The Flesh Is Weak is a 1957 British film directed by Don Chaffey. It stars John Derek and Milly Vitale. Distributors Corporation of America released the film in the USA as a double feature with Blonde in Bondage.
Plot
Tony Giani is a Soho pimp who preys on young provincial women who come to London seeking work. Marissa Cooper, one such girl, has just arrived in London. Giani spots her and offers her a job in the Golden Bucket, a nightclub. In her innocence, she does not realize the club is a front for prostitution. When she tries to escape from the pimp's control, she is set up by Giani and his brother Angelo and arrested by the police. Investigative journalist Lloyd Buxton persuades her to give evidence against the brothers leading to their imprisonment and her freedom.
Cast
John Derek as Tony Giani
Milly Vitale as Marissa Cooper
William Franklyn as Lloyd Buxton
Martin Benson as Angelo Giani
Freda Jackson as Trixie
Norman Wooland as Inspector Kingcombe
Harold Lang as Henry
Patricia Jessel as Millie
John Paul as Sergeant Franks
Denis Shaw as Saradine
Joe Robinson as Lofty
Roger Snowden as Benny
Patricia Plunkett as Doris Newman
Shirley Anne Field as Susan
Source: BFI
Production
The film was based on the Messina vice gang who operated in the West End of London. Its original title was Women of Night then Not for Love before being changed to The Flesh is Weak.
Reception
The film was a box office success - according to Variety it was the fourth highest grossing film in England. The movie is not listed in Kinematograph Weekly as one of the most popular British films of 1957 but that magazine did say the movie was "enjoying a triumphant West End run".
The reception to the film enabled the producer and director to raise finance for another movie, A Question of Adultery.