Another Day, Another Doris Wishman movie, and we've arrived at 'Another Day, Another Man' an effort from 1966 thats billed as a 'Spiritual Successor' to 'Bad Girls Go To Hell'…and while I can kind of see the view for that, I wasnt quite as impressed with this one as i'd have liked to have been.

The films unusually more of a kitchen sink drama combined with Sexploitation elements than Doris' usual fodder as we follow 'Ann' and 'Tess'. Two roomates living very different lives, on the verge of a forking point.

Ann is an office worker who's engaged to a lovely, caring man named Steve. The film opens with Steve telling Ann that he requested a raise recently, and his boss has approved it! and better still theres a really good chance he could be full on promoted into an even better position, meaning even MORE money. He's essentially set for life and wants to take Ann with him on the journey, so he asks her to marry him.

Doing this unfortunately means that Ann would have to quit her job, and it means she'd be moving in with Steve, meaning her and Tess wouldnt be roomates anymore…But she's more than happy to do that to marry the man she loves, take up a steady life of House-wivery, and enjoy the pleasures of financial security.

Tess by contrast is in a bit of a bad way, she has an 'on/off' relationship with a crime kingpin called Bert, and Berts more interested in what Tess can earn for HIM, than on what HE can do for her…Berts trade is in the worlds oldest profession. He's essentially a pimp. and Tess is one of his 'best girls'…But she isnt as keen on the 'scene' anymore and on seeing how happy Ann is with Steve, she begins to consider settling down.

Things however take a turn for the worst, when Steve falls ill, and is required to stay in bed on a strict medication ritual for 5-6 months. Unable to work, Ann finds herself trapped in the situation, as she is unable to get her old job back, and needs to really be present during the days to keep Steves medications and care on track.

Eventually, Ann winds up at Berts door, and he pairs her up with Tess to help show Ann 'the ropes'…But things start to get overly complicated for Tess, as the dark underbelly of sex work, and the increasing realisation that, not only has she found herself trapped in a life that doesnt have a happy ending, but she may have pulled Ann into it as well, becomes all too much to bear…

And I will say, I quite enjoyed this one, much like the other 'roughies' Wishman was releasing around this time, I cant say im overly smitten with it, but I do think this is probably one of her more grounded pieces, as the script really pulls the audience through the dark and seedy world of organised sex trafficking, and how desperation can ruin and destroy peoples lives.

Once again, we have a script that moves at a good clip, has a decent, solid three act structure, has decently written characters that I actually care about and am invested in, who get a really solid turn of character development across the runtime, really helping bring the scenario to life. The dialogue in this is very nicely handled, the tone overall is grimey, seedy and very engaging in terms of keeping thge audience where it needs to be. I dont think I quite 'vibed' with this one, but that isnt to say its a bad script, I just found it maybe floundered a little bit in places, and maybe didnt quite go far enough in its conclusions…But otherwise this was a perfectly fine piece.

The direction here is largely solid, Wishman has a clear vision for how she wanted this film to play out and theres definitely some moments within the sequence and world building, that I would say rank amongst some of her best ideations…

But there is a noticeable number of, what im assuming is, bad cuts, film 'ends' and weird outtakes for lack of a better descriptive. there are a handful of directoral choices here where the camera will cut to a shot of the actress in a 'mid head shot' and the camera will then just crash into her boobs…this is while the characters are talking, and theres no real reason or justification for why the shot does that…its almost like the camera just. Fell forward, into their boobs…and they left it in the final cut.

Theres also lingering shots of just the actresses legs, which would be fine during dialogue scenes…but they arnt framed right. Its like someone left the camera on a chair, on a wonk, while it was still running, and then when it came to the final edit…again, they just somehow left the shot in. Additionally; the final 5 minutes have multiple moments where it seems like the camera ran out of film mid shot as it flashes to white, or jumpcuts to an outtake of the cam op walking with the camera towards the next shot setup…again, theres no intention in that happening…the film just…does that. for some reason…

Outside of those instances though the cine itself is relatively solid, giving a rough and ready handheld approach that I feel suits the requirements for something quite as bleak and grimy as the subject of this film. Its imperfect, but does have its moments.

Performance wise, I feel Barbara Kemp and Mary O'Hara as Ann and Tess are solid leading ladies, they both give performances that swing wildly between over the top campy fun, and actually quite considered introspective performances that actually do pull the audience into their troubles, and really give the audience something to chew over. I really liked them in this.

Credit must also be given to Sam Stewart as Bert, who manages to give a wonderfully cruel performance as the head of the crime organisation, and an unpleasant partner to Tess. He doesnt get as much screentime as I personally would have liked, but I very much enjoyed what I saw, his physical performance didnt inherently scream 'hardened criminal' to me, but his line deliveries combined with his 'look' really pay off.

And…it wouldnt be a Doris Wishman film without the obligatory mention that a significant chunk of this film was shot in Doris's apartment (I feel I know the floor plan off by heart at this point), that the soundtrack is largely library tracks (Syd Dales back again, much to my delight) and that…whether intentional or not, I feel it cant be missed that randomly in the middle of this film, via flashback, we get a cameo from Gigi Darlene, who played the lead character 'Meg' in 'Bad Girls Go To Hell'. appearing (apparently via archive footage) AS Meg. With the flashback indicating that, at some point in her journey…whether its part of her 'main film' fever dream, or something that happened post credits, she ends up on the run again, ends up at Berts place, where she's put out as a sex worker, and eventually flee's Berts world to try and find a new start…I assume this was because 'Bad Girls' did well, and Wishman wanted to capitalise on it…But its still surreal that the film detours into that…just because it can…Appreciated, but an odd turn.

All in all? I enjoyed 'Another Day, Another Man'. its a fine enough kitchen sink piece about crimes seedy seedy underbelly. But; while theres a lot of really good and solid things about this film. Theres enough here to hold it back from really truly being exceptional, and that combined with the fact that I just didnt truly out and out LOVE it. means that I can absolutely appreciate it, i'll very likely revisit it some day. But I cant say its my favourite Wishman piece. I'll recommend it as another 'Upper-middle of the pack' Doris Wishman film. But broadly speaking, its not worth actively hunting down.

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/another-day-another-man/