IMDb RATING
7.2/10
2.5K
YOUR RATING
The murder of a young woman in London exposes deep racial tensions and prejudices inherent in the area.The murder of a young woman in London exposes deep racial tensions and prejudices inherent in the area.The murder of a young woman in London exposes deep racial tensions and prejudices inherent in the area.
- Won 1 BAFTA Award
- 3 wins & 4 nominations total
Thomas Baptiste
- Man on the Street
- (uncredited)
Victor Brooks
- Police Sergeant
- (uncredited)
Marie Burke
- Second landlady
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe success of this movie, in spite of its controversial themes, encouraged Janet Green to write Victim (1961), and Basil Dearden to direct it.
- GoofsThe ripped photo used as a clue appears in two versions from the first time it's discovered. The first version shows Sapphire laughing as she dances, with her mouth open. The second shows her smiling broadly with her jaw closed. It's quite an odd, unnecessary blunder in a police procedural.
- Quotes
Superintendent Robert Hazard: We didn't solve anything, Phil. We just picked up the pieces.
Featured review
One of the best British race films in existence
At first glance, SAPPHIRE seems to be your usual police procedural murder mystery thriller, with the superintendent and his supporting inspector (both played with bullish charm by Nigel Patrick and Michael Craig) investigating the discovery of a murdered girl in the local park. Indeed, their investigations initially take them down the usual alleyways as they explore the girl's social group, her relationship with a local lad, and some less-than-salubrious locations she was involved with.
However, where SAPPHIRE becomes something much, much more is in its context: race relations in Britain, circa 1959. It turns out that Sapphire herself was actually of mixed race, despite looking white. The discovery of her racial origins underpins the whole story and it's up to Patrick and Craig to unpin the build up to her brutal death. This is a shocking film, exploring the ugly face of racism in its matter-of-fact hatred of blacks and their creed. There's something grippingly realistic about it which makes it all the better film.
The supporting cast is very well picked. Nobody does shifty better than Paul Massie, the primary murder suspect. Earl Cameron is the model of race and refinement as the dead girl's brother. Yvonne Mitchell is superbly twitchy and Bernard Miles convincingly bigoted. Robert Adams supplies the one moment of true humour with his great cameo as Horace Big Cigar. As a film, SAPPHIRE is never less than thoroughly impressive, working well as a piece of social history as well as a fine detective story.
However, where SAPPHIRE becomes something much, much more is in its context: race relations in Britain, circa 1959. It turns out that Sapphire herself was actually of mixed race, despite looking white. The discovery of her racial origins underpins the whole story and it's up to Patrick and Craig to unpin the build up to her brutal death. This is a shocking film, exploring the ugly face of racism in its matter-of-fact hatred of blacks and their creed. There's something grippingly realistic about it which makes it all the better film.
The supporting cast is very well picked. Nobody does shifty better than Paul Massie, the primary murder suspect. Earl Cameron is the model of race and refinement as the dead girl's brother. Yvonne Mitchell is superbly twitchy and Bernard Miles convincingly bigoted. Robert Adams supplies the one moment of true humour with his great cameo as Horace Big Cigar. As a film, SAPPHIRE is never less than thoroughly impressive, working well as a piece of social history as well as a fine detective story.
Helpful•111
- Leofwine_draca
- Oct 7, 2016
- Permalink
- How long is Sapphire?Powered by Alexa
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $400,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 32 minutes
- Aspect ratio
- 1.66 : 1
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content
![Sapphire (1959)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMjk2MDg4YTEtNWExNC00MmRhLWE4NTEtOWY0OWQwYzhhOTZiXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMjE2NzMwMzg@._V1_QL75_UX90_CR0,0,90,133_.jpg)