''The Wind of Change'' is a 1961 British

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super- ...

directed by

Vernon Sewell Vernon Campbell Sewell (4 July 1903 – 21 June 2001) was a British film director, writer, producer and, briefly, an actor. Sewell was born in London, England, and was educated at Marlborough College. He directed more than 30 films during his ...

and starring

Donald Pleasence Donald Henry Pleasence (; 5 October 1919 – 2 February 1995) was an English actor. He began his career on stage in the West End before transitioning into a screen career, where he played numerous supporting and character roles including RAF ...

, Johnny Briggs and

Ann Lynn Elizabeth Ann Lynn (7 November 1933 – 30 August 2020) was a British actress, especially prominent during the British New Wave of the 1960s, appearing in many films that represented what is known as kitchen sink realism. Lynn's career spanne ...

. Taking its title from the famous " Wind of Change" speech given by British prime minister

Harold Macmillan Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, (10 February 1894 – 29 December 1986) was a British Conservative statesman and politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1957 to 1963. Caricatured as " Supermac", ...

in South Africa in February 1960, it is one of the earliest British films to tackle race as an issue, focussing on disenchanted working-class white youth finding an outlet for their frustrations in racial hatred. The film is set around the coffee bars and homes of the

Notting Hill Notting Hill is a district of West London, England, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Notting Hill is known for being a cosmopolitan and multicultural neighbourhood, hosting the annual Notting Hill Carnival and Portobello Road Ma ...

district of West London, scene of the notorious

1958 Notting Hill race riots The Notting Hill race riots were a series of racially motivated riots that took place in Notting Hill, England, between 29 August and 5 September 1958. Background Following the end of the Second World War, as a result of the losses during the w ...

Plot

Frank (Briggs) is an unemployed, discontented and rebellious teenage Teddy Boy, living at home with his mild-mannered father (Pleasence), domineering mother (

Hilda Fenemore Hilda Lilian Fenemore (22 April 1914 – 13 April 2004) was an English actress with a prolific career in film and television from the 1940s to the 1990s. Fenemore played mainly supporting roles which were characterised in her obituary in ''The ...

) and sister Josie (Lynn). Frank harbours a deep-seated resentment and hatred towards the black people he sees as flooding Notting Hill and taking all the jobs. He spends his time hanging around with a gang of similar youths who all share his racist views. After an evening spent wandering round the local coffee bars, the gang go looking for trouble and decide to beat up a black youth for kicks. They are inflamed to see a black boy accompanied by a white girl, and they chase them through the dark streets before cornering them and launching a vicious assault on the couple using fists, feet, knives and bicycle chains. The boy is so brutally beaten that he later dies from his injuries in hospital, and the girl is stabbed during the melee. Frank is horrified when he realises that the injured girl is his sister. As a police investigation begins, Frank's family are shocked by his involvement and try to discover why he feels the way he does. Josie in particular challenges his racist views and involvement in a gang culture of mindless violence towards those who have done him no harm.

Cast

as Pop * Johnny Briggs as Frank *

as Josie * Ken McGregor as the Boyfriend *

as Gladys * Glyn Houston as Sgt. Parker *

David Hemmings David Edward Leslie Hemmings (18 November 1941 – 3 December 2003) was an English actor and director. He is best remembered for his roles in British films and television programmes of the 1960s and 1970s, particularly the 1966 mystery film ...

as Ginger * Angela Douglas as Denise * Norman Gunn as Ron * Bunny May as Smithy * Patricia Garwood as Lina * Topsy Jane as Peggy * Antonita Dias as Sylvia *

Rosemary Frankau Rosemary A. Frankau (14 April 1933 – 16 April 2017) was a British actress, born in Marylebone, London. She played Beattie Harris in nine series of the sitcom ''Terry and June'' between 1979 and 1987. Early life and career Frankau was e ...

as Woman in Mews

Reputation

Although originally shot as a

B-movie A B movie or B film is a low-budget commercial motion picture. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified films intended for distribution as the less-publicized bottom half of a double feat ...

, ''The Wind of Change'' is considered to be historically significant by British film observers as an example of a smaller studio producing a film centred on subject matter which, at the time, larger studios would not have touched. While some of the racial epithets and abuse used in the film may sound offensive to contemporary viewers, it is regarded as an accurate reflection of the attitudes of its time, and significant in highlighting what Eleni Llarou of the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

describes as "the underbelly of Macmillan's 'affluent society', in which the delinquency of a teenage culture had more to do with educational failure, lack of occupational aspiration, the 'pall of boredom' and the economic struggles of the English working class than any deep racial clash". The film is studied alongside other British films of the era, such as ''

Sapphire Sapphire is a precious gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum, consisting of aluminium oxide () with trace amounts of elements such as iron, titanium, chromium, vanadium, or magnesium. The name sapphire is derived via the Latin "sa ...

'' (1959) and '' Flame in the Streets'' (1961), which confronted the subject of racial attitudes in Britain at a time when it was a hot political and social issue, but rarely tackled on screen. ''The Wind of Change'' is seen as very much a product of its time, inasmuch as it is presented entirely from the perspective of its white characters. Llarou notes: "Although they are portrayed in a positive light, black characters are very briefly presented. Only white people can speak for and about them, indicating that the 'wind of change' the film was envisaging was still blowing in one direction."''Wind of Change'' (1961)
Llarou, Eleni. BFI Screen Online. ''Retrieved 21-08-2010''

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wind of Change (film), The 1961 films 1961 drama films British drama films British black-and-white films Films directed by Vernon Sewell Films about race and ethnicity Films set in London 1960s English-language films 1960s British films