Format: 
Mono
Rating: 
Original release date: 1954
Video/DVD Release Date: 2/15/2000
UPC: 14381860122
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From All Movie Guide
The most curious aspect of Edward D. Wood Jr.'s Jail Bait is that it isn't as
gloriously awful as the rest of his films. The plot is a typical Wood melange of
portentiousness, stream-of-consciousness and hilarious illogic. Clancy Malone
plays the no-good son of famed plastic surgeon Herbert Rawlinson (it was the
last film appearance for this grand old veteran, whose movie career dated back
to 1909). Malone is killed during a botched robbery, but his accomplice Tim
Speril escapes. Hiding the truth of Malone's demise, Speril demands that
Rawlinson "change his face" in exchange for information as to the
whereabouts of the missing son. When Rawlinson discovers the truth, he exacts a
delicious revenge. Lyle Talbot, an Ed Wood "regular" costars as the
investigating police officer, while a young Steve Reeves is Talbot's assistant.
With no Bela Lugosi or Tor Johnson skulking about, Jail Bait must be regarded as
a "lesser" Wood effort. Hal Erickson
A year later Wood made Jail Bait (1954). This minor noir has
many of the Wood trademarks — rigid actors who seem more
like mannequins than people ("bits of business" seems to be a
foreign concept to the director); a pumped-up but misleading ad
campaign ("DANGER! These girls are hot!"); a bizarre score in
the form of relentless Spanish classical guitar music; stock Wood
players like Dolores Fuller, Timothy Farrell, Mona McKinnon,
and Lyle Talbot; and of course hokey dialogue ("Love … I don’t
think you know what love means.") This is also surely one of the
few films to give a credit to a lingerie company ("Chic &
Pandora").
The story is exploitation noir with romantic interludes. It seems
Don (Clancy Malone), the son of "world-famous plastic surgeon"
Dr. McGregor (Herbert Rawlinson), is mixed up with gangster Vin
Brady (Timothy Farrell). During a bungled robbery, Don shoots an
old security guard. Repentant, he plans to go to the police, but is
killed by Vin. Without being too specific, lets just say a
posthumous revenge is exacted through the miracle of plastic
surgery.
Released by Howco (a low-budget company slightly more
respectable than Wood’s usual), the film is less interesting than his
other work in part because it’s simply too straightforward and
coherent. There’s none of that rushed, ragged feel of Plan 9 or
Glen or Glenda, where the narrative is skewered with strange,
seemingly unrelated interludes that make these works compulsively
watchable as we await the next surprise. Inevitably, there are
Wood touches. One amusing one occurs when Steve Reeves (in
his first film) walks through the police station with his shirt off, and
is castigated by his superior for not shaving at home. Reeves is
practically catatonic here and throughout, staring fixedly at
something the audience can’t see and, in classic Wood style,
seeming to have little to do, physically or in any regard, with the
other actors. (He doesn’t even look at Lyle Talbot during their
dialogue exchanges.)
