An overlooked masterpiece of direction, editing and photography... and Maurice Cowan's screenplay is a cracker, too. The writer went on to find bigger success scripting some Norman Wisdom gems soon after this movie was made. Throw in some of the finest British acting talents of the day and you can't go wrong.The title of the movie becomes apparent towards the end and it's a treat to discover. Three very different women are released from prison at the same time (eight o clock, precisely) and the movie follows the subsequent day and evening as they get used to their freedom.Monica (Yvonne Mitchell) has 'done' a year for something she didn't do yet she still carries a torch for the no-good spiv who put her inside. She gets a second chance at a new life and the film is largely focused on her story and whether or not she'll let her head rule her heart this time around.Stella (Joan Collins) faces a similar choice between good and evil but in her case, her devoted man is good and her previous lifestyle is bad. Who will win this tug of war? (Joan Collins looks beautiful and sexy! She was just 20 when this movie came out and this is one of her first credited parts.)Granny (Kathleen Harrison) is perhaps the most tragic character. She's a good-natured shoplifter who has lost her daughter's love and is kept going by her own affection for her dog, Johnny. (Kathleen Harrison may not be a name you recognize but you'll almost certainly know her face. Probably most famous as Mrs Thursday in the mid-sixties. She lived to the ripe old age of 103!)There is a lot to marvel at, even if the story doesn't do it for you. London in the fifties is shown off with extraordinary clarity and with plenty of subtle reminders of how London used to be. The sign in the butcher's shop reads 'You can re-register here!' and the Brylcreem ads dotted the scorched, red brick walls. Piccadilly Circus and London's West End are a treasure to see in the post-war capital.All the peripheral characters are a joy to watch and we shouldn't overlook the parts they play in bringing this movie to life. Thora Hird, Geoffrey Keen, Dorothy Alison... and many, many more!The three stories blend perfectly together with dollops of tragedy, drama and ultimately hope. There's so much going on in every scene that the usherettes will be sweeping up the peanut shells, Capstan butts and discarded Walls ice cream tubs before you've had a chance to get seated comfortably!Now showing on YouTube!

What an entertaining film! Glamour, thrills, romance, sentimentality. This is a British black and white film noir, if that's the correct description to give it, but it give a clue in the night time robbery scene, the stark prison scenes at the beginning, the clandestine meetings the leading players have in alleyways, etc. The stars all act well, particularly Kathleen Harrison as an old lag who on her release in reunited with Johnny, her little dog, who plays as leading a part as the humans here. Joan Collins in an early glamour role is as striking then as she is now over sixty years later. The leading actress is Yvonne Mitchell and her lover is the villainous Terence Morgan, a part he was adept at playing in the 1950's. I didn't want it to end, and maybe, that's the secret of a great movie, leave 'em wanting more. Films today are often too long and that's why they are rarely great any more. There is a scene where a woman very briefly walks down the stairs past Yvonne Mitchell, and I could swear it was Prunella Scales (from Fawlty Towers) but it was so brief and she's not listed.

I awarded this film 7/10 and am sad that none of the heritage vintage film TV channels have not seen fit to transmit this superb b&w film.For someone like me born in 1946 the scenes of early 1950s London have a resonance as I can remember the old cars Britain used to manufacture like the "Riley", tube trains with air vents at the side, police officers with helmets standing on street corners and of course the prices of commodities pre-inflation.The users above have satisfactorily described the plot.Each of the gaol-birds are tempted upon their release to re-offend and part of the interest is seeing how they deal with temptation as it comes their way, whether to take up again with her criminal boyfriend (Yvonne Mitchell), whether to carry on being a Soho prostitute (Joan Collins) or hope to establish normal family relations and curtail her shoplifting habit (Kathleen Harrison).The most poignant scene for me was when Kathleen Harrison is run over and killed while her beloved dog "Johnie" then walks the streets alone and owner-less.Yvonne Mitchell her gaol-bird colleague then becomes "Johnie's" new owner after her worthless ex-boyfriend (Terence Morgan) gets his just deserts.This was a well produced and directed film which should be seen more often on t.v.Do today's film t.v.channels think it would not attract remunerative advertising revenue to air gems like this?I am obviously not in the target socio-economic advertising group at 69 years of age!

Beautifully photographed by Geoffrey Unsworth and imaginatively directed by Jack Lee, this splendidly acted drama is a triumph for all concerned. Production values, including a marvelously staged action climax, are absolutely first class. Admittedly, some may find the music score by Mischa Spoliansky a little too sentimental for film noir, but I thought it totally appropriate. Directing 2nd units on actual locations was a Jack Lee specialty, so it comes as no surprise here to see real locations employed to such advantage. Film editor Lito Carruthers has also done a marvelous job. The editing is as taut as a circus high wire. Lito was born in Greece, but came to England as a child. Educated at the Convent of Sion, she joined the film industry as an assistant in the London production office for Fire Over England (1937). During the Second World War, she served her apprenticeship in the cutting rooms of Ealing Studios, where she cut her first picture, a 45-minute documentary, very appropriately Greek Testament (1942), under the editorial supervision of director Charles Hasse. Beginning with Old Mother Riley Overseas in 1943. Lito edited 26 movies between 1943 and 1960, finishing up with Too Hot To Handle in 1960. I don't know what happened after that. Whether she retired, died, got married? It would be nice to know. She was a really top film editor. First rank.