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Your liking or not liking, or even your understanding of this film depends on where you see it.

In the version shown in England, the opening scene establishing the fact that Barbara Graham was a prostitute lasts for almost seven minutes. It shows Barbara getting dressed. It shows Barbara pulling the sheet off her John and heartily laughing at him as he tries to cover himself. And it shows her putting her fee into her handbag.

The closing scenes of the film merely show the cyanide pellets being placed in the bucket, then a few quick intercuts of white mist enveloping Barbara, and the reporter leaving the building: with everything over and done with in five minutes flat.

If you see this film in America, however, you will see the reverse of this. The opening scene lasts barely a minute. No laughing at John, no fees put into handbags. You would be hard pressed to puzzle out what Barbara was up to. Yet the ending, showing every single awful detail of what transpires lasts for over twenty five sickening minutes.