The Flesh Is Weak

John Derek is the seedy "Tony Giani" who promises attractive girls newly arrived in London a good job with prospects. Of course, there is no such thing as a free lunch and pretty soon they discover these promises are pretty hollow - and come at quite a cost. "Marissa" (Milly Vitale) is one such vulnerable, who quickly befriends the beguiling "Giani". He is clever. He allows her to fall for him, then when he claims to need cash to save him from prison, she starts to meet his "friends". Although she is naive and innocent, neither character here is very likeable - indeed as the thing trudges on (the pace is really stodgy), I began to feel that they deserved each other and their respective fates. It's dialogue heavy, and most of the narrative has to be implied rather than defined - and that becomes a bit wearisome after a while. I can readily imagine a fellow at Soho Square with a razor blade, on tenterhooks for much of the 90 minutes this takes to avoid saying what we all know it's saying. It's odd to see Derek cast like this, it is certainly not his normal persona, but sadly that's the only thing I'd say is notable about this depressingly plodding film.