Room 43 (1958)

aka: PASSPORT TO SHAME
Dir: Alvin Rakoff

Marie set up by Aggie

Young and beautiful Parisian Marie (Odile Versois) is having difficulty making ends meet as a waitress  in a bistro. Her troubles are amplified when the bistro owner accuses her of stealing from the til. Out of a job and facing arrest, Marie finds a helping hand from English woman Aggie (Brenda de Banzie) who offers her the job of companion at Aggie's sprawling English home. The naive Marie accepts the position not knowing Aggie's true nature.

Canadian Johnny (Eddie Constantine) is a taxi cab driver in England and things are looking up for him. He's just purchased his own cab and he's pulling ahead in the 'rat race' he calls life. When a lorry smashes into his taxi and takes off, his dreams become as smashed up as his car. With an outstanding loan and no vehicle to earn the money necessary to pay back the loan, Johnny finds friendship in Nick Biaggi (Herbert Lom), a witness to the accident who claims to have been rescued by a soldier from Johnny's unit during the war and wants to pay it back.

Nick waits to spring his trap on Johnny

Marie's and Johnny's paths cross but not in any way they would have ever imagined. They are 'dupes', 'mugs'. Nick is no friend of anyone. He's an East End pimp who has exploited women so that he can wear clothing from Savile Row and look flash. Aggie is the madam with a mean streak who worked her way up through the ranks and needs Nick like an addict needs a fix. Together they are working on the long con to force Marie to become Nick's shining prostitute. Johnny is brought into the plot to marry Marie for a day so she can get documentation to stay and work in Britain legally.

Johnny marries Marie for the promise of 200 quid to help him get ahead of the other rats but he didn't count of falling for Marie and his good guy conscience. With the help of the other taxi drivers he seeks to break Nick's hold on Marie and save her from a life of prostitution.

Along the way we meet up with Vicki (Diana Dors) the hooker with a heart of gold who turns tricks to raise money so her younger sister can have an operation. Marie smokes a marijuana cigarette for the first time and hallucinates what the hell her life will become as a prostitute. Lom puts in a delightfully sleazy performance as a pimp who dreams of creating the perfect prostitute and can't help himself from gazing longingly at himself whenever he spots a mirror. Look for a young Michael Caine in the wedding scene sporting quite the mop of blonde hair.

Diana Dors as Vicki

The sleaze factor is right up there for a film released in 1958 but because of the strong script and compelling performances I think the film makers set out to create a cautionary tale and not an exploitation film that depicts sleaze to pull the punters in. Marie is believably naive yet strong in the face of danger. I don't buy Eddie as a Canadian but he puts in a solid performance as the tough guy who has lost his way but not sight of right and wrong. Even Diana does a fine job and makes a believable woman of the night.

Michael Caine and his fabulous hair

*** out of ****