The Blue Lamp
Commentary
Directed by Basil Dearden, The Blue Lamp (1950) was inspired by the contemporary public perception that new forms of youth culture in the major cities were giving rise to a wave of criminality. Here, Diana, the girlfriend of the murdered Tom (played by Dirk Bogarde) is shown lying on the bed in his flat. The moral judgment intended by the film on Diana lies not merely in her cohabitation with Tom. Through the pictures of film stars she has stuck to the wall, and the copy of Movie Life clasped in one hand, she is shown to have succumbed to the empty blandishments of popular culture. The freer access of working-class people to consumer practices in this period was often seen as morally degenerative.
Themes
Consumer Practices
Gender / Sexualities
Human Relationships
Social Position
Dominant Representational Strategies
Elements
Context
Dwelling
- Type
- Residential
- Detail
- Tenement
- Historical Terminology
- Specified Social Level
- Unspecified
Activities
- Type
- Physical States and Actions
- Detail
-
Lying down
Standing
Talking
Shouting
Rooms
- Type
- Bedroom
- Historical Terminology
Inhabitants
- Type
- People
- Detail
- Adults
-
Male
Female
Objects
- Type
-
Coverings and Hangings
Furniture
- Detail
-
Reclining / Sleeping
Bibliography
Direct Cross-References
1950
Moving Image, QC1081
1950
Moving Image, QC1082
1950
Moving Image, QC1083
1950
Moving Image, QC1089
1950
Moving Image, QC1090
1950
Moving Image, QC1092
1950
Moving Image, QC1093
Indirect Cross-References
- Names
- Date(s)
- 1950
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Historical Region
- Description
- Format
- Moving Image
- Type
- Film Still
- Genre
- Interior View
- Publication
- Copyright
- copyright 1950 Canal + Image UK
- Location
- Record ID
- QC1091
