The Weak and the Wicked
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| The Weak and the Wicked | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | J. Lee Thompson |
| Starring | Glynis Johns Diana Dors |
| Release date(s) | 1953 |
| Running time | 81 min. |
| Country |  United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
The Weak and the Wicked is a 1953 film directed be J. Lee Thompson based on the book by Joan Henry, starring Glynis Johns and Diana Dors.
Based on a best-selling book and prison experiences of author Joan Henry, director J. Lee Thompson’s prison saga explores the life of inmates behind bars where innocence is lost in the world of vice. Despite its pulpy pot-boiler title, the film settles for earnest social drama over melodrama.
[edit] Plot
Frank "women in prison" story that sympathetically tracks several inmates through their imprisonment and subsequent return to society. Some are successfully rehabilitated; some are not.
Female prisoners talk about the events that brought them there and each of their stories is detailed in a series of flashbacks; notably the upper-class Jean (Glynis Johns), the brash Betty (Diana Dors) and the pregnant Pat (Rachel Roberts). The Weak and the Wicked follows the inmate’s progress behind bars; Jean’s ordeal improves after some sympathetic bonding with her fellow inmates, followed by a move to an experimental open prison.
[edit] Cast
- Glynis Johns .... Jean Raymond
- Diana Dors .... Betty Brown
- John Gregson .... Dr. Michael Hale
- Olive Sloane .... Nellie Baden, inmate
- Rachel Roberts .... Pat, pregnant inmate
- Jane Hylton .... Babs Peters, inmate
- Athene Seyler .... Millie Williams, inmate
- Jean Taylor Smith .... Prison Governor (Grange)
- Cecil Trouncer .... Presiding Judge
- Ursula Howells .... Pam Vickers
- Edwin Styles .... Seymour
- Sid James .... Syd Baden
- Eliot Makeham .... Grandad Baden
- Joan Haythorne .... Prison Governor (Blackdown)
- Joyce Heron .... Prison Matron Arnold
- Anthony Nicholls .... Prison Chaplain
- Josephine Stuart .... Andy, pregnant inmate
- Paul Carpenter .... Joe, Bab's boyfriend
- Sybil Thorndike .... Mabel Wicks, Millie's friend
- A.E. Matthews .... Harry Wicks, Mabel's beau
- Barbara Couper .... Prison Doctor
- Mary Merrall .... Mrs. Skinner
- Marjorie Rhodes .... Suzie, bigamist inmate
- Josephine Griffin .... Miriam
- Simone Silva .... Tina
- Thea Gregory .... Nancy
- Tom Gill .... Shop Assistant
- Herbert C. Walton .... Blue Eyes, the gardener
- Irene Handl .... Waitress
- Sandra Dorne .... Stella
- Bessie Love .... Prisoner
- Marjorie Stewart .... Prisoner
- Hannah Watt .... Prison Matron
- Margaret Diamond .... Prison Matron
- Maureen Pryor .... Prison Matron
- Ruth Dunning .... Prison Matron
- Kathleen Michael .... Prison Matron
