The Wind of Change (1961) User Reviews

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[Leofwine_draca · 6/10 · 18 July 2016]

I notice that the early 1960s in Britain was a time for films that really pushed the boundaries of what was acceptable on screen while addressing the burning issues of society at the same time. I've previously watched THE BOYS which tackles the thorny topic of Teddy Boy violence as well as VICTIM exploring homosexuality in a what was then explicit way. THE WIND OF CHANGE is a similar production with the ugly topic of racism at its heart and like a lot of early 1960s film, gang culture plays a big part.

The youthful Johnny Briggs (best known for his long-running role as Mike Baldwin in CORONATION STREET) plays a street thug with a pathological hatred of black men. One day he and his cronies tackle a black guy and beat him to within an inch of his life, only for the police to begin an investigation. Briggs's family life at home is further complicated by his sister's drastically opposed views to his own.

THE WIND OF CHANGE is a rather slow and talky production but the subject matter has never been less than relevant and the actors certainly do it justice. Briggs is excellent as the unlikeable protagonist and Donald Pleasence gives a reliably good turn as his mild-mannered father. There are youthful turns from David Hemmings and Angela Douglas, while Glyn Houston is the investigating detective. THE WIND OF CHANGE is no classic, but its thorough exploration of the subject matter means that it's an important little film nonetheless.

Don't be a bigot or your life might go all wonky.

[quarkpusher · 5/10 · 24 November 2022]

This is a movie about racism, and contains a lot of ugly epithets, so fair warning: if you think you've learned enough about this subject to give this nasty little film a miss, you're not missing out on much.

One could be forgiven for assuming that the trajectory of this sort of story is the lead character, a thoroughly unlikable stain of a human being, becomes hip to the consequences of his ugly mind, and attains some kind of enlightenment about bigotry -- or something along these lines.

This is not what happens.

The youth's parents are more progressive than he is, and by far my favorite part of the movie is where the lead character's father, played by Donald Pleasence, punches his son in the face.

The breaking of tension when, finally, this walking subtraction of a human being gets clocked by his mild-mannered, rabbit-raising father, far exceeds any satisfaction one might get at the end of the film. The film kind of drifts after this scene without any real payout at the end.

This is one of those kitchen sink films, with English people Englishing hard. Maybe I'm just sore because I ordinarily like this sort of thing, but the only really likeable characters in this are Pleasence and his daughter. The mother seems redeemable. The main character and his moronic friends (one played by a young, naive-looking David Hemmings) are not.

I think where this misses the mark is the anonymity of the poor victim of all of this. It's not really about him or the fact that he's been senselessly murdered by a bunch of dolts, but, rather, the consequences to the white characters around him, as if the main reason one should not be a bigot is the consequences that the bigot himself might face.

That's what's off about this film. We barely get to know the victim, and that's sad. He's a plot device.

The film looks good; the black-and-white suits it. Pleasence is excellent here as he always is. The rest of the acting is alright, and if you enjoy feeling contempt, you'll like Johnny Briggs's performance here. This is about as unsympathetic a performance as you're likely to find.

You won't learn anything, and I don't believe you'll walk away feeling enriched. The film meant well, but missed the mark.

A Good Start

[boblipton · 6/10 · 22 January 2023]

Johnny Briggs can't find a job to suit him, and is in a constant seething fury about the racial changes gong on about him. Father Donald Pleasance is a mild fellow, seemingly more interested in the rabbits he raises than anything else. Mother Hilda Fennimore shops with the neighbor and talks constantly, saying nothing. And sister Ann Lynn has been brought home by the police with perhaps a scarring injury on her face when a gang of White boys attacked her and her Black male friend when they were walking to the bus stop.

It's one of those films which offers a problem, but no clear answer to the racism and growing endemic cycle of dead-end jobs in an England which had been promising a lot more. That's all right. Sometimes it's a good start to bring a problem to light. The performances are all solid.

