Ruby Bruce, a flirtatious neon-blonde bookstore clerk (Diana Dors) gets caught up in a shake-down scheme that goes very wrong. Usual Hammer horror-helmsman Terrance Fisher puts together a pretty good procedural-noir melodrama as the tantalising nymphet gets manipulated by conniving ex-con Jeffrey Hart (Peter Reynolds) into blackmailing her boss. The cast is serviceable and the story pretty good although the main plot twist does rely on some convenient but not particularly believable behaviours on the part of the victimised boss (George Brent) and his romantically-inclined assistant (Marguerite Chapman). Of course, Dors as the femme fatale is the centerpiece of the film (she figures prominently in the posters (excuse the pun)) and the slightly pneumatic starlet is fine in the not overly demanding role. Not as hard-boiled or as violent as most American noir but an entertaining enough crime-meller starring England's answer to Marilyn Monroe (or maybe Jane Mansfield). The original title was the much less lurid 'The Last Page' (a bland play on the film's 'bookshop' setting).
Review of Man Bait
