Sapphire

Basil Dearden's 1959 film opens with the murder of a young woman in London. As Scotland Yard detectives begin, it emerges that she was of mixed race and had been taken as white by those around her. The suspects include her boyfriend and his family, who disapproved of the relationship. The film proceeds as a procedural, but what it actually shows is the racism met at every step of the investigation, with the prejudices of witnesses, neighbours and at times the police themselves at the centre. It was made immediately after the Notting Hill disturbances of 1958 and took on Britain's attitude to immigrants from the Caribbean directly. It won the BAFTA for best film. Some of its approaches have dated, but it was a bold piece of work for its time. Who it's for: viewers who like classic British cinema and procedurals that take on social questions. Who it's not for: anyone expecting racism handled in a contemporary register; the film speaks within the limits of its own period.