Locked in her cell, a murderer reflects on the events that have led her to death row.
Diana Dors
Mary Price Hilton
Yvonne Mitchell
Matron Hilda MacFarlane
Michael Craig
Jim Lancaster
Marie Ney
Prison Governess
Geoffrey Keen
Prison Chaplain
Liam Redmond
Prison Doctor
Olga Lindo
Senior Matron Hill
Joan Miller
Matron Barker
Marjorie Rhodes
Matron Brandon
Molly Urquhart
Mason
Mary Mackenzie
Matron
Harry Locke
Fred
Michael Ripper
Roy
Joyce Blair
Doris
Charles Clay
Bob
Athene Seyler
Miss Bligh
Peggy Livesey
Nursing Sister
Mona Washbourne
Mrs. Thomas, landlady
Alec Finter
Mr. Thomas, landlord
Marianne Stone
Richardson
Mercia Shaw
Lucy
Charles Lloyd Pack
Lawyer
Dandy Nichols
Mrs. Price
John Charlesworth
Alan Price
Frank Hawkins
Police Sergeant
Director
J. Lee Thompson
Novel, Screenplay
Joan Henry
Scenario Writer
Frederick Gotfurt
Screenplay
John Cresswell
February 26, 2023
7
This is a super vehicle for Diana Dors as the imprisoned "Mary". We know right from the start that she gunned down "Lucy" outside her mews cottage, and that her appeal has failed. Death row looms as she sits in her cell, accompanied at all times by two prison officers, awaiting a reprieve that may, or may not, come. Whilst she waits, we wait - and we learn a little about just what drove her to commit this cold-blooded crime. You see, she fell in love with the rather weak "Jim" (Michael Craig) and when she discovered that he was in love with someone else, she struggled to cope. Always hoping that he would choose her. When tragedy strikes, her course of revenge is set and... Most of the backstory is delivered to us as dreams; when she is awake and killing time in her room she begins to befriend "MacFarlane" (Yvonne Mitchell) - a outwardly hard-nosed woman but one in whom "Mary" begins to realise she can trust as she wrestles with her conscience, and visits from her estranged husband, her mother and her younger brother - all of whom she would rather not see. J. Lee Thompson starts this off simply and then allows Miss Dors to show us how to deliver a strong, characterful, performance. This is well paced, perhaps a little over-scored but a well delivered drama that proves compelling to watch and shows this star had plenty of serious actor strings to her bow. Well worth a watch, this film.