Bogarde on the Box

Sample the small-screen work of one of Britain’s greatest film stars, Dirk Bogarde.

Mercurial actor and writer Dirk Bogarde (1921-1999) was never a huge fan of television, making his few small screen credits all the more intriguing. For this collection his work both in front of and behind the camera is represented by his 1986 Graham Greene adaptation May We Borrow Your Husband? and the feature-length 1993 version of his novel Voices in the Garden, while his most prominent TV starring role, in sci-fi drama The Vision, has hardly been seen since its only broadcast in 1988. The man himself can be seen in conversation at the NFT in 1983, and is profiled in unprecedented depth in the two-part Arena documentary The Private Dirk Bogarde, drawing on previously unseen home movie footage and photographs to get under the skin of a star who went to considerable lengths to control his public image.

Elsewhere in the Mediatheque, Bogarde fans can catch two of his career-defining big screen performances in Victim (1961) and The Servant (1963), along with earlier features The Blue Lamp (1949) and Simba (1955).

Five to try

The Epic That Never Was (1965)

Bogarde tells the fascinating story of unfinished epic I, Claudius and its troubled production at Alexander Korda’s Denham Studios in the 30s.

Dirk Bogarde: A Guardian Lecture (1983)

BBC broadcast of Bogarde in conversation at the National Film Theatre.

May We Borrow Your Husband? (1986)

Bogarde stars as a divorced writer drawn into the romantic entanglements of two couples at a Nice hotel; he also adapted the screenplay from a short story by Graham Greene.

The Vision (1988)

Sci-fi drama with Bogarde as an unwitting TV presenter recruited by a sinister cult to front their satellite channel.

Voices in the Garden (1993)

South of France-set drama adapted from Bogarde’s 1981 novel, starring Anouk Aimée and Joss Ackland.

Latest from the BFI

  • Latest from the BFI

    Latest news, features and opinion.

More information

Films, TV and people

  • Films, TV and people

    Film lists and highlights from BFI Player.

More information

Sight & Sound magazine

  • Sight & Sound magazine

    Reviews, interviews and features from the international film magazine.

More information

Back to the top

See something different

Subscribe now for exclusive offers and the best of cinema.
Hand-picked.