Women Without Men (1956 film)

Women Without Men is a 1956 British drama film directed by Elmo Williams and Herbert Glazer and starring Beverly Michaels, Joan Rice and Hermione Baddeley.[1] The screenplay concerns a woman who is unjustly sent to prison for an act which was really one of self-defense, and who escapes from prison in order to keep a rendezvous with her would-be fiancé, who has been out of the country and unaware of her plight.

Women Without Men
U.S. poster
Directed byElmo Williams
Herbert Glazer
Produced byAnthony Hinds
Screenplay byVal Guest
Richard Landau
Based ona story by Richard Landau
StarringBeverly Michaels
Joan Rice
Music byLeonard Salzedo
John Hollingsworth
CinematographyWalter J. Harvey
Edited byJames Needs
Production
company
Distributed byExclusive Films (U.K.)
Associated Film Releasing Corporation (U.S.)
Release date
  • April 2, 1956 (1956-04-02)
(U.K.)
Running time
71 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

For U.S. release the film was retitled Blonde Bait and substantially re-edited, with new scenes filmed by the American distributors (with additional American actors - e.g. Jim Davis replacing Paul Carpenter as Nick) and notable character and plot changes, such as turning the heroine into a gangster's moll, for whom the prison break in engineered by the police in hopes she will lead them to her much-wanted fugitive boyfriend.[2] Other new actors were Richard Travis, Harry Lauter and Paul Cavanagh. Beverly Michaels also appeared in the film's new ending sequence.

Cast

Critical reception

Sky Movies wrote, "Hammer Films, just before their success in the horror field, jumped on the band-wagon for women's prison films that had been rolling in Britain and America since the success of Caged in 1950. Beverly Michaels (sent to prison on the slimmest of pretexts), Joan Rice, April Olrich and Hermione Baddely are among those looking grim, while Thora Hird makes the most of one of her best film roles as the indomitable Granny."[3] The Radio Times noted a "Second-feature British prison drama of no particular distinction, but deploying some humour and employing some interesting names - Thora Hird, Avril Angers - which up the entertainment quotient...it's good for an idle rainy afternoon or 2am insomnia."[4]

References
  1. "Women without Men (1956)". Archived from the original on 13 January 2009.
  2. "Blonde Bait (1956) - Notes - TCM.com".
  3. "Women without Men".
  4. "Women without Men - Film from RadioTimes".
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