"The Weak and the Wicked" is a film adaptation of the semi-autobiographical novel by Joan Henry about her experiences while in prison. In real life, she was a debutante who spent more than she had and eventually went to jail for passing a bad check. In this film, Jean (Glynis Johns) has a gambling problem and does pass a bad check at the gambling hall...but ultimately she's jailed because the people she defrauded set her up for a petty theft/fraud charge. Once in prison, you see what life is like there as well as what led some of the women to prison as shown in flashbacks.
Choosing Johns to play the lead was a stroke of brilliance. After all, I cannot think of any actress of the day that looked more innocent and sweet than her...so her plight is made worse since she doesn't look like she should be there. I have no idea if the real life Joan Henry looked so innocent.
So is the film any good? Yes, but it's certainly not like some of the broadly written and acted American women in prison films of the 1950s (such as "Caged") or the REALLY over-the-top an crazed film in the genre that came out about 1970 (they were a REALLY sleazy lot). Now as far as it being an exposee, the women in the film actually seemed to be treated pretty well considering they were criminals...so it's not much of an exposee and is quite civilized. Interesting, yes, but not what many likely want to see in a women in prison film! So, even with sexy blonde Diana Dors (sort of the British version of Jayne Mansfield) in the film, it's NOT a sleazy skin flick nor exploitational in any manner. The worst treatment in the film was towards the end when Joan received a stern talking to by the warden!
If you do watch this film, about 3/4 of the way through the picture is a marvelous flashback involving an elderly woman planning on murdering her nasty husband. It was, by far, the best part of the movie and this story, expanded, would have made for a great film itself.
By the way, in one of the flashbacks you see the Baden family. While not listed in the credits or IMDB, the son, Bob, is played by Anthony Newley.
