Room 43

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.

AKA..."Passport to Shame"

More Melodrama than Usual in this "Sexploitation" Cinema, Complete with the "Worn-Out" Intro by Law Enforcement (Fabian of the Yard), Making Sure Everyone Takes This as a "Public Service" and Not Something for the "Raincoat" Crowd.

Sporting a Good Cast of Herbert Lom (the Dapper Pimp), Eddie Constantine (the White Knight), and Diana Dors (Tart with a Heart).

Diana's White Skin-Tight-Clinging Dresses, Cotton-Candy Platinum Hair and Full-Lipped Makeup, High-Light the Eye-Popping Cheesecake. She Always Added some Acting-Chops.

Herbert Lom is All-Business, that being the Business of "White-Slavery-Trafficking", who Speaks in Threatening Mono-Tone, as He Frequently Steps-Aside and His Thugs Pummel Anything in His Way.

He is Also Not Above Sprinkling Acid on a Pretty-Face who Doesn't Cooperate.

Cult B-Actor Constantine is the "Love-Interest" Hunk that Rescues Oldile Versois, a French Immigrant being Groomed for the "Big-Spenders".

There's a Surreal "Drug-Induced" Segment with Swirling Fog, Collapsing Sets, Filled with High-Decibel Screams, as Hammer's William Asher, with the Help of Nicholas Roeg On Hand for some Stunning Camera-Work.

Overall, a bit Dense and Drawn-Out, and the Cab-Calvary to the Rescue is Over-the-Top.

More Intriguing than it Should be, it Remains an Above Average Film of its Type and it Definitely...

Worth a Watch.

What a wonderful surprise! I was hopeful but not particularly expectant of good things here but it seemed worth a look with a warning preface from 'Fabian of the Yard', a starring role for Herbert Lom and appearances from Diana Dors and Eddie Constantine. In the event this turns out very well, nothing like as scandalous today as it would have been back in the late 50s but still fairly tough and uncompromising. Constantine, a veteran of 'B' pictures whose real claim to fame would come a few years later when Goddard would utilise his rugged looks in Alphaville plays an heroic taxi cab driver against Herbert Lom who plays the baddest of men in charge of a vice ring. Both men are particularly effective and the film, directed and lit like a noir, serves them both well. Also served well is Diana Does, her magnificent full on appearance at the start and the comment about belonging in the gutter as she smiles makes it see she may be limited to this wondrous cameo but no, she puts in a great performance throughout, the seeming excess of make-up probably more down to the fantastic clarity of the new Blu-ray. Vivid but hard to identify west London location predominate with most seeming in the Bayswater area. There is one particular scene, very unusual in British films, showing a whole area of a smart looking street with numerous ladies of the night arranged about and approaching passers by and a close-up of an ultra smart looking Whiteleys of Queensway. The seeming romantic interludes are probably a little overdone but from start to finish this is a fast moving and, if not as exploitative as suggested, certainly more lurid than might have been expected for a 60+ year old film shot on the streets of London and Walton on Thames.

This film is a wonderful summary of hypocritical late fifties cinema. Purporting to reveal the sordid life of the prostitute but revelling in the sleaze and violence. From the opening lecture from *Fabian * of the Yard, to a climactic roof fight, every cliche about girls on the game is flung at the viewer. Poor Diana Dors and Herbert Lom try, but are done in by the florid script and dull direction. Spot Michael Caine in a bit part at the wedding.

This old movie is incredibly current .... more relevant now to what goes on in london now than it was when it was made. There are no modern movies that show the intricacies of how these people work better than this marvellous old movie...