Dirk Bogarde was a popular British actor in the 1950's. he served in the army in World War 2 and was one of the first soldiers to liberate the concentration camps. After the war his first film roles was in the period drama Esther Waters. He had a contract with the Rank Organisation in the late 1940's but it was his role in The Blue Lamp that brought him to wider attention, particularly the scene where he shoots the policeman. In So Long At The Fair he plays a more romantic role. He then appeared in several war films including Appointment in London.
In 1954 he stared in Doctor In The House, a role then made him a star and led to several sequels. This dis show he could act in light comedy. The Sleeping Tiger was the first of his films for director Joseph Losey. Simba is a revenge film set during the Mau Mau rebelion against British rule. In the late 1950's he appeared in several films from director Ralph Thomas, including two more Doctor films and A Tale Of Two Cities. In Lebel he plays three different characters. Song Without End is a biopic of composer Franz List. Victim was a ground breaking film about homosexuality that was still illegal at the time. HMS Defiant was a period naval drama.
He worked alongside Judy Garland in I Could Go On Singing and the pair of them rewrote much of the script. The Servant was another film with director Joseph Losey that exposed the class structure of the time. King And Country was an anti-war film again with director Joseph Losey. In Darling he worked with director John Schlesinger in an examination of the darker side of the 1960's. In comedy crime film Modesty Blaise he plays the camp villan. Accident was his final collaboration with director Joseph Losey and again against a background of the class system.
The Damned is his first European film and a dark film set in Nazi Germany.He followed this with Death In Venice, both from director Luchino Visconti. The Night Porter was another dark complex Italian film where he playes another Nazi. After various European films he appeared in his final British war film in A Bridge Too Far. By the late 1970's he was more of European star rather than a British star.
