Pretty Odile Versois is recruited from France by madame Brenda de Banzie (excellent). Vicki (Diana Dors) is given the job of persuading Odile to join her on the streets of London. Gang boss Herbert Lom wants to save Odile for "special" clients - and himself.
OK, Odile is pretty, but... It is a movie convention that certain women can drive a man wild with desire (a line quoted ironically by Liza Minellli in Cabaret). Does this really happen?
All the prostitutes are rather chunky, and sport a look that would be swept away by Twiggy in less than ten years. But their pencil skirts and figure-hugging tops are far more stylish than the high fashion of the time, which seemed deliberately frumpy. I hope box pleats, sack dresses and bucket hats never come back.
Diana Dors gives her usual excellent performance as a girl who really would drive men wild. Everything about her is exaggerated: her curves, her lips, her skin-tight clothes. At the same time it is clear that she really does have a heart and a mind. There is a revealing exchange early on where she reads the cards for Brenda, who is always searching the small ads for a respectable widower.
The plot is melodramatic. To gain residency, Odile contracts a sham marriage with a cab driver who owes Lom a favour, but the two fall in love. I find this more convincing than the "drive men wild" trope. It also means that there is a willing army of cab drivers to bust open the vice den and rescue the girls. One of them even walks away with Vicki.
Joan Sims adds sparkle as a radio cab controller, Marget Tyzack is the secretary of the mob's enjoyably sleazy lawyer, and Lana Morris has a cameo as a chirpy lady of the night.
OK, Odile is pretty, but... It is a movie convention that certain women can drive a man wild with desire (a line quoted ironically by Liza Minellli in Cabaret). Does this really happen?
All the prostitutes are rather chunky, and sport a look that would be swept away by Twiggy in less than ten years. But their pencil skirts and figure-hugging tops are far more stylish than the high fashion of the time, which seemed deliberately frumpy. I hope box pleats, sack dresses and bucket hats never come back.
Diana Dors gives her usual excellent performance as a girl who really would drive men wild. Everything about her is exaggerated: her curves, her lips, her skin-tight clothes. At the same time it is clear that she really does have a heart and a mind. There is a revealing exchange early on where she reads the cards for Brenda, who is always searching the small ads for a respectable widower.
The plot is melodramatic. To gain residency, Odile contracts a sham marriage with a cab driver who owes Lom a favour, but the two fall in love. I find this more convincing than the "drive men wild" trope. It also means that there is a willing army of cab drivers to bust open the vice den and rescue the girls. One of them even walks away with Vicki.
Joan Sims adds sparkle as a radio cab controller, Marget Tyzack is the secretary of the mob's enjoyably sleazy lawyer, and Lana Morris has a cameo as a chirpy lady of the night.