Notes de l'éditeur

1. - For my small scale research project I have chosen to look at how race is constructed in British social problem films
2. Most of my research has come from Sapphire and secondly Flame in the Streets, I’m not sure yet which of the two will be my focus film, there has been a lot written about these two films, whole chapters dedicated to their analysis, whereas the other two films are only referenced in a limited way. Therefore much of my evidence for this investigation come from Sapphire and Flame in the StreetsFor small scale in the first instance your focus film will lead your investigation. For me this was Sapphire as it was a film that I had studied before, I then had to find a hook something that was worth studying about that film. For me it was the construction of race – so that’s an element of film analysis – secondly I had to think of the significance of the construction – this linked to the time period that the film was made – so I then had some contextual focus
3. Before I tell you more about why I chose this particular investigation and more about my films I think that it’s important for to explain what a social problem film is.These films were created Post War period and developed in the that 1950 early 1960s they are also can be referred to as ‘Social Realist’, ‘Kitchen Sink Dramas’, although out of my four films ‘A Taste of Honey’ is the only film that can truly be described as ‘Kitchen Sink’ or ‘Social Realist’ as it’s about Northern working class people, the other 3 films borrow the style of ‘Kitchen Sink’ and ‘Social Realist’.Social problem films were supposed to be films that documented what was happening at the time, the term commsensical refers to having or exhibiting native good judgment, so the views expressed in the film were in a way right for the timeSocial problem films were quick to pick up on what was happening in the news for example before Sapphire was made there were several large race riots in Notting Hill linked to the influx of immigrants coming to England from the West Indies which in turn had an effect on legislation.Films such as Sapphire and also Flame in the Street dramatized the social problem of race, but often these film were left open ended with no sense of closure on the societal ideologies presented within them. This is an additional layer that I have added to my investigation the way that these film simultaneously seek to expose ignorance but use that same ignorance to construct representations of race (for example essentialism and imperialism), therefore exposing these films as contradictory texts.
4. These films made me realise that older British films had some worth, and they didn’t just seek to entertain but present how real people were living
5. I didn’t actually see Jemima and Johnny but I would like to for the purposes of this investigation. Watching Flame in the Streets and Sapphire allowed to investigate how black people where treated in the 1950s and 1960s and why. Also to do my favourite thing textual analysis and to look at how representations in the films were constructed.
6. Adapted by Ted Willis from his own stage play ‘Hot Summer Night’. Director Roy Ward Baker makes no allowances for liberal sensibilities and pulls few punches in delivering what he himself termed "a harsh picture". Baker elicits a stirring performance from Brenda De Banzie, whose transformation from typical housewife and mother to snarling racist is the centrepiece of the drama.
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10. Explain what the quote is referring to
11. How ‘race’ is constructed in British social problem films