Friday 6 June 2014

Jail Bait (3½ Stars)


Don Gregor is a young man from a good family. His father is a highly successful plastic surgeon. He lacks nothing that he needs, but he falls in with the wrong crowd. He makes friends with Vic Brady, a petty thief, and accompanies him on robberies. Things go well until Don shoots a security guard. Don is plagued by his conscience and wants to give himself in, but Vic won't allow it.

Compared with Ed Wood's other films this is very conventional. No flying saucers, no vampires, no monsters, and not even men in women's clothing. Among the actors are several of Ed Wood's regulars, including Lyle Talbot as the police inspector and Dolores Fuller as Don's sister. A typical Ed-Wood-ism is his lack of understanding of Roman numerals. The film was made in 1954, but the year on the splash screen is MCMXCI. That wasn't the biggest mistake he made in his films. He wasn't as bad a director as many people claim, but this film isn't his best.

The title refers to guns. The thought behind it is that if you carry a gun you'll end up in jail. Too true.

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