Released 1956; 73 minutes (U.K.), 71 minutes (U.S.); B & W; 6572 feet; a Hammer Film Production; an Exclusive Films Release (U.K.), an Associated Film Releasing Corp. Release (U.S.); filmed at Bray Studios; Director: Elmo Williams; Producer: Anthony Hinds; Screenplay: Val Guest, Richard Landau, based on an original story by Richard Landau; Directors of Photography: Walter Harvey, William Whitley; Editor: James Needs; Music: Leonard Salzedo; Musical Director: John Hollingsworth; Art Director: John Elphick; Camera: Jimmy Harvey; Supervising Editor: William Rivol; Assistant Directors: Herbert Glazer, Jimmy Sangster; Production Manager: Bert Sternbach; Sound: Bill Sweeney; Makeup: Phil Leakey; Wardrobe: Molly Arbuthnot; Sound Recording System: Glen Glen Sound Co. U.S Title: Blonde Bait; U.K. Certificate: A.
Beverly Michaels (Angie Booth), Joan Rice (Cleo Thompson), Thora Hird (Granny Rafferty), Avril Angers (Bessie), Ralph Michael (Julian Ward), April Olrich (Marguerite), Gordon Jackson (Percy), Valerie White (Prison Governor), Jim Davis (Nick Randall—American version only), Richard Travis (Kent Foster—American version only), Paul Cavanagh (Inspector Hedges—American version only), Harry Lauter (Mark—American version only), David Lodge (Patrick), Hermione Baddeley (Grace), Bill Shine (“Lindbergh”), Paul Carpenter (Nick Randall—British version only), Sheila Burrell (Bates), John Welsh (Chaplain), Maurice Kaufman (Daniels), Eugene Deckers (Pietre), Muriel Young (Helen), Olwen Brookes (Hackett), Betty Cooper (Evans), Doris Gilmore (Loveland), Fanny Carby (Brooker), Yvonne Manners (Mason), Michael Golden (Barger), Anthony Miles (Civilian), Mark Kingston (Operator), Verne Morgan (Barrowman), Charles Saynor (Man at doorway), Toots Pound, Babs Love, Vi Stevens (Scrubbers), H. Westwater, Joan Harrison, Pat Edwards, Edna Lander (Carollers), Stratford John, Sidney Brahms, Douglas Argent (Revellers), Irene Richmond (Guard), George Roderick, Thomas Glen (Policemen), Margaret Flint (Hennessey), Valerie Fraser, Mona Lillian, Anne Loxley (Inmates), John Phillips, Oscar Nation, Katherine Feliaz, Pauline Winter.
State Department investigator Kent Foster (Richard Travis) flies into Washington, D.C., from London to give a full report concerning his latest mission. At State Department headquarters, he meets with fellow agent Mark (Harry Lauter) and the details of the case are laid out.
Working with Scotland Yard, Foster was on the trail of traitor-murderer Nick Randall (Jim Davis). It was known that Randall had been seeing American singer Angela Booth (Beverly Michaels). She had promised to marry him on New Year’s Eve, though she was not to see him until then. When Angela advised her manager Julian Ward (Ralph Michael) that she was leaving the show, Ward refused to let her break her contract and slapped her when she protested. Angela grabbed a hand mirror and struck him with it when he made another threatening move. Angela was arrested and sentenced to six months in prison for the assault.
New footage and added cast made the American version of Women Without Men unrecognizable from the original.
Realizing that Angela did not know Randall’s real nature, Foster allowed her to escape with the aid of a fellow prisoner named “Granny” (Thora Hird). Followed by police, Angela managed to meet Randall and realized that she had been duped by him. When Foster and the police closed in, Randall was shot and killed by Foster while trying to escape.
Foster ends his story and Mark asks if Angela ever overcame her difficulties. Foster responds by showing him the front page of a recent London newspaper announcing Angela’s upcoming Royal Command Performance.
Due to Hammer’s newfound interest in CinemaScope shorts, the company produced only one feature length film during 1955. Women Without Men was planned around recent Academy Award nominee (The High and the Mighty, 1954) Jan Sterling, but she turned it down in favor of a Hollywood “B” film, Women’s Prison. Anthony Hinds secured an Oscar winner to direct, though, when he signed Elmo Williams, who had edited High Noon (1952). The production began on March 28, with Beverly Michaels in the lead, and concluded on April 15. By December, The Quatermass Xperiment was breaking house records, and Hammer’s 1956 schedule was quickly reorganized to capitalize on its success. Two science fiction horror subjects were planned: X the Unknown and Quatermass 2, with more to follow. Women Without Men must have seemed outdated to the company before its release. A trade show was finally held on June 14, 1956, at the Hammer theatre. The film was to be distributed in America by Associated Film Releasing (as Blonde Bait), but prior to that release, several major changes were made. All of Paul Carpenter’s scenes were eliminated, and new footage was shot with Jim Davis in the lead as “Nick Randall.” Beverly Michaels was called back to appear with Davis and more new scenes were shot to tie it all together.
“Randall” was now a traitor and murderer who is killed by a fellow agent. “Angie’s” character was also altered—she leads the assassin to Nick! Neither version was enjoyed by the critics. The Monthly Film Bulletin (August 1956): “Stereotyped woman’s prison drama”; The Kinematograph Weekly (June 25): “A damp squib”; Variety (October 10): “For lower casing in the minor market”; and The Motion Picture Exhibitor (April 18): “Too much talk and too little action.” These reviews probably meant little to Hammer who, after the success of The Quatermass Xperiment, was finally finding its way.