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Girls in Prison
DVD/APPROX. 90 MINS/1956/USA PG
DVD/APPROX. 90 MINS/1956/USA PG
7.5
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Ahhh yesssss, the Women in Prison genre… so close to every exploitation fan's heart, (or other anatomical region as the case may be). Here we
have one of its distant ancestors, 1956's “Girls in Prison”. Given a release by DV1, they describe it thusly:
Sentenced to prison for her part in a bank heist, 21 year-old Anne Carson finds herself locked up in a cell with three deceptively beautiful inmates;
Jenny, a prison hardened hellcat, the manipulative sweet-talking Malanee and the mentally unstable Dorothy. But when word spreads that Anne
may be the only person with knowledge of the where-a-bouts of the stolen loot, she becomes a target for every glamorously manicured prison
bitch locked up in the big-house.
With her pleas of innocence falling on deaf ears, the only ally Anne can find is the prison Chaplin, whose own motives are as murky as the storm
clouds overhead. And with dangers mