cult film freak: DIANA DORS TEMPTS THE HAMMER FILMS FILM-NOIR 'MAN BAIT'

year: 1952 cast: Diana Dors, George Brent rating: ***1/2

With blonde beauty Diana Dors’ full-full lips, any expression wields a pout. And it's a seductively vicious pout as the story, centering on blackmail at a high-end English bookstore, 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...

So Ruby teams with ex-convict con artist Jeffrey Hart to collect the money, and the deliberately slow nature in which the plot pans out is intriguing...

As Jefferey coaches Ruby from the sidelines (at a posh bar), she becomes more and more guilt-ridden (a Noir staple) and desperate, proving Dors, known as the “British Marilyn Monroe,” had more ability to carry a storyline than the American bombshell...

Without her presence, MAN BAIT becomes your typical "wrong man" melodrama; although the talented cast of Brits (including Marguerite Chapman and Raymond Huntley as the manipulative secretary and boss), and a few neat surprises, will keep your interest. Especially the last ten minutes when the antagonist gets really wicked.