The Wind of Change

55 years after it was made, 'The Wind of Change' I found to be gripping throughout, not least by it's well handled direction and in particular by a riveting central performance by Johnny Briggs (best known for playing Mike Baldwin in 'Coronation Street' for many years). Not an actor known as a great thespian, nevertheless, here is Briggs in his younger days giving it his all. A stunning performance, full of hatred for black people and his wrongful perception that they are somehow inferior to white people. The other outstanding performance here is by Hilda Fenemore as his mother, who also believed that it was completely unacceptable for her daughter to be going out with a black boy. I'm old enough to remember when these ideas were commonplace in Britain and it's quite shocking to look back and see a film like this today and some of the language used really smacks you in the face because it's been a long time since we've heard stuff like this on the screen. This is a film that seen today will cause great offence to many people but as a historic document it struck me that it is quite important to remind us of how things desperately needed to change in our society at that time in the early sixties. It's not all bad though, and there are other characters who are much more tolerant of the changes they are seeing. Ann Lynn as the daughter and girlfriend of the black boy, and Donald Pleasence as the father ultimately make the decision that evil cannot be tolerated even though it means sacrificing a member of their own family. Perhaps this film is more important now than it was 55 years ago. I hadn't heard of this film before and it made uncomfortable viewing, but isn't that what films should be doing?