Strange Title but interesting ,if derivative film

[malcolmgsw · 7/10 · 30 June 2014]

The title refers to a phrase in a speech made by PM Harold MacMillan in relation to the desire of countries in the British Empire to gain their independence.The film is a cross between Saphire and Woman In A Dressing Gown.Donald Pleasance plays a man with liberal attitudes but who showers more affection on his rabbits than his family.Johnny Briggs plays a racist thug who ends up murdering his sisters black boyfriend.His mother is the peacemaker of the family.There is a lot of talk in what was obviously a small studio at Twickenham,Whist it is a gripping film well directed by the reliable Vernon Sewell,there is one problem.How come the sister,Ann Lyn is so open minded but Briggs is such a bigot.This is never fully explained.It fully justifies its DVD release.

Race Themed from "Kitchen Sink" England 1960's

[TheFearmakers · 6/10 · 28 February 2021]

Not only is this racially-charged/socially conscious film a prime example of "Kitchen Sink Dramas" from the early to mid 1960's England, but the rebellious main character literally washes blood off his hands in one...

From the (credited as) "Coloured Boy" who his progressive sister Ann Lynn's contentedly/intrepidly dating in a stage-style story mostly taking place at a small home, where passive patriarch Donald Pleasence spends more time with his rabbits than teenagers. Especially a no-good son, played by squared jawed Johnny Briggs, who doesn't need nor care of him anyway...

As a venom-spouting racist, the future CORONATION STREET soap actor is fitfully intense and edgy in the role...

When not at home he's hanging at the local soda shop where one buddy (David Hemmings) brings and tunes a guitar and another (musician Norman Gunn) sings...

And all get sporadically chewed out by local lass Angela Douglas while the urgency/suspense occurs in the 11th hour, back home, when... as the token pressing cop presses in... dad must choose whether to tell the truth or join frantic wife Hilda Fenemore's cover up of her son's attack/murder the black kid...

Making THE WIND OF CHANGE, despite its bland, common title, far less breezy than the performances leading up to what really matters...

Yet not without bizarre and ambiguous loose ends, like the fact the perfect "sensitive" black boyfriend was actually a cheater, and the idealistic dad's sole black rabbit has the name of... the N-word.

Talky but interesting

[b_moviebuff · 5/10 · 28 December 2009]

Quite an eye opener for it's day, the racist tone is played full pelt by Johnnie Briggs and his seedy gang. After harassing a black man in their local café they decide to catch him and beat him up but he dies from his injuries, and to add to the plot he had been dating Briggs's sister and she is injured in the fracas.

Rather talky at times with strong London accents it plays like an episode of Eastenders, there is lot's of protective talk from Briggs's mum who dominates the household including Briggs's father played by a rather meek Donald Pleassance.

It's not quite clear how Briggs gets caught but with these short films and low budget you tend to forgive the director for any plot holes.

Lot's of bad jive music and slangy talk in the seedy coffee bar where they hang out gives the film a "Beat Girl" type scenario.

Is there this sort of freedom in art today?

[ianlouisiana · 9/10 · 10 February 2018]

The media are frightfully smug in their insistance that freedom of creative endeavour be extended to any loony with a grievance that it is often forgotten that in this so - called "liberal" society of the 21st century the expression of views that the Establishment does not wish to be aired is seen to be undesirable and in some cases illegal. The making of a film like "The wind of change" would not be countenanced today. Views expressed by its characters would be regarded ,quite rightly ,as repugnant and thus unsuitable for us plebs to be exposed to. Repugnant?Yes.Prohibited?No. It was assumed in 1961 that cinemagoers were intelligent enough to see that the character played by Johnny Briggs was an ignorant prejudiced (the word "racist" was not in current use)thug whose attitudes and behaviour were quite beyond the pale. Noone thought him an heroic figure. But many people recognised him as a representative of a small and already by then decreasing body - the heirs to Mosley's B.U.F. who at that time were out on the streets of England's cities stirring up anti - semitic and racial hatred. To deny the existence of him and people like him would have been counter

• productive.

Fifty seven years of progress in the Arts has apparently taught us nothing except that prohibition is better than dialogue. That to offend anybody is practically a Capital Crime so let's all be nice to one another and pretend history never happened. But it did,and "Wind of change" is part of that history,albeit an unpleasant part. British Lion films showed great courage in confronting a topic that is still an issue today although a verboten subject . Just over an hour of hard talk,family trauma and bleak prospects that spoke of a generation who felt Macmillan's "Wind of change" applied equally to them.

Grim but gripping 1961 view of racial issues in Britain

[Maverick1962 · 8/10 · 8 August 2016]

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?