StudioCanal: New 4K Restorations of J. Lee Thompson's The Weak and the Wicked and No Trees in the Street Heading to Blu-ray
HomeStudioCanal: New 4K Restorations of J. Lee Thompson's The Weak and the Wicked and No Trees in the Street Heading to Blu-ray
Posted June 24, 2024 05:28 PM by Webmaster
StudioCanal have announced that they are preparing Blu-ray releases of two newly restored J. Lee Thompson films: The Weak and the Wicked (1958) and No Tress in the Street (1959). The two releases are scheduled to arrive on the market on August 5.
Description: STUDIOCANAL are delighted to announce the release of two compelling dramas from British director J. Lee Thompson (Ice Cold in Alex) into their Vintage Classics Collection featuring standout performances from two legendary and much-missed British actresses Glynis Johns and Sylvia Syms. THE WEAK AND THE WICKED stars the late Diana Dors (Yield to The Night) alongside Glynis Johns (Mary Poppins), and NO TREES IN THE STREET features Herbert Lom (The Pink Panther Strikes Again) and Melvyn Hayes (Summer Holiday) alongside Sylvia Syms (Woman in a Dressing Gown) in her BAFTA-nominated performance. Both films will premiere at Bristol's Cinema Rediscovered Festival (24-28 July).
Based on the best-selling book 'Who Lie in Gaol' about the autobiographical prison experiences of author Joan Henry, THE WEAK AND THE WICKED (1954) sympathetically tracks several female inmates throughout their imprisonment and subsequent return to society. The upper middle-class Jean (Glynis Johns), the brash Betty (Diana Dors) and the pregnant Pat (Rachel Roberts) reveal what brought them behind bars, each of their stories shown in a series of flashbacks. Jean's story shows how her gambling habit led her to incur a casino proprietor's wrath and subsequent framing of her for fraud. Jean bonds with her fellow inmates, which improves her ordeal, and is moved to an experimental open prison for the rest of her sentence.
Inspiring Jean's storyline, Joan Henry was a writer with a gambling problem who was sentenced to 12 months in prison for passing a fraudulent cheque, for which she claimed she was framed. She served 8 months at Holloway and the more liberal Askham Grange open prison. When Oscar and BAFTA nominated writer-director J. Lee Thompson (Yield To The Night, Tiger Bay, The Guns of Navarone) read her book, he was determined to make it in to a film, and subsequently wound up falling in love and marrying Joan. With Mary Poppins' star Glynis Johns cast as Jean, and Diana Dors as a brassier felon, filming of THE WEAK AND THE WICKED took place just weeks after Diana Dors made headlines in real life for being convicted of stealing alcohol from a friend's house.
Released 5 years later in 1959, tense crime thriller NO TREES IN THE STREET saw J. Lee Thompson move further towards social realism, as the British trend for the 'kitchen sink drama' began. Adapted by TV and theatre writer Ted Willis from his own stage play (his screenplay received a BAFTA nomination), Thompson cast Sylvia Syms as Hetty, a sweet young woman who desperately tries to stop her younger teenage brother Tommy (Melvyn Hayes) descending in to crime in the slums of pre-war East London, whilst Hetty's mother urges her to take up with Wilkie (Herbert Lom), a smooth local racketeer, in an attempt to raise the family out of poverty.
J. Lee Thompson, Sylvia Syms and Ted Willis had previously collaborated on the award-winning Woman in a Dressing Gown (1957) and Ice Cold in Alex (1958). Thompson and Willis worked with producer Frank Godwin to produce well-received films with strong female protagonists that pre-empted the British New wave by several years.
The Weak and the Wicked
Special Features and Technical Specs:
Special Features and Technical Specs:
Description: STUDIOCANAL are delighted to announce the release of two compelling dramas from British director J. Lee Thompson (Ice Cold in Alex) into their Vintage Classics Collection featuring standout performances from two legendary and much-missed British actresses Glynis Johns and Sylvia Syms. THE WEAK AND THE WICKED stars the late Diana Dors (Yield to The Night) alongside Glynis Johns (Mary Poppins), and NO TREES IN THE STREET features Herbert Lom (The Pink Panther Strikes Again) and Melvyn Hayes (Summer Holiday) alongside Sylvia Syms (Woman in a Dressing Gown) in her BAFTA-nominated performance. Both films will premiere at Bristol's Cinema Rediscovered Festival (24-28 July).
Based on the best-selling book 'Who Lie in Gaol' about the autobiographical prison experiences of author Joan Henry, THE WEAK AND THE WICKED (1954) sympathetically tracks several female inmates throughout their imprisonment and subsequent return to society. The upper middle-class Jean (Glynis Johns), the brash Betty (Diana Dors) and the pregnant Pat (Rachel Roberts) reveal what brought them behind bars, each of their stories shown in a series of flashbacks. Jean's story shows how her gambling habit led her to incur a casino proprietor's wrath and subsequent framing of her for fraud. Jean bonds with her fellow inmates, which improves her ordeal, and is moved to an experimental open prison for the rest of her sentence.
Inspiring Jean's storyline, Joan Henry was a writer with a gambling problem who was sentenced to 12 months in prison for passing a fraudulent cheque, for which she claimed she was framed. She served 8 months at Holloway and the more liberal Askham Grange open prison. When Oscar and BAFTA nominated writer-director J. Lee Thompson (Yield To The Night, Tiger Bay, The Guns of Navarone) read her book, he was determined to make it in to a film, and subsequently wound up falling in love and marrying Joan. With Mary Poppins' star Glynis Johns cast as Jean, and Diana Dors as a brassier felon, filming of THE WEAK AND THE WICKED took place just weeks after Diana Dors made headlines in real life for being convicted of stealing alcohol from a friend's house.
Released 5 years later in 1959, tense crime thriller NO TREES IN THE STREET saw J. Lee Thompson move further towards social realism, as the British trend for the 'kitchen sink drama' began. Adapted by TV and theatre writer Ted Willis from his own stage play (his screenplay received a BAFTA nomination), Thompson cast Sylvia Syms as Hetty, a sweet young woman who desperately tries to stop her younger teenage brother Tommy (Melvyn Hayes) descending in to crime in the slums of pre-war East London, whilst Hetty's mother urges her to take up with Wilkie (Herbert Lom), a smooth local racketeer, in an attempt to raise the family out of poverty.
J. Lee Thompson, Sylvia Syms and Ted Willis had previously collaborated on the award-winning Woman in a Dressing Gown (1957) and Ice Cold in Alex (1958). Thompson and Willis worked with producer Frank Godwin to produce well-received films with strong female protagonists that pre-empted the British New wave by several years.
The Weak and the Wicked
Special Features and Technical Specs:
- NEW 4K RESTORATION OF THE FILM
- NEW From Entrapment to Matthew Sweet in conversation
- NEW From Book to Film: Melanie Williams on Joan Henry
- Behind the Scenes Stills Gallery
- Original Trailer
- Optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature
Special Features and Technical Specs:
- NEW 4K RESTORATION OF THE FILM
- NEW The Highs and Lows of Kennedy Matthew Sweet on No Trees in the Street
- NEW Passion & Poverty: An interview with Melanie Williams
- NEW Melvyn Hayes on No Trees in the Street
- Behind the Scenes Stills Gallery
- Original Trailer
- Optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature