This film is a very enjoyable and courageous film about racism in London in the early 1960s. Apparently, there was a lot of negative feeling towards West Indians living there--and it's all quite similar to the feelings in much of the US at the same time.
The first portion of the film involves workers and their union. A major problem is that a lot of white workers are resentful of blacks--especially when they are placed in positions of authority. One of the union reps, Jacko Palmer (John Mills), believes in promoting people according to their merits--and goes to bat for these people.
Ironically, at the same time this is happening, Jocko's daughter is dating a Jamaican man. She is uneasy about how people will treat her but she loves the man and wants to marry him. When she tells her 'liberal-minded family', they show themselves to by hypocritical butt-heads--and the mother is truly vile in the way she talks about blacks and shows herself to be a shameful mother. How is all this to work out by the end of the film?
I liked the film and appreciate that it didn't pull its punches. I love "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?" but at times it did seem a bit too sanitary and 'nice'. In contrast, this British film used extremely disturbing and graphic language--and better showed the ugliness of racism. Well worth seeing.
