DVD Review: Dirk Bogarde Screen Icons Boxset

Some boxsets are easy to compile - Rocky, Indiana Jones, Star Wars - they compile themselves. But gathering together a Dirk Bogarde box is something very different. This is a man who has appeared in over 60 movies - and with very different profiles, from young tearaway to teen idol, then taking on more serious roles before moving into European arthouse flicks.

The best you can hope for from the seven-disc Dirk Bogarde Screen Icons Boxset is to be representative of that career. And this Screen Icons collection is that - to a point. And it does contain some 'must have' movies for any fan of British cinema.

The first movie in the set, The Blue Lamp, is just that. Teen gangs, gun crime and broken families might sound like Britain in 2007, but that's the basis for this classic crime movie, with Bogarde playing Tom Riley, a teen criminal making money from robbery - but after shooting PC George Dixon, a man wanted for murder. Yes, it's dated, but it's a great film - both for the plot, the images of post-war London and as a reminder that things weren't much better in years gone by.

Bogarde is again on the run for murder in Hunted (1952), this time with a young boy as hostage, who happened to stumble upon his crime. The boy is more than happy to go along to escape a cruel stepfather - and together they head up to Scotland to find freedom. It's a decent movie, perhaps a little too sentimental, but certainly one to keep your attention. And some great scenery along the way. That same boy (Jon Whiteley) teamed up with Bogarde again for Spanish Gardener (1956), this time with Bogarde donning a dodgy Spanish accent as the gardener - helping the boy discover life, much to the anger of his strict father (played by Michael Hordern). For me, it's one of the weak links, Sunday afternoon fodder and not much more.

Also making up the numbers is The Sleeping Tiger (1954). It's not a bad film. In fact it's actually an interesting British take on the American film noir. Directed by Joseph Losey, Bogarde is Frank Clemmons, a criminal taken into the home of a psychiatrist for 'treatment', falling for his wife whilst continuing his life of crime amongst the London jazz club scene. Great concept, but the film just doesn't live up the billing.

After those downs, how about some ups? Well, that's the rest of the boxset for me. Victim is a landmark film, with our man starring as a gay lawyer who goes after a blackmailer who is demanding money from other gay men throughout London. Homosexuality was a criminal activity at the time - and this excellent Basil Dearden-directed movie had a part to play in that law change.

If Victim is great, The Servant is a classic - and a movie that should be in everyone's collection. Bogarde is Hugo Barrett, manservant to Tony (James Fox), making himself indispensable to his boss, then, with the help of his partner Vera (Sarah Miles), turning the tables - using that reliance to dominate his former master.   A brilliantly dark film, scripted by Harold Pinter and with superb performances by all the key players. And for me, one of the key British films of the decade.

Director Joseph Losey, writer Pinter and Bogarde returned in 1967 for Accident, a tale of an Oxford lecturer's mid-life crisis, his attempt to escape it and the tragedy that ensues. It's a clever movie, but also a very slow movie - and not as good as you hope. But it's still a worthy addition to the box.

Which leaves you with mixed feelings. This is a good boxset, but not definitive. Maybe one of the 'Doctor' movies could have made an appearance, maybe Modesty Blaise and just maybe one of the later European flicks (Death In Venice or Night Porter?). Then again you could buy this and seek out the rest later. Because what's here is certainly worth the money.

Extras on the DVD:

Victim: Dirk Bogarde in Conversation extended interview / Original theatrical trailer / Image gallery
Accident: Making Of documentary / trailer

The boxset also includes a booklet featuring poems and sketches by Bogarde, a complete filmography and an extract from the authorised biography by John Coldstream.

Comments

I can't believe 'Darling' wasn't included in this set. I'm going to cry into my beer.