Girls in Prison (1956)

not horrible nor great

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

All the performances were excellent in this movie, except maybe the head prison matron played by film veteran Jane Darwell. This film was exciting from the first moment with a very early rock 'n roll song TOM'S BEAT to the last scene. Prison scams, girl fights, threats of violence at every corner, a prison break, lesbianism, all adds up to an entertaining film. Stand-out performance by Adele Jergens as a gun moll.

Going by the title and the cover, I was expecting a straight-up Girls-In-Prison flick (duh!), but this film seems less concerned with daily prison life than with the plot that has several characters, operating in & out of prison, looking for the still-missing loot of the bank robbery which got the heroine, Joan Taylor, in prison in the first place. Everybody thinks that she has the money hidden somewhere and....spoilers follow....everybody is right! That's quite a twist on most pictures of this kind: the innocent-looking heroine thrown into the cesspool is actually guilty! But don't worry, there's a kind preacher there to help her regain her conscience. The film does have some prototypical elements of WIP movies (including a very short and shot from a great distance mud fight that reminded me of Roberta Collins vs. Pam Grier in "The Big Doll House"), and there are subtle but unmistakable clues that Helen Gilbert's character is a lesbian who gets angry at Taylor for rejecting her. There is also an earthquake sequence, pretty well-done, and an IMPRESSIVE stunt of a woman climbing onto the back of a moving truck and then getting thrown on the ground. It's too bad that between these moments the film is actually quite boring. (**)

For those of you that enjoy mindless but fascinating "theme" movies of the '50s, then this one is for you. Adele Jergens steals the film as the prison bully that befriends Ann. The best scene is at the end of the film where Richard Denning, a minister that was a star boxing champ at college mind you, dukes it out with the bad guy. There's an earthquake (makes no sense) and a windstorm. For highlights on the making of the film, check out American International's producer/founder Sam Arkoff's book, "Flying Through Hollywood by the Seat of My Pants," and he'll explain the reasons for the natural disasters. Overall the film is interesting, since it makes you wonder how the prison women manage not a hair out of place or smeared makeup after the fights. Cute stuff.

Less-than-thrilling, the film drags but the ending is goofy enough to make it possibly worthwhile. Features earthquakes that come from nowhere, a boxing preacher, and girls in prison who seem not to have been quite locked up. Trouble ensues.