Cortechba Overrated

Bergorks If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

Claire Dunne One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Brucey D I don't have overly much to add to the other excellent reviews here (esp. Joe Pearce's) except to say this is a surprisingly good film, and Dors has a rare opportunity to shine as an actress in a role that has more to offer her than normal.Well worth watching, this, whether or not you draw parallels with the Ruth Ellis case or sympathise with the posture regarding capital punishment.

Greensleeves Diana Dors is unforgettable in the role of a murderer condemned to death after shooting her love rival in cold blood. The murder scene comes right at the start of the movie and is shocking in its cold blooded approach. Diana is beautiful and glamorous in the story flashbacks as we see what led up to this terrible act, but for much of the movie we see her in the condemned cell stripped of her glamour. Although she never expresses any regret for what she has done we sympathise with her plight as she is mentally tortured to death before her execution by the pitiless prison regime. The inhumanity of capital punishment is also expressed by the torment that all around her have to go through before the punishment is carried out. Not only relatives and friends but also the people whose job it is to care for her while she is behind bars. The performances all round are superb from the dignity of the Prison Governor played by Marie Ney, the compassion of warder Yvonne Mitchell, the benevolence of prison visitor Athene Seyler and the self pitying mother Dandy Nicholls. Diana's performance is stunning and will haunt you for days after seeing this film and her reading of poetry by A.E. Houseman will linger long in your memory.

bterlecki In the best tradition of black and white, this film starts with a bang. After a pair of shapely legs get out of a classic 56 T-Bird in England somewhere, a gun shot is fired, without ever seeing who did it. The idea of making an anti- capital punishment movie in the mid-fifties right after the McCarthy era was ahead of it's time. Never preachy or blatantly left winged, this great unknown sleeper carries on the classic female incarcerated films of THE SNAKE PIT to the era of fins. Even the female prison guards show compassion, and the movie never uses bitch-slapping gimmicks for thrill effects. A quiet study that still touches the heart. Diana Dors shines in a smart role choice that added to her credits away from her necessary frothy pointed bra-B flicks. No wonder people loved her right up to her death.

James.S.Davies Diana Dors in her first dramatic role, and last before her unsuccessful venture into Hollywood, sees her trade in her glamorous image for a more realistic and down to earth performance as a woman who finds herself on death row after committing a crime of passion. The film, based on a John Henry novel, has obvious similarities to the real life drama of Ruth Ellis, who murdered her ex-lover on a busy London street and become the last British woman to be hung a year before this film was made.Dors had become one of the more famous starlets to emerge in Britain's post-war attempt at a Hollywood-like star system. Her familiarity with British audiences no doubt ensured sympathy for her character, which played partly on her bad-girl image. However, this was more than a mere star vehicle, and it saw her transform herself from a star to a serious actress. The American distributors seemed to miss the point somewhat, titling the film on its release there, 'Blonde Sinner'.The film obviously draws upon the controversial issue of capital punishment. There is no doubt that, despite us witnessing her murder in cold blood, our sympathies are meant to lie with Dors' character. This is of course partly due to her star persona but also because of the way in which the film is directed. Rarely do we see the face of her victim who we learn nothing of apart from his cold attitude towards her ex-lover, Michael Craig, whom Dors has shown nothing but compassion for. Her callous attitude towards his tragic New Years eve suicide is exemplary of this, when she shrugs him off as someone who had just been a nuisance to her.However, the film is commendable in that manages to avoid mere melodrama. We don't just get a one-sided view of events. We are left in no doubt that the Dors character is herself an adultress who committed a murder with malice and forethought. The issue the film achieves in getting across is the detrimental effect the capital punishment system has on those who are around it. Not only do we see the effect it has on Dors' family but also we get an insight of the wardesses who are with her for her final days. In particular we recognise the discipline shown by Yvonne Mitchell's character, Macfarlane, a young wardess who is drawn with compassion and sympathy towards Dors, and yet must contain her emotions especially during the last agonisingly pensive hours. There is also a feeling that we should not be overly sympathetic towards Dors, as she is rebuked by an elderly Christian lady that visits her for being too self-pitying and for showing little or no remorse. This theme is of course drawn on in more detail in Tim Robbins' recent death row drama 'Dead Man Walking'.J. Lee Thompson's taut direction shows signs of his later atmospheric Stateside successes such as 'Cape Fear'. The expressionistic filming techniques used to add to the claustrophobic tension of the prison cell scenes are particularly effective. Yvonne Mitchell provides a strong supporting role as the young wardess who befriends Dors. However, it is Dors herself who should be applauded most of all for her emotional and naturalistic performance as the woman awaiting her fate. Some of the film's themes may seem rather cliched to a modern audience but I would imagine it hit a nerve when the issue was at the forethought of the British consciousness.