252:"The scene throughout is a semi-basement living room in a house near London, a grim and sordid place inhabited for sleeping and eating by a motley group of unmarried young women with babies - already born or about to be hustled into an unfriendly world. The 'proprietress' - a sadistic, unscrupulous woman called Helen Allistair - though a qualified nurse, exploits these unfortunate outcasts from society until one of them - the despairing girl Vivianne, whose gangster lover is hanged and who has nothing to lose - discovers this ghoulish creature's baby-farming activities. Vivianne, whose baby is shortly to be born, faces Mrs Allistair with her accusation, is brutally assaulted and almost loses her life. In the end justice is done, and Mrs Allistair gets her just desserts."
528:, January 1953: "Miss Jackson is an old hand at the silky sinister, the velvet vile, and as usual is admirably alarming. Her wickedness seeps through her mask of virtue like dampness through a newly painted wall; her every sweetness is threaded with a shiver ... This film has all the ingredients of a Grand Guignol, but being underplayed in the true English fashion, and quietly directed by Mr Gordon Parry, it has turned out to be a seemingly plausible record of man's inhumanity to woman and a woman's attempt to cash in on it."
475:, December 1952: "This sordid story has been dealt with in an unimaginative, self-conscious manner, with the emphasis on the sensational ... The film, which infers that it has performed a social duty in bringing these unpleasant facts before the public, could have done better by dropping the pointless initial Soho nightclub scenes, and introducing a sequence showing what social services there are available for the unmarried mother. But
487:, January 1953: "A study of low life and bad morals in the Russian manner. A houseful of unhappy unmarried mothers will arouse the sympathy of all but the most censorious. Many of the original stage cast repeat their lifelike performances on the screen. If the aim of tragedy is to purge the soul with pity, this is indeed a great tragic film."
411:
objected to some of the script's dialogue; to ensure an X certificate, "your rotten little bastards" had to be changed to "your rotten little brats", "you sanctimonious little bitch" to "you sanctimonious little fool" and "I was raped" to "I was taken advantage of." Caution was also advised regarding
499:
as a play because I chose to; I saw the film because I must. This study of the conditions in which unmarried mothers live and have their children, and not uncommonly watch them die, is powerful, sordid, disturbing and perhaps not so overdrawn as some good easy people think. If it helps to awaken the
466:
Press responses ranged from "Though grossly overacted by all in sight, the film will draw pity from those who know how harsh the world can be" to "Before virtue triumphs we are treated to a great deal of horror and degradation ... It is not only rapacious boarding-house keepers and baby-farmers who
520:, January 1953: "Here is an adult, honest drama which focuses attention on a real-life problem to which none of us should close our eyes. But I warn you; the young actresses - a male face seldom appears in this film - throw themselves wholeheartedly into their sad parts."
426:. "Jimmy Woolf had these two stories," he said, "and we made the films with the idea of showing them in cinemas together on the one programme. They turned out better than we'd expected and we showed them separately."
512:(Plaza) is that it is designed as a shocker - and it shocks ... But if you enjoy watching women snarling, scratching or pulling each other's hair out, in sordid surroundings, this is your picture."
403:. Among the changes made to Rayman's play was the introduction of Vivianne's condemned lover Jerry Nolan (called Johnny Stanton in the play), a role assigned to the Woolf contract player
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Trade shown on 4 November 1952, the film opened at the Plaza, Piccadilly Circus in London on 15 January 1953, with general release following from 23 February.
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had first enquired about the property even before its presentation at the
Embassy Theatre; the leading players they had in mind at this early stage were
450:) were finally united on a double-feature DVD release from VCI Entertainment. The cover design for this release featured Freda Jackson, not in
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Chapman, J. (2022). The Money Behind the Screen: A History of
British Film Finance, 1945-1985. Edinburgh University Press p 358
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416:, his original plan had been to couple the film with another 'social problem' picture (again based on a controversial play),
479:, the first British film to receive an 'X' certificate from the censor, is perhaps scarcely remarkable for truth to life."
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exploit the misfortunes of unmarried mothers. Where would popular playwrights and film producers be without them?"
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the climactic scene in which Helen throws the pregnant
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Tony
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by Sylvia Rayman. It was the first
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public conscience and sharpen official vigilance it will be justified."
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On 23 February 2010, the films (under their US titles of
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555:Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television
605:Anthony Aldgate and James Crighton Robertson,
508:, January 1953: "First thing to be said about
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553:Vincent Porter, 'The Robert Clark Account',
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596:, Rockliff Publishing Corporation, 1952
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633:An Autobiography of British Cinema
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385:and its 1948 film version.
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389:John and James Woolf
273:Christine Ralston -
984:1950s British films
959:British drama films
902:The Surgeon's Knife
725:Virginia Graham in
688:The Daily Telegraph
672:The Sunday Dispatch
234:Anatole de Grunwald
43:Anatole de Grunwald
894:A Touch of the Sun
854:Innocents in Paris
784:Films directed by
592:Frances Stephens,
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382:No Room at the Inn
261:Helen Allistair -
133:British Lion Films
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644:unsigned review,
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798:Bond Street
448:The Slasher
357:Borehamwood
323:Clare James
315:Veronica -
65:Produced by
29:Directed by
954:1952 films
949:1953 films
943:Categories
622:March 2000
532:References
438:Home media
401:Ida Lupino
347:Production
299:Dora Bryan
196:Box office
167:89 minutes
151:1953-02-23
114:Production
107:Allan Gray
97:Jack Asher
39:Written by
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287:Vida Hope
238:1951 play
220:starring
58:1951 play
701:The Star
505:The Star
419:Cosh Boy
361:Rene Ray
327:nurse -
321:Molly -
309:Lilli -
303:Sally -
269:Rene Ray
226:Rene Ray
199:£154,620
180:Language
103:Music by
83:Rene Ray
75:Starring
49:Based on
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183:English
172:Country
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929:(1959)
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