The Weak and the Wicked
Encyclopedia
The Weak and the Wicked is a 1954
British
drama film
directed by J. Lee Thompson
based on the book by his wife, Joan Henry
, starring Glynis Johns
and Diana Dors
.
Based on a best-selling book and prison experiences of author Joan Henry, director J. Lee Thompson
’s prison saga explores the life of inmates behind bars where innocence is lost in the world of vice. Despite its pulpy pot-boiler title, the film settles for earnest social drama over melodrama.
Female prisoners talk about the events that brought them there and each of their stories is detailed in a series of flashbacks; notably the upper-class Jean (Glynis Johns), the brash Betty (Diana Dors) and the pregnant Pat (Rachel Roberts). The Weak and the Wicked follows the inmate’s progress behind bars; Jean’s ordeal improves after some sympathetic bonding with her fellow inmates, followed by a move to an experimental open prison.
1954 in film
The year 1954 in film involved some significant events and memorable ones.-Events:*May 12 - The Marx Brothers' Zeppo Marx divorces wife Marion Benda...
British
Cinema of the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom has had a major influence on modern cinema. The first moving pictures developed on celluloid film were made in Hyde Park, London in 1889 by William Friese Greene, a British inventor, who patented the process in 1890. It is generally regarded that the British film industry...
drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
directed by J. Lee Thompson
J. Lee Thompson
John Lee Thompson , better known as J. Lee Thompson, was an English film director, active in England and Hollywood.- Early years :...
based on the book by his wife, Joan Henry
Joan Henry
Joan Constance Anne Henry was an English novelist, playwright and screenwriter. A former débutante from an illustrious family, she was jailed for passing a fraudulent cheque in 1951 and her best-known works were based on her experiences in prison...
, starring Glynis Johns
Glynis Johns
Glynis Johns is a South African-born Welsh stage and film actress, dancer, pianist and singer . With a career spanning seven decades, Johns is often cited as the "complete actress", who happens to be a trained pianist and singer...
and Diana Dors
Diana Dors
Diana Dors was an English actress, born Diana Mary Fluck in Swindon, Wiltshire. Considered the English equivalent of the blonde bombshells of Hollywood, Dors described herself as: "The only sex symbol Britain has produced since Lady Godiva."-Early life:Diana Mary Fluck was born in Swindon,...
.
Based on a best-selling book and prison experiences of author Joan Henry, director J. Lee Thompson
J. Lee Thompson
John Lee Thompson , better known as J. Lee Thompson, was an English film director, active in England and Hollywood.- Early years :...
’s prison saga explores the life of inmates behind bars where innocence is lost in the world of vice. Despite its pulpy pot-boiler title, the film settles for earnest social drama over melodrama.
Plot
Frank "women in prison" story that sympathetically tracks several inmates through their imprisonment and subsequent return to society. Some are successfully rehabilitated; some are not.Female prisoners talk about the events that brought them there and each of their stories is detailed in a series of flashbacks; notably the upper-class Jean (Glynis Johns), the brash Betty (Diana Dors) and the pregnant Pat (Rachel Roberts). The Weak and the Wicked follows the inmate’s progress behind bars; Jean’s ordeal improves after some sympathetic bonding with her fellow inmates, followed by a move to an experimental open prison.
Cast
- Glynis JohnsGlynis JohnsGlynis Johns is a South African-born Welsh stage and film actress, dancer, pianist and singer . With a career spanning seven decades, Johns is often cited as the "complete actress", who happens to be a trained pianist and singer...
.... Jean Raymond - Diana DorsDiana DorsDiana Dors was an English actress, born Diana Mary Fluck in Swindon, Wiltshire. Considered the English equivalent of the blonde bombshells of Hollywood, Dors described herself as: "The only sex symbol Britain has produced since Lady Godiva."-Early life:Diana Mary Fluck was born in Swindon,...
.... Betty Brown - John GregsonJohn GregsonJohn Gregson was an English actor.He was born Harold Thomas Gregson, of Irish descent, and grew up in Wavertree, Liverpool, where he was educated at Greenbank Road primary school, later St Francis Xavier School...
.... Dr. Michael Hale - Olive SloaneOlive SloaneOlive Sloane was an English actress whose film career spanned over 40 years from the silent era through to her death...
.... Nellie Baden, inmate - Rachel Roberts .... Pat, pregnant inmate
- Jane HyltonJane HyltonJane Hylton was an English actress who accumulated 30 film credits, mostly in the 1940s and 1950s, before moving into television work in the latter half of her career in the 1960s and 1970s.-Career:...
.... Babs Peters, inmate - Athene SeylerAthene SeylerAthene Seyler, CBE was an English actress.Although better known as a stage actress, she first appeared on the stage in 1909 and made her film debut in 1921, and became known for playing slightly dotty old ladies....
.... Millie Williams, inmate - Jean Taylor Smith .... Prison Governor (Grange)
- Cecil Trouncer .... Presiding Judge
- Ursula HowellsUrsula HowellsUrsula Howells was an English actress whose elegant presence kept her much in demand for roles in film and television....
.... Pam Vickers - Edwin StylesEdwin Styles-Filmography:* Hell Below * Road House * The Five Pound Man * Patricia Gets Her Man * Adam and Evelyne * The Lady with the Lamp * Top Secret * Derby Day...
