Passport To Shame 1959 Written by Patrick Alexander and directed by Alvin Rakoff. This was Alvin's first feature film, he directed a lot of British TV starting in 1953. I know I've seen the episode of The Saint he directed but can't say I've seen any of his other work.
The film was called Room 43 in the US, not that interesting of a title change. The DVD is part of Networks series The British Film, it's also available on Blu-ray, both versions are Region 2 and won't play on most US DVD players.
Herbert Lom is the head of prostitution ring, Odile Versois is a poor French girl working in a cafe. One of Herbert's scummy pals frames her for stealing money at the cafe. A friendly English woman takes pity on her and offers to reimburse the cafe owner, she takes Odile to England with the promise of a job as her companion.
Turns out the English lady is Herbert's pal, he offers to help get a work permit. Oh, no, there aren't any new permits being given out, the quota has been filled. Herbert comes up with a plan, he'll get a cabbie he knows to marry her so she can stay in the country. The arranged marriage will just be for a short while and then they can get the marriage annulled once she's got her permit.
Diana Dors plays one of Herbert's employees, she's got a room in the building next door to the English ladies place. There's even a secret entrance from her building. Odile finds the secret entrance open and soon figures out what the women are up to in that building. Odile reacts poorly to Herbert's news of her new employment and he drugs her with a doped cigarette. She has a fascinating nightmare.
Meanwhile the cabbie is having trouble, he's found out what Herbert does and he's worried that he's going to put Odile on the streets.
Eddie Constantine plays the cabbie, Robert Eddie Brown plays his cabbie pal. They get up a plan to rescue Odile from the gang. They succeeded but their brief idyllic day is smashed when Herbert's goons kidnap her and take her to room 43. The cabbies band together to fight the gang and rescue the girls.
That's Diana in her working gear. She was really good as the hardened sex worker who's only working out of fear of Herbert's wrath. She's saving her money to get her sister an operation, her sister's face was scarred with acid when she refused Herbert's job offer. Herbert parades her around to instill fear in the other girls.
It's a bit of a tough story but a common enough one, even today. It's got a great cast with a really good script. Michael Caine, Jackie Collins and Joan Sims all have small uncredited parts. Nicolas Roeg was the camera operator and he turns in a fine bit of work. It's a good looking picture, especially considering the low budget, with plenty of location shooting and lots of extras. I was really pleased to have picked up the DVD. You can see the movie on YouTube and I'd highly recommend it.
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