Seeking the whereabouts of international gangster Nick Randall, the US State Department contacts Scotland Yard, as his girlfriend, Angela Booth, is currently in a British prison. Angela has refused to give Nick up to the law, so the combined authorities arrange for Angela to escape, aided by stoolie Gran' Ramsey who is at the same prison. The police will then follow Angela to Nick. Gran' stages the getaway, and the two women, accompanied by a third convict, Marguerite, whose prison-born baby is about to be turned over to welfare authorities. It is up to Gran' to keep the police informed of Angela's movements without being detected by the escapees, until Angela contacts Nick. This film is a reworking of principal footage from the UK film WOMEN WITHOUT MEN (1955), q.v., which, with added new footage (including scenes with original star Beverly Michaels), significantly revises the plot and central characters from a story about a wrongly imprisoned waif to one about a gangster's moll.
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WOMEN WITHOUT MEN is a low key drama/thriller made by Hammer Films. The plot is somewhat unwieldy and involves the authorities looking for a known gangster. Their only lead is his girlfriend, who may lead them to him, but the problem is she's just been sent to prison. The authorities decide to arrange a jailbreak and tail her. This back story doesn't really sit too well with me and feels a little too elaborate and over the top. However, once the women escape this becomes quite fun, particularly because Thora Hird is the unlikely leader of the escapees. Hird was best known for her domestic, down-to-earth roles during the era; it was rare to see her out of a kitchen, so watching her racing a car through the streets and evading the police makes for great fun.
Angela Booth is a singer and performing to crowds in London. However, she is attacked by Julius Lord and to protect herself from this lecherous old goat, she hits him with her mirror. He is well- connected and this American girl is sent to a women's prison...despite being entirely innocent of everything except trying to keep herself from being molested! However, the State Department in the US is interested in her. It's not that she's done anything wrong...but her boyfriend, Randall, is scum...a traitor who collaborated with the Nazis during WWII and they want him! But she won't willingly help, so they arrange for her to be able to escape from prison in order to follow her to a meeting with Randall...or so they hope. This summary is not exactly the same as the one on IMDb, as it is not quite correct.This is an adequate movie...nothing bad but nothing great about it either. It is the epitome of the term 'time-passer' and the finale is less than well handled--it's over and done with way too quickly.
***SPOILERS*** The US State Department gets wind that master Soviet spy Rick Randell, Jim Davis, is having an affair with singer-dancer-stripper Angela Booth,Beverly Michaels, and plans to use her to have him tracked down before he does any more damage to his country the USA as well as the Free World. With Randell planning to meet Angela on New Years Eve at the Oxhead Inn outside of London she gets sideswiped when in a fit of anger she smashed her agent Julian Lord, Ralph Michael, face in with a mirror when he refused to let her out of her contract and then tries to assault her. Ending up in prison for six months on an assault conviction all that Angela has on her mind is to escape and get married to that "Hunk" of a guy Randell before she can finish her sentence.What is soon planned by the US State Department and Scotland Yard in having Angela allowed to escape so she can lead them to Randell so they can make the pinch on him for treason against the USA. It's Angela by being left out in the cold to what her lover is really up to goes along with the escape plan secretly set up by Scotland Yard being engineered by in house stollie and fellow prisoner Granny Rafferty, Thora Hird, who's only in it, the escape, for the fun & excitement and nothing else.***SPOILERS*** Crashing of the the womens prison together with Granny and fellow prisoner Margurite, April Olrich, and her six month old baby who was born to her behind bars Angela, after a number of wild and crazy incidents with the police, finally makes it to the Oxhead Inn only to find it bordered up and out of business. Lucky for her as well as Scotland Yard & the US State Department Nick Randell, obviously drunk from celebrating the New Year, shows up staggering out of the woods as well. Not expecting Angela to show up at all Randell loses his cool, in suspecting that she set him up, and starts to slap her around showing her what a heel as well as traitor to his country he really is. With US Secret Agent Kent Forster, Richard Travis, hiding in the nearby bushes Randell ends up shooting it out with him only to be the one who ends up getting shot!
In their quest to nab a spy for the Soviet Bloc named "Nick Randall" (Jim Davis), the American State Department decides to follow his girlfriend, "Angela Booth" (Beverly Michaels) to a secret rendezvous the two had planned a few months earlier. The only problem is that Angela is sent to prison in England for a crime she wasn't guilty of. Not wanting to tip their hand, the Americans and British resort to desperate measures to make sure that Angela keeps her appointment with Nick at any costs. At any rate, rather than spoil the film for those who haven't seen it, I will just say that this is a decent enough B-Movie from the mid-50's which might appeal to those who enjoy action-dramas of this nature. I would also like to add that this film is not nearly as risqué as the movie poster printed during this time might lead a person to believe. Again, one has to consider the time period in which it was made. That said, I rate it as average, all things considered.