Rag Doll (film)
Encyclopedia
Rag Doll is a 1961
British B-movie
crime film, directed by Lance Comfort
and starring actor and singer Jess Conrad
. The film gained a new audience in the 2000s in response to Conrad's elevation to cult status as a purveyor of late-1950s and early-1960s pre-Beatles British kitsch, and received a Region 2 DVD release in 2009 in a double bill with Comfort's 1962 film The Painted Smile
.
and finds work in a coffee bar. She falls in love with handsome young nightclub singer Joe Shane (Conrad) and soon they are a couple. She then discovers that Joe is a small-time crook on the side, with a gang background and a line in petty burglary.
At work, Carol finds herself on the receiving end of lecherous advances from all manner of older men including Wilson (Kenneth Griffith
), who professes to be in love with her and is also known to be wealthy. Joe sees a chance to turn a profit, and encourages Carol to lead Wilson on and let him act as her protector, to provide them with an opportunity to lay their hands on some easy money. However Joe's schemes go disastrously wrong and he ends up being shot dead during an attempted robbery, leaving Carol alone and pregnant.
1961 in film
The year 1961 in film involved some significant events, with West Side Story winning 10 Academy Awards.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :Academy Awards:* Atlantis, the Lost ContinentB...
British B-movie
B-movie
A B movie is a low-budget commercial motion picture that is not definitively an arthouse or pornographic film. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified a film intended for distribution as the less-publicized, bottom half of a double feature....
crime film, directed by Lance Comfort
Lance Comfort
Lance Comfort was an English film director and producer born in Harrow, London.With a career spanning over 25 years he became one of the most prolific film directors in Britain though never gained critical attention and remained on the fringes of the film industry creating mostly B movies.Comfort...
and starring actor and singer Jess Conrad
Jess Conrad
Jess Conrad OBE is an actor and singer from England.-Career:Having started his career as a repertory actor and film extra, Jess Conrad was cast in a television play "Bye, Bye Barney" as a pop singer...
. The film gained a new audience in the 2000s in response to Conrad's elevation to cult status as a purveyor of late-1950s and early-1960s pre-Beatles British kitsch, and received a Region 2 DVD release in 2009 in a double bill with Comfort's 1962 film The Painted Smile
The Painted Smile
The Painted Smile is a 1962 British thriller film directed by Lance Comfort and starring Liz Fraser, Kenneth Griffith, Peter Reynolds and Tony Wickert...
.
Plot
17 year-old Carol (Christina Gregg) flees her small-town home to escape from her alcoholic stepfather, and heads off to London to live with her aunt. Once in London she is drawn to the sleazy excitement of SohoSoho
Soho is an area of the City of Westminster and part of the West End of London. Long established as an entertainment district, for much of the 20th century Soho had a reputation for sex shops as well as night life and film industry. Since the early 1980s, the area has undergone considerable...
and finds work in a coffee bar. She falls in love with handsome young nightclub singer Joe Shane (Conrad) and soon they are a couple. She then discovers that Joe is a small-time crook on the side, with a gang background and a line in petty burglary.
At work, Carol finds herself on the receiving end of lecherous advances from all manner of older men including Wilson (Kenneth Griffith
Kenneth Griffith
Kenneth Griffith was a Welsh actor and documentary filmmaker.-Early life:He was born Kenneth Reginald Griffiths in Tenby, Pembrokeshire, Wales. Six months after his birth his parents split up and left Tenby, leaving Kenneth with his paternal grandparents, Emily and Ernest, who immediately adopted...
), who professes to be in love with her and is also known to be wealthy. Joe sees a chance to turn a profit, and encourages Carol to lead Wilson on and let him act as her protector, to provide them with an opportunity to lay their hands on some easy money. However Joe's schemes go disastrously wrong and he ends up being shot dead during an attempted robbery, leaving Carol alone and pregnant.
Cast
- Jess ConradJess ConradJess Conrad OBE is an actor and singer from England.-Career:Having started his career as a repertory actor and film extra, Jess Conrad was cast in a television play "Bye, Bye Barney" as a pop singer...
as Joe Shane - Hermione BaddeleyHermione BaddeleyHermione Baddeley was an English character actress of theatre, film and television. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Room at the Top and a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play for The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here...
as Princess - Kenneth GriffithKenneth GriffithKenneth Griffith was a Welsh actor and documentary filmmaker.-Early life:He was born Kenneth Reginald Griffiths in Tenby, Pembrokeshire, Wales. Six months after his birth his parents split up and left Tenby, leaving Kenneth with his paternal grandparents, Emily and Ernest, who immediately adopted...
as Wilson - Christina Gregg as Carol
- Patrick MageePatrick Magee (actor)Patrick Magee was a Northern Irish actor best known for his collaborations with Samuel Beckett and Harold Pinter, as well as his appearances in horror films and in Stanley Kubrick's films A Clockwork Orange and Barry Lyndon.-Early life:He was born Patrick McGee in Armagh, County Armagh, Northern...
as Flynn - Patrick JordanPatrick Jordan-Selected filmography:* Companions in Crime * No Smoking * The Battle of the River Plate * Cloak Without Dagger * The Man Upstairs * The Angry Hills * The League of Gentlemen...
as Wills - Michael Wynne as Bellamy
- Frank Forsyth as Superintendent
External links
- Rag Doll at BFI Film & TV Database