A beautiful young woman is murdered and police slowly unravel the mysteries of her complicated life. 1959's Sapphire almost sounds like Twin Peaks. It differs most significantly in its lack of warmth. Smug detectives led by Nigel Patrick muse about the popular good girl who turns out to have liked going to jazz parties wearing kinky taffeta. And, it turns out, she was a black woman passing as white, leading the film into some of the most mechanical motions I've seen in a race conscience film of the era.
We learn the young woman was black when her brother, played by Earl Cameron, walks into Nigel Patrick's office.
Cameron seems like a decent actor with good instincts who was let down by both the screenplay and the director. He seems oddly casual when discussing his sister's death, maintaining a genial smile the whole time that's clearly not intended to be suspicious.
The film is full of the usual, false balancing act of race morality. Every instance of a white person exhibiting racism has to be followed by an instance of a black person exhibiting racism. Cameron talks about dealing with racism in London, as many West Indian immigrants did, but later we meet a black man whose family refuses to allow their daughter to marry a white man.
Yvonne Mitchell plays the sister of the dead woman's boyfriend. Again, she's a good actress who wasn't directed properly and always seems to be emoting in the wrong direction.
The Eastman colour is really pretty, the costumes are great, streamlined versions of standard '50s wardrobe, and there are plenty of nice location shots of London. If only the film hadn't been so moral.
Sapphire is available on The Criterion Channel.
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