Nel tuo corpo l'inferno

TREAD SOFTLY STRANGER is a tense and immersive British film noir featuring a headlining performance from Diana Dors at her most sultry and alluring. The story is a basic love triangle compounded by money worries, which lead to robbery and murder, all set within a grim and run-down northern industrial town. The opening scenes, which show off a fabulous and elaborate rooftop location complimented by Dors and her morning exercise routines, are great and racy stuff indeed.

I always feel that when a British B-movie thriller gets everything right then it's head and shoulders above rival American fare and that's the case here. This tale was originally adapted from a play but the cinematic version gets everything right and in particular the cast is a fine one.

Dors obviously holds the attention with her bombshell performance, but the real star of the thing is the underrated Terence Morgan (CURSE OF THE MUMMY'S TOMB) who propped up many a B-movie with his villainous turns. He has more depth to his character than usual and does very well with it. George Baker - TV's Inspector Wexford - plays the straight role and is very nearly as good, and a young Patrick Allen rounds off the cast.

George Baker and Terrence Morgan play the Mansell Brothers about as different as brothers can get. Baker has gone to London where his gambling has put him in debt with some bad people. He decides to go home to his north of England factory town and hole up there for a bit.

Where he's reunited with his rather dull brother Morgan who is a bookkeeper in a factory. His life is enlivened by the presence of Diana Dors who is one high maintenance indulgence for him. But pretty soon she also has Baker's wheels spinning too.

Because she's so high maintenance Morgan is short in his accounts at the factory and an audit is coming. Baker's and Dors's solution is rob the place to cover the theft and incidentally pay off the nasty people Baker owes.

For all his worldliness Baker himself is no professional criminal so when the Mansell Brothers go out to steal everything goes wrong.

Diana Dors was the United Kingdom's answer to Marilyn Monroe. But Monroe even in her most voluptuous role in Niagara had nothing on Diana Dors in Tread Softly Stranger. One look at her you see why Baker and Morgan were goners.

Tread Softly Stranger is worth seeing for one sexy bundle from Britain named Diana Dors.

This is a film noir crime drama about a slutty femme fatale who manipulates her partner and his brother into committing a robbery at her partner's workplace.

The story is good, as is the acting. However, the lack of Yorkshire accents in characters who are from working-class / underclass backgrounds is a major flaw. It's unbelievable that Diana Dors' very glamorous character would choose to live in poverty with a man whom she's not fond of.

There's no indication of how the film's title relates to the events and characters within it.

... she's not only so sexy (enjoy her first shot), but she plays well a sensitive young woman, Calico, lost between two brothers : she first was close to Dave (a fragile employee losing his temper to conquer the sweet sexy Calico) but eveything changes when tough Johnny arrives (kind of adventurer, handsome man never losing his temper, he makes me think of Ray Danton). The problem of this movie is Dave's character, always yelling when he panics, neighbours must have heard eveything about stealing and murder, and this is a major fault of the script and direction. But Diana Dors is the main attraction of the movie and the ending is especially gripping. Patrick Allen is also great as a determined parent's victim. With more work in the script and direction, it could have been a better movie, but is still entertaining.

The stunningly beautiful Diana Dors gets involved with two brothers in "Tread Softly Stranger," a 1958 British 'B' movie. It's on a set of six films called "British Cinema," and it's by far the best of the lot.

Dors is Calico, a real slut, albeit a gorgeous one, who is hanging out with a nerdy office worker, Dave Mansell (Terence Mansell), an accountant in a nearby factory. Then his brother Johnny (George Baker), a handsome con man running away from a bad debt, comes to town. Calico quickly switches allegiance, but keeps her options open. When Johnny finds out that Dave is 300 pounds short in the accounts because of embezzling to buy Calico gifts, he decides to hock the watch Dave gave Calico, add his own money to it, and gamble on a sure thing. With an impending audit coming up, there isn't much time to replace the money.

Unfortunately, Calico has another idea. While Johnny is at the race track and winning, Calico convinces Dave that Johnny isn't coming back and insists that he just rob the factory of all its money - that way, the shortfall won't show up. She promises Dave that if he does it, she will go away with him. Turns into a real mess.

This is a very suspenseful story, very dark and loaded with atmosphere. One gets the feeling of a small, crummy factory town. The acting is good; Dors is a knockout. Definitely work seeing.