British Noir Double Feature – The Slasher/Twilight Women

THE SLASHER (Cosh Boy): A swift moving, no punches pulled exposé set in London’s tenement district, with a ruthless teenager (James Kenney, reprising his stage role) blackjacking an old woman to get her purse, and “graduating” to gang leader whose young cutthroats spread terror over the entire city. At the start of her “bad girl” career, Joan Collins is the girl he loves and leaves, with tragic results. A controversial motion picture in its era and still potent today. Based on the play, “Master Crook.” 1952 | 75 min | B&W |1.33:1 | NR

TWILIGHT WOMEN (Women of Twilight/Another Chance): Originating on the London stage, this hard-hitting tale is set at a boarding house-haven for unmarried mothers, owned by a woman (Freda Jackson) whose outward show of upstanding character hides her true personality: a fiend who abuses the women and farms out their babies! Madness, squalor, bedbugs and a dead baby add to the atmosphere of shock. Lois Maxwell (James Bond’s Miss Moneypenny) and Laurence Harvey co-star.  1953 | 89 min | B&W | 1.37:1 | NR