Those who enjoy gritty psychological dramas will want to see The Offence (1972), a bleak and harrowing story of a detective-sergeant (Sean Connery) brutalised and damaged by the horrors of his job, and a suspect (Ian Bannen) brought in after a series of rapes of young girls, and killed during a shockingly revealing interrogation.

The film, based on the 1968 stage play This Story of Yours and directed by Sidney Lumet, did not do well at the box office, nor with most film critics, yet the acting of the two leads is superb – Bannen won a BAFTA nomination for Best Supporting Actor- and the film benefits from strong performances by Trevor Howard as the investigating officer and Vivien Merchant as Connery’s long-suffering wife.

The Offence is being released in April in a Blu-ray/DVD Dual Format edition by Eureka Entertainment as part of its Masters of Cinema series.