

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