Passport to Shame (1959)

the audience applauded

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

As Good As It Gets

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

...recent phenomenon encouraged by the freedom of movement amongst EU citizens(or even instigated by it)"Passport to shame" will reassure you that bad men and women have always found the ways and means to give the public whatever it desires - at a price. Sixty years ago behind the curtains of the dirty book shops, members' clubs and private cinemas in Soho the dubious delights of commercial sex were available to anybody brave or desperate enough to seek it out. Pimping is not known as "The second oldest profession" for nothing. Offering so - called "protection" for sex workers for a high percentage of their earnings but in reality dealing in extreme violence and intimidation to keep their charges in line, pimps are loathed and feared in equal measure. Coppers certainly hate them. I met plenty of villains I was happy to have a drink with but I never met a pimp who I didn't want to smack around then put in a cell for a very long time. Unfortunately the latter at least didn't happen very often as evidence was hard to come by in such a climate of fear. Mr Herbert Lom,a charming and urbane man in real life plays a capo di tutti capo pimp as to the manner born. Ably assisted by Miss Brenda de Banzie as his little helper he "recruits" young girls onto the streets. Unfortunately for them their efforts at procuring incur the wrath of Mr Eddie Constantine (often used when relative exotica required) and Mr Robert Brown(hopefully no relation to William Brown,but one never knows) and in a pre Minicab London the black cab drivers make it their business to interfere with Mr Lom's business and put him out of it. "I had that Jack Spot in my cab the other day" I waited hopefully for one to say. Miss Diana Dors was sufficiently familiar with London low - life to give her role an edge of authenticity. You may find it under it's nom de movie "Room 43"on one of the more esoteric Freeview channels. Do watch it,I promise you won't regret it.

Diana Dors was at her Marilyn Monroe like physical voluptuous peak in this 1958 film drama about prostitution in London.Playing a "tart with a heart" she is only on the game to earn enough money for plastic surgery to save her younger sister's face from a previous acid attack by her vicious pimp (played by Herbert Lom) when her sister had previously refused to go "on the game".A shining white knight appears on the scene, not on a horse but in the form of a London taxicab driver (and his loyal cab mates)- a Canadian war veteran played by Eddie Constantine.Herbert Lom deceitfully involves both the new naive blonde girl (played by French actress Odile Versois) into his group of girls for hire and the taxi cab owner into his debt.In the light of sex & violence graphically shown in 2014 by the media, this film will seem rather tame but I'm sure it had an X certificate at British cinemas in 1958 for its adult themes.There is also a drug scene, another taboo subject at the time.For Dors fans, a companion to this film would be "Yield to the Night", aka "Blonde Sinner" the latter film loosely based on the celebrated case of Ruth Ellis the last woman to be hanged in 1955 in Britain.I voted "Passport to Shame" 6/10 as I felt "Blonde Sinner" had slightly the stronger story line and better production values.

Among the sundry delights to be found in this British white slavery sexpose is the gonzo turn by Herbert Lom. As London's mac daddy supreme Nick Biaggi, Lom is a sight to behold, a horn-doggie dandy in homburg, lapel carnation and spats (au courant fashion be damned). He's low-key at first, oozing oily charm and generosity, the better to bamboozle naive French waif Odile Versois, who's been lured into a life of shame by Lom's field procurer/mamasan/mistress Brenda De Banzie. But behind closed doors it's a whole 'nother Herb. Channeling his inner Michael Gough, he's all over Odile like a cheap suit, manhandling her love handles and assaulting her face with wet, slobbering kisses. It's truly an unhinged spectacle; even Lom's toupee looks like it has an erection.Also in the house: affable tough guy Eddie Constantine as the world's least likely Canadian, the always welcome Robert Brown (Tumak's dad in One Million Years B.C., 'M' in the Bond films of the '80s) as a two-fisted cabbie who rouses his fellow hacks to do battle with the 'ho-mongers, Diana Dors, poured into bum-busting skirts and Frederick's of Soho lingerie, as a hooker with a score to settle, and, as the groom at a wedding party, a remarkably young Michael Caine.All this plus a wacky weed-induced dream scene that must be seen to be disbelieved.Lowdown high times guaranteed.

A pre-credit introduction by Fabian of the 'Yard' attempts to sell this as an expose of vice with special reference to human trafficking - very relevant today - but it quickly segues into just another girl-in-jeopardy thriller in which vice is only peripheral. The first fifth shows how easy it is for an innocent and naive girl to be recruited and groomed though one would have to question how any girl falsely accused of stealing a few francs from the till would be so scared to return to France and face a few francs fine. Having framed the pigeon (Odile Versois) Herbert Lom and Brenda de Banzie need a work permit for her and that's where taxi driver Eddie Constantine comes in. Also 'befriended' by Lom he is persuaded to go through a marriage of convenience with Versois who is then whisked away. Then, in a completely unexplained and inexplicable turnabout Constantine begins to worry about Versois and attempts to track her down. From then on it's just another guy looking for a girl and building to a climax straight out of Hue and Cry except for kids read cabbies. Enjoyable tosh with sightings of Lana Morris, Joan Collins and Michael Caine.