Woman of Straw is a 1964 British crime thriller starring Gina Lollobrigida

Gina Lollobrigida

Gina Lollobrigida is an Italian actress, photojournalist and sculptress. She was one of the most popular European actresses of the 1950s and early 1960s. She was also an iconic sex symbol of the 1950s. Today, she remains an active supporter of Italian and Italian American causes, particularly the...

 and Sean Connery

Sean Connery

Sir Thomas Sean Connery , better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards and three Golden Globes Sir Thomas Sean Connery (born 25 August 1930), better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy...

. It was directed by Basil Dearden

Basil Dearden

Basil Dearden was an English film director.-Life and career:Dearden was born at Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex. He graduated from theatre direction to film, working as an assistant to Basil Dean...

 and written by Robert Muller and Stanley Mann

Stanley Mann

Stanley Mann is a Canadian-born film and television writer. He began his writing career in 1951, and was nominated for an Oscar for his work on the 1965 film The Collector, based on the John Fowles novel of the same title. In 1957 he penned an adaptation of Death of a Salesman for television...

, adapted from the 1964 novel by Catherine Arley.

Plot

Connery's character Anthony Richmond schemes to get the fortune of his tyrannical, wheelchair-using tycoon uncle Charles Richmond (Richardson) by persuading Maria, a nurse he employs (Lollobrigida), to marry him. After his uncle's demise Anthony becomes a murder suspect. Lollobrigida's character is the Woman of Straw of the title.

Cast

• Gina Lollobrigida
  Gina Lollobrigida
  Gina Lollobrigida is an Italian actress, photojournalist and sculptress. She was one of the most popular European actresses of the 1950s and early 1960s. She was also an iconic sex symbol of the 1950s. Today, she remains an active supporter of Italian and Italian American causes, particularly the...
  
   as Maria Marcello
• Sean Connery
  Sean Connery
  Sir Thomas Sean Connery , better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards and three Golden Globes Sir Thomas Sean Connery (born 25 August 1930), better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy...
  
   as Anthony 'Tony' Richmond
• Ralph Richardson
  Ralph Richardson
  Sir Ralph David Richardson was an English actor, one of a group of theatrical knights of the mid-20th century who, though more closely associated with the stage, also appeared in several classic films....
  
   as Charles Richmond
• Alexander Knox
  Alexander Knox
  Alexander Knox was a Canadian actor and author of adventure novels set in the Great Lakes area during the 19th century.-Biography:...
  
   as Detective Inspector Lomer
• Johnny Sekka
  Johnny Sekka
  Johnny Sekka was a British film and television actor.Born Lamine Sekka in Dakar, Senegal, the youngest of five siblings, his Gambian father died shortly after his birth...
  
   as Thomas
• Laurence Hardy
  Laurence Hardy
  Laurence Hardy was a British politician. He was a Member of Parliament for Ashford from 1892 to 1918.-References:...
  
   as Baynes, the butler
• Peter Madden
  Peter Madden (actor)
  Peter Madden was a British actor who was born in Kuala Lumpur in Malaya.Madden was a character actor who made several notable appearances in Hammer films...
  
   as Yacht Captain
• Danny Daniels
  Danny Daniels
  Danny Daniels is an American choreographer, tap dancer, and teacher.Daniels was a featured dancer in several 1940s Broadway musicals, including Billion Dollar Baby, Street Scene, and Kiss Me, Kate; although he continued performing during the 1950s and after, including a tour with the Agnes de Mille...
  
   as Fenton
• Noel Howlett
  Noel Howlett
  Noel Howlett was an English actor, principally remembered as the incompetent headmaster, Morris Cromwell, in the ITV 1970s cult television programme Please Sir!...
  
  as Assistant Solicitor