The Wind of Change (film)

The Wind of Change
UK DVD cover
Directed byVernon Sewell
Written byAlexander Doré
John McLaren
Produced byJohn Dark
StarringDonald Pleasence
Johnny Briggs
Ann Lynn
CinematographyBasil Emmott
Edited byPeter Pitt
Music byNorman Percival
Distributed byBryanston Films (UK)
Release date
  • March 1961 (1961-03) (UK)
Running time
64 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Budget£17,795

The Wind of Change is a 1961 British drama film directed by Vernon Sewell and starring Donald Pleasence, Johnny Briggs and Ann Lynn. Taking its title from the famous "Wind of Change" speech given by British prime minister Harold Macmillan in South Africa in February 1960, it is one of the earliest British films to tackle race as an issue, focusing on disenchanted working-class white youth finding an outlet for their frustrations in racial hatred. The film is set around the coffee bars and homes of the Notting Hill district of West London, scene of the notorious 1958 Notting Hill race riots.

Sewell called it "a nice movie... not because of me but because it was a bloody good story".