cult film freak: TERENCE FISHER DIRECTS DIANA DORS IN HAMMER'S 'MAN BAIT'

Title: MAN BAIT aka THE LAST PAGE Year: 1952 Rating: ***1/2

Following BAD BLONDE, here's another Hammer British Film Noir dealing with a blonde: in this case, beautiful Diana Dors, where any expression wields not only a full-lipped pout, but a seductively vicious pout as the story, centering on blackmail at a high-end English bookstore, slowly... through chatty exposition dialogue... unfolds...

Dors plays Ruby Bruce, whose stunning appearance alone turns men into jelly. Although her rich boss, with a lucrative insurance policy, is tougher than most pawns: So Ruby teams with ex-convict con man Jeffrey Hart to collect the money as the slow, meticulous nature in which the plot pans out is intriguing...

Diana Dors in Hammer's MAN BAIT aka THE LAST PAGE

As Jefferey coaches Ruby from the sidelines (at a posh bar), she becomes more and more guilt ridden and desperate, proving Dors, known as the "British Marilyn Monroe," had more ability to carry a storyline...

But without her presence, MAN BAIT... the first directed by Hammer's future horror-auteur Terence Fisher... becomes your typical "wrong man" melodrama, and although the talented cast of Brits (including second tier ingénue Marguerite Chapman and Raymond Huntley as an uptight manager), and a few neat surprises, will keep your interest: Especially the last ten minutes when the antagonist gets really wicked.