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Girls in Prison / Hot Rod Girl; July, 1956
Topic Started: Jan 7 2018, 10:02 AM (144 Views)
Laughing Gravy
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Girls in Prison (1956) Dir. Edward L. Cahn
A Golden State Production
Distributed by American-International Pictures
87 min. / B&W / 1.85:1

Hot Rod Girl (1956) Dir. Leslie H. Martinson
A Nacirema Production
Distributed by American-International Pictures
79 min. / B&W / 1.37:1

Yes, it's time to take the ol' Balcony Way-Back machine to an actual 1950s double-feature presentation, this time looking in on hot cars, hot girls, and... um... hot buttered popcorn.

First up it's the thrill-a-minute she-shocker Girls in Prison, a film with which I'm intimately acquainted, inasmuch as I own a complete set of original lobby cards, c'mon over and I'll show you.

After a rockin' nightclub opening that has nothing whatsoever to do with the rest of the film (and in best AIP cheapie tradition, the "night club" set has curtains over the back walls, a few tables, and a few balloons for swank decorations), Joan Taylor is sent to prison. Seems she helped her boyfriend and one of his buddies steal $38,000. The boyfriend was shot dead, the buddy has vanished, and Joan - protesting her innocence all the way - was left to take the rap, ya git me? She's in the big house with just the best lookin' cellmates EVER, including Adele Jergens (the tough chick who can get ya whatever ya want from the outside, see); Phyllis Coates (what th' hell is Lois Lane doin' here?!?), who lost her husband, her baby and her mind; Laurie Mitchell, the young cutie from Attack of the Puppet People, and... uhhhh... Mae Marsh? What, now? The little sister from Birth of a Friggin' NATION?!??! Yep, it's her, alrighty. She plays the oldest lady in prison (no kidding) and it's actually a good part. Good for her. Raymond Hatton plays Joan's old, sick papa who is not very sick, just lazy, and it's a good part for him, too. So bring your grandparents to this one, it'll be a nostalgia trip for them.

In any case, Richard Denning is the young prison minister who believes Joan when she professes her innocence, and tries to protect her from the ravenous she-wolves who want to force her to reveal where she's hid the loot.

For you fans of exploitation, there's a dance one night with just the girls (and the prison guards, none of whom are armed and all of whom dress like elementary school cafeteria ladies, nodding appreciatively). And Lance Fuller shows up, he's the crummy buddy who tortures Raymond Hatton to get him to force his daughter to spill her guts about the loot she says she hasn't got (the plot's a little complicated). And Ed Cobb, proving my theory that he was in virtually every film every made, plays a cop in this one.

Million dollar dialog:
Joan to a cellmate who's just taken two slugs point-blank in the back: "You're not hurt bad."

Prisoner to her cellmate: "Funny how scum like us think alike."

Mr. Hatton, who'd been in movies for decades: "They just don't make pictures like they used to!"

Not available stateside, Girls in Prison can be found on the Arkoff Archives DVDs I worked on in England years ago.

Next up was a trip to the concession stand for some Grape Nehi and a pack of Necco Wafers, and then back to our seats for a Mr. Magoo cartoon (Spellbound Hound, Magoo mistakes a dog looking for an escaped convict as a fishing buddy of his, not too funny) and coming attractions for an upcoming double-feature, Runaway Daughters and Shake, Rattle and Rock (Wow-de-wow-wow!) and then our second feature started.

Clean-cut (and very tall) cop Chuck Connors(!) encourages the kids to keep their drag racing off the city streets and down at the licensed and sanctioned dragstrip, but tough guy Mark Andrews (bad attitude in a leather jacket) swings into town, he goads the kids into illegal activities, a couple of kids end up dead, he plays chicken with the Riddler, oh, all SORTS of awful things happen.

I'll be honest, sitting through a 90 min. opening feature made the second movie pretty draggy (no pun intended) and I wished I'd have brought somebody to make out with in the drive-in (lesson learned). I love AIP car/cycle movies of the 1950s and I know they'll get better but this is one of the weaker of 'em, despite Frank Gorshin in the cast (he plays Flattop, and the guy sure does a mean Cagney impression, I can tell you that). John Smith is our leading many, the nice-guy racer and mechanic, and he's as exciting as his name would indicate (interestingly, his real name is Bob Van Orden, but his agent thought "John Smith" would make him a novelty in the business. Uh-huh).

Million-dollar Dialog:
Young lady, told the cops are going to shut down the drag races: "They wouldn't dare! Why, my whole wardrobe is designed for hot rodding!"

Overall, it's an okay movie with too much time given to Chuck Connors and his cranky boss and not enough given to girls in hot rodding wardrobes. Lori Nelson went from Revenge of the Creature to this one, part of three straight cheap cult classics; she was also in Day the World Ended and Untamed Youth.

Hot Rod Girl (it says Hot-Rod Girl on the poster, we notice things like that) has fallen into the public domain and is available on virtually every hot rod compilation any PD DVD company ever released.

Not a bad double-feature, exactly, but more fun to make out to than to actually watch, for the most part. Of course, I believe that about MOST movies, so there you are.

"I'm glad that this question came up, because there are so many ways to answer it that one of them is bound to be right." - Robert Benchley
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