can't fight the colour bar merely by telling people it exists. You have to attack it, with passion and conviction. Commit yourself up to the hilt. Otherwise you're in danger of fanning the flames." At the time of the film's US release, The New York Times reviewer A.H. Weiler wrote that while it is "not entirely in a class by itself, the combination of murder mystery and racial issues puts it several interesting cuts above standard movie melodrama". The reviewer for the British Film Institute's Screenonline website writes: "Dearden is not immune to prevailing prejudices, equating a young woman living alone in London with promiscuity, and seeing an enthusiasm for jazz as evidence of dubious character. The film is littered with casual, unchallenged racism". Box office The film reportedly made a profit of over £100,000 by 1961. Paperback novelisation In April 1959, Panther Books of London issued a screenplay novelisation by prolific mystery and thriller novelist E.G. Cousins. References External links A. H. Weiler, "The Screen: 'Sapphire'; British Crime Story Opens at Sutton" (review), The New York Times, 3 November 1959. 1959 films 1959 crime drama films 1950s mystery drama films British crime drama films British mystery drama films Best British Film BAFTA Award winners Edgar Award-winning works Films about racism in the United Kingdom Films directed by Basil Dearden Films set in London Films shot at Pinewood Studios Racism in the United Kingdom 1950s English-language films 1950s British films Cultural depictions of Metropolitan Police officers