1,000 Convicts and a Woman Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.5

1,000 Convicts and a Woman Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov January 22, 2025

Ray Austin's "1,000 Convicts and a Woman" (1971) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the release include new audio commentary by Alexandra Hay biographer Dylan Dean Staley; new program on the making of the film; and vintage trailer. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

The schoolgirl

In a recent program, several men who contributed to 1,000 Convicts and a Woman declare that Ray Austin was a very pragmatic man and a director who always knew exactly what he wanted. It is why during the filming of 1,000 Convicts and a Woman Austin apparently gave very particular instructions and even avoided a major disaster by insisting that a certain dangerous jump is done his way.

There is no doubt in my mind that these men speak the truth because 1,000 Convicts and a Woman could not have turned out a leaner and more effective genre film, which is not how similar British genre projects were made. Lindsay Shonteff’s Permissive, completed a year earlier, is an excellent example. It works with different material but aims to entertain exactly like 1,000 Convicts and a Woman. However, it does so by doing the opposite of everything 1,000 Convicts and a Woman does. As a result, despite being part of the same British trend, 1,000 Convicts and a Woman and Permissive look like drastically different films.

The British trend mentioned above was legitimizing exploitation films and sending them to compete with the mainstream films seen abroad. It was initiated with the famous ‘kitchen sink’ dramas that initially showed more violence and later more intimate material. The exploitation films went further with both, but eventually, sex became the dominant theme in both.

In 1,000 Convicts and a Woman, sex is the dominant theme, and it is very obvious that Austin shot it in a way that made it easy to screen with mainstream films. This is why 1,000 Convicts and a Woman is not an explicit film. It is a melodrama, often revealing a distinctly British sense of humor, that a dishonest critic or distributor can defend as a film with a meaningful message.

The star of 1,000 Convicts and a Woman is American actress Alexandra Hay, who is best remembered for her contribution to Stanley Kramer’s Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. Hay plays Angela, a young girl who returns home to England after spending several years in Boston, Massachusetts, attending a local university. Angela has not seen her father, a prison superintendent, since her departure, so at the airport, she is picked up by a prisoner-turned-personal chauffeur and taken straight to him. During the next several weeks, Angela makes everyone but her clueless father realizes that the college in Boston has transformed her into a shameless nymphomaniac.

The big lesson that emerges from 1,000 Convicts and a Woman is an old one. If you play with fire, eventually you will get burned. But this lesson is largely meaningless because it exists only so that it gives the dishonest critic and distributor the excuse to claim that 1,000 Convicts and a Woman is more than an exploitation film. Also, it is a meaningless lesson because anyone can see that Angela is heading down a familiar path ending at a very familiar location.

However, as strange as it may seem, this is why 1,000 Convicts and a Woman is an entertaining film. It is, like its star, a teaser that eventually runs out of tricks. It is also a dated teaser with a certain old-fashioned charm that is forever gone. It is naughty but not dirty, it is suggestive but quite funny. It is a bad film but, well, pretty entertaining, too. They just don’t make them like this anymore. Contemporary exploitation films always go overboard with everything that is supposed to make them attractive, and instead of using charismatic stars, they use computer specialists to create the thrills that ought to make them memorable.

1,000 Convicts and a Woman Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, 1,000 Convicts and a Woman arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

This film must have been remastered fairly recently because it looks lovely in high-definition. It does have a few darker sequences with noticeable density fluctuations, but the overall quality of the visuals ranges from very good to occasionally excellent. I was quite impressed because it is easy to tell that it was not shot with a massive budget and in a few areas the filmmakers simply made the best they could. There are no traces of problematic digital corrections. Color reproduction and balance are very convincing. A few supporting nuances can be slightly richer, but I did not see any troubling inconsistencies or anomalies. Image stability is good. The entire film looks healthy as well. My score is 4.25/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

1,000 Convicts and a Woman Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The audio is clean, stable, and easy to follow. Dynamic intensity is modest, but excluding the excellent song that is heard in the beginning of the film, there isn't any interesting or effective music to create good contrasts. The upper register is solid. I did not notice any thinning and instability to mention in our review. Perhaps balance can be strengthened in a few areas, but these would be cosmetic improvements.

1,000 Convicts and a Woman Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary - in this exclusive new audio commentary, Alexandra Hay biographer Dylan Dean Staley highlights several interesting details about the star of 1,000 Convicts and a Woman, such as the fact that her last name, Thorne, has a special meaning, and she wears a choker that has appeared in other films; and discusses Hay's career (her first major role was in this film); the film's production, tone and sense of humor; the effectiveness of the sexual overtones/teasing games, etc. More importantly, the commentary utilizes various clips from interesting archival interviews with director Ray Austin, who explains exactly how the film was put together, and Neil Hallett, who plays Hay's father.

• Having Fun Playing Games - in this new program, takes a closer look at the career and working methods of director Ray Austin and the production of 1,000 Convicts and a Woman. Included in it are clips from recent interviews with first assistant director Graham Fowler, actors Paul Weston and Dinny Powell, and assistant director Nicholas Granby. The program was produced by James McCabe. In English, not subtitled. (19 min).

• Trailer - presented here is a vintage trailer for 1,000 Convicts and a Woman. In English, not subtitled. (2 min).

• Cover - reversible cover with vintage poster art for 1,000 Convicts and a Woman.

1,000 Convicts and a Woman Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The British Film Institute's Flipside series gathers many films like Ray Austin's 1,000 Convicts and a Woman. All of them are very, very dated films, but this is what makes them attractive and interesting because they are reflective of old trends and standards that allowed filmmakers to be creative in special ways. I love discovering such films, and even when they do not work as they should, I enjoy them. 1,000 Convicts and a Woman is a teaser with a distinctly British sense of humor, so if seen at the right time, it can be pretty effective. It looks very good on Blu-ray, too. RECOMMENDED.