Jail Bait

Jail Bait (1954)

Danger! These girls are hot!

Don Gregor, the son of famous plastic surgeon Dr. Boris Gregor, begins to hang around with young criminal Vic Brady and carry a gun. The pair attempt an armed holdup, and when things start to go wrong Gregor accidentally kills a night watchman. Fearing that Gregor plans to turn himself in, Brady kills him and blackmails Dr. Gregor into giving him a new face.

Date of release
1954-05-12
TMDB
3.8 / 10 (53)
Runtime
1h 14m
Genres
Crime, Thriller
Director
Edward D. Wood Jr.

Casting

Interesting facts

  • Filmed in: California

Jail Bait is a 1954 American film noir directed by Ed Wood, with a screenplay by Wood and Alex Gordon. The film stars Clancy Malone as the delinquent son of a famous doctor, and his involvement with a dangerous criminal. Famed bodybuilder Steve Reeves made his first major screen appearance in the film, and it was one of the few films he made using his own voice. The film belongs to the film noir genre, and contains themes typical of it such as plastic surgery and identity theft.

Production notes

Jail Bait is set in Southern California, though this does not translate to the abundance of sunlight which is typically associated with the location. The action of the film takes place over several weeks, but "always at night". This perpetual night and darkness gives the film an "otherworldly ambience".

The script of the film was co-written by Ed Wood and Alex Gordon. The narrative of the film has a tighter structure and a more coherent storyline than Wood's other known films, elements which Rob Craig suggests were the contributions of Gordon to the story. The music of the film was composed by Hoyt Curtin and previously used in the film Mesa of Lost Women (1953).

The film was produced by Howco, a production company co-owned by Joy Newton Houck Sr. and J. Francis White. They were also the owners of their own chain of movie theaters in the Southern United States. According to the recollections of George Weiss, the producers took advantage of Wood. In exchange for the film's modest budget, Wood agreed to quit any demands on the film's box office earnings.

Clancy Malone was actually a delivery boy for a grocery store before he expressed interest to Wood about becoming an actor. As such, this was his first and only role. The role of Dr. Gregor was originally intended for Bela Lugosi, but went to Herbert Rawlinson instead. Like Lugosi, Herbert Rawlinson was a seasoned actor who had seen better days. He was a leading man of the silent film and his career had lasted for about 40 years.

The performance of Cotton Watts in some film prints was not filmed by Wood. The production company used film footage from one of Watts' stage shows to lengthen the film's running time. Watts was a white actor who performed in blackface at the nightclubs of Panama City Beach, Florida from 1947 to 1959.

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