This is a grim tale about a girl who flees to a dreary London boarding house after her boyfriend Jerry Nolan is arrested for murder. Laurence Harvey, as Jerry, makes his first appearance, singing. He also has a convincing scene when Vivian visits him in prison.
Rene Ray was probably the biggest "name" in the film. She had been a hit in the 1935 film "The Passing of the Third Floor Back". She plays Vivian. The flats are managed by a (at first appearance) motherly woman (Freda Jackson) and a slatternly young maid (Vida Hope), who puts "wise" a young mother, Christine, who has come to live there with her little baby. The boarding house is a haven for unwed mothers and for Christine (an early role for Lois Maxwell, more famous for her role as Miss Moneypenny in the James Bond movies) a last resort. After paying 3 pound a week and giving the care of her baby to the manager - the maid shows her where she will live - just a tumbledown bed in a room off the filthy kitchen. She shares the room with Vivian but is determined to find a better life somewhere.
Viv has been going to Nolan's trial every day - when he is found guilty she struggles to go on. When Rosie's (Joan Dowling) little baby Alfie, is diagnosed with bed bug bites, Rosie threatens to call Welfare, but after being caught with a stolen bracelet, she is forced to say nothing. When Christine's fiancée wants to take her out for the day Viv says she will look after Christopher but he becomes ill and by the end of the day the baby is dead - only because the landlady refuses to call the doctor.
One night when Viv is on her own, Sally, the mad boarder, tells her about her little boy Frankie, who is buried in the garden "with all the others". She also tells of babies that were collected by couples - not their parents. Viv realises that the landlady is running a "baby farm", but before she can go to the police, she is pushed down the stairs and left to die. Olga (Dora Bryan) another boarder, comes home unexpectedly and goes to her rescue.
This is tense and grim, but keeps you watching. All the players turn in fine performances, especially Freda Jackson as the unbalanced land lady.
Highly Recommended.
Rene Ray was probably the biggest "name" in the film. She had been a hit in the 1935 film "The Passing of the Third Floor Back". She plays Vivian. The flats are managed by a (at first appearance) motherly woman (Freda Jackson) and a slatternly young maid (Vida Hope), who puts "wise" a young mother, Christine, who has come to live there with her little baby. The boarding house is a haven for unwed mothers and for Christine (an early role for Lois Maxwell, more famous for her role as Miss Moneypenny in the James Bond movies) a last resort. After paying 3 pound a week and giving the care of her baby to the manager - the maid shows her where she will live - just a tumbledown bed in a room off the filthy kitchen. She shares the room with Vivian but is determined to find a better life somewhere.
Viv has been going to Nolan's trial every day - when he is found guilty she struggles to go on. When Rosie's (Joan Dowling) little baby Alfie, is diagnosed with bed bug bites, Rosie threatens to call Welfare, but after being caught with a stolen bracelet, she is forced to say nothing. When Christine's fiancée wants to take her out for the day Viv says she will look after Christopher but he becomes ill and by the end of the day the baby is dead - only because the landlady refuses to call the doctor.
One night when Viv is on her own, Sally, the mad boarder, tells her about her little boy Frankie, who is buried in the garden "with all the others". She also tells of babies that were collected by couples - not their parents. Viv realises that the landlady is running a "baby farm", but before she can go to the police, she is pushed down the stairs and left to die. Olga (Dora Bryan) another boarder, comes home unexpectedly and goes to her rescue.
This is tense and grim, but keeps you watching. All the players turn in fine performances, especially Freda Jackson as the unbalanced land lady.
Highly Recommended.