Flame in the Streets [1961] [DVD]

Released at a time when “kitchen sink” realism was all the rage, this adaptation by Ted Willis of his own play Hot Summer Night suffers from the uncomfortable worthiness that blighted the efforts of so many bourgeois British film-makers trying to tackle thorny social issues.

John Mills rises above the old-fashioned liberalism to capture the confused bluster of the trade unionist who defends a black shop steward, but cannot tolerate the prospect of his daughter Sylvia Syms marrying Jamaican teacher Johnny Sekka. However, Brenda de Banzie's performance as his scornful, snobbish wife is badly misjudged.