.... Seymour - Sid JamesSid JamesSid James was an English-based South African actor and comedian. He made his name as Tony Hancock's co-star in Hancock's Half Hour and also starred in the popular Carry On films. He was known for his trademark "dirty laugh" and lascivious persona...
.... Syd Baden - Eliot MakehamEliot MakehamEliot Makeham , sometimes credited as Eliott Makeham or Elliot Makeham, was an English film and television actor.-Early life and education:He was born Harold Elliott Makeham in 1882, in London, England....
.... Grandad Baden - Joan Haythorne .... Prison Governor (Blackdown)
- Joyce HeronJoyce HeronElizabeth Joyce Heron was a British film and television actress. She was married to the actor Ralph Michael.-Selected filmography:* Premiere * Women Aren't Angels * The Agitator * Don Chicago Elizabeth Joyce Heron (1916–1980) was a British film and television actress. She was married to the actor...
.... Prison Matron Arnold - Anthony NichollsAnthony Nicholls (actor)Anthony Nicholls was an English film, television, and stage actor.-Life and career:Nicholls was born Sydney Horace Nicholls on 16 October 1902 in Windsor, Berkshire, England, the son of Florence and photojournalist Horace Nicholls. He served in the Royal Artillery...
.... Prison Chaplain - Josephine Stuart .... Andy, pregnant inmate
- Paul CarpenterPaul Carpenter (actor)Paul Carpenter was an Canadian actor and singer.He sang with Ted Heath and His Music in the 1940s.-Selected filmography :* Landfall * Albert R.N. * The House Across the Lake...
.... Joe, Bab's boyfriend - Sybil ThorndikeSybil ThorndikeDame Agnes Sybil Thorndike CH DBE was a British actress.-Early life:She was born in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire to Arthur Thorndike and Agnes Macdonald. Her father was a Canon of Rochester Cathedral...
.... Mabel Wicks, Millie's friend - A.E. Matthews .... Harry Wicks, Mabel's beau
- Barbara CouperBarbara Couper-Selected filmography:* Heaven Is Round the Corner * The Story of Shirley Yorke * The Last Days of Dolwyn * Paul Temple's Triumph * Happy Go Lovely * The Lady with the Lamp...
.... Prison Doctor - Mary MerrallMary MerrallMary Merrall , born Elsie Lloyd, was an English actress whose career of over 60 years encompassed stage, film and television work.-Stage career:...
.... Mrs. Skinner - Marjorie RhodesMarjorie RhodesMarjorie Rhodes was a British actress.One of her best-known roles was as Lucy Fitton, the mother of Bill Naughton's northern comedy All in Good Time. She played the role on Broadway, for which she was nominated for a Tony Award in 1965...
.... Suzie, bigamist inmate - Josephine Griffin .... Miriam
- Simone SilvaSimone SilvaSimone Silva was an Egyptian-born French film actress who appeared in a handful of British B-movies during the 1950s. Silva, who was once quoted as saying she would "do anything" to get in the newspapers, was known however less for her acting than for her voluptuous figure and shameless...
.... Tina - Thea GregoryThea GregoryThea Gregory was an English actress.She appeared in nine British films between 1954 and 1957, such as The Weak and the Wicked with John Gregson and Laurence Harvey. She is the widow of the actor John Gregson, whom she met while performing with Perth rep in 1946. They were married in London in...
.... Nancy - Tom GillTom Gill (actor)-Selected filmography:* Midshipman Easy * The High Command * Mister Drake's Duck * The Happy Family * Jumping for Joy * Behind the Headlines * Carry on Admiral...
.... Shop Assistant - Herbert C. Walton .... Blue Eyes, the gardener
- Irene HandlIrene Handl-Life:Irene Handl was born in Maida Vale, London, the daughter of an Austrian banker father and French mother. She took to acting at the relatively advanced age of 36, and studied at the acting school run by the sister of Dame Sybil Thorndike...
.... Waitress - Sandra DorneSandra DorneSandra Dorne in Keighley, Yorkshire, was a British actress.Also known as Sandra Holt, she was often known in the fifties as the B Movie Diana Dors...
.... Stella - Bessie LoveBessie LoveBessie Love was an American motion picture actress who achieved prominence mainly in the silent films and early talkies. With a small frame and delicate features, she played innocent young girls, flappers, and wholesome leading ladies. Her role in The Broadway Melody earned her a nomination for...
.... Prisoner - Marjorie Stewart .... Prisoner
- Hannah Watt .... Prison Matron
- Margaret Diamond .... Prison Matron
- Maureen PryorMaureen PryorMaureen Pryor was an Irish-born English character actress. She appeared on stage, screen and television.-Early life:Maureen Pryor was born Maureen Pook in 1922 in Limerick, Ireland, to a Cockney father and an Irish mother...
.... Prison Matron - Ruth DunningRuth DunningRuth Dunning was a Welsh actress of stage, television, and film. She first came to prominence in the role of Gladys Grove in BBC Television's The Grove Family , also portraying that character in the 1955 film It's a Great Day...
.... Prison Matron - Kathleen Michael .... Prison Matron