Gripping story with well-crafted characters

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

Whilst this is a good if depressing film I am of the opinion that the ending is a cop out.It does not show the actual hanging which of course is the most barbaric part.The film fails also in showing that Dors has sufficient motive and why Craig preferred the other woman so that part of the film fails.Also it does become increasingly depressive being in the condemned cell.

The pompous dirigible Jean-Luc Godard ,like most French movie directors a man utterly in love with himself,or at least ,the idea of himself ,once said that all you really needed to make a movie were " a girl and a gun"At the opening of this movie it looks as if the makers had taken his dictum literally for that is precisely what we get.The girl is Mary Hutton (Diana Dors) and she pulls a gun from her handbag and shoots a man to death ,one she blames for her lover's suicide .It is an open and shut case -she is placed on trial for murder and sentenced to death by hanging .The majority of the movie takes place in her condemned cell as she waits the outcome of her appeal and relives the doomed affair with lover Jim (Michael Craig) What sets the movie apart from its Hollywood sister "I Want to Live"from a couple of years later is that unlike Susan Hayward in that movie Mary Hutton is quite obviously guilty -her case is not a miscarriage of justice and there is no special pleading in the way the movie sets out to make its anti-capital punishment case .For make no bones about it, this is an abolitionist propaganda piece .Despite her clear and palpable guilt the movie insists that hanging is just plain wrong . J lee Thompson shows an absurdity to things as the wardens set about trying to keep her occupied -they teach her chess ,pass the time in meaningless chit chat and ensure she is healthy enough to be hung in a week or so .The style is not ,as you might expect ,documentary but shows the influence of German Expressionism in its use of extreme close-ups,and oblique camera angles .It deftly suggests the disorientation of someone who may be about to die by order of the state in a premeditated and planned manner Much was made at the time of its similarity to an actual murder case -that of Ruth Ellis,the last woman to be hung in Britain .Both Ellis and Mary in the movie were blondes ,both shot men who had done them wrong .This is coincidence nothing more as the script was written two years prior to the Ellis case and the release of the movie at the time the Ellis case was generating publicity was an accident .Dors is sensational in the role .A flamboyant publicity conscious starlet she declared herself with this movie to be powerhouse actress unafraid to present an appearance devoid of her usual glamour ,letting her dyed hair grow out to show dark at the roots and discarding the revealing gowns of the publicity machine for unflattering prison wear .Its a powerful piece of work and all involved in its making did good work .I am still a pro-hanger but I do admire the honesty and integrity of this movie .its not enjoyable but it is potent

Diana Dors is unforgettable in the role of a murderer condemned to death after shooting her love rival in cold blood. The murder scene comes right at the start of the movie and is shocking in its cold blooded approach. Diana is beautiful and glamorous in the story flashbacks as we see what led up to this terrible act, but for much of the movie we see her in the condemned cell stripped of her glamour. Although she never expresses any regret for what she has done we sympathise with her plight as she is mentally tortured to death before her execution by the pitiless prison regime. The inhumanity of capital punishment is also expressed by the torment that all around her have to go through before the punishment is carried out. Not only relatives and friends but also the people whose job it is to care for her while she is behind bars. The performances all round are superb from the dignity of the Prison Governor played by Marie Ney, the compassion of warder Yvonne Mitchell, the benevolence of prison visitor Athene Seyler and the self pitying mother Dandy Nicholls. Diana's performance is stunning and will haunt you for days after seeing this film and her reading of poetry by A.E. Houseman will linger long in your memory.

This film proved that Diane Dorrs was a superb serious actress. The obvious comparison to the tragic case of Ruth Ellis 12 months earlier only served to make a good film even better. The whole cast gave their heart and soul to it. A must for people who have not yet viewed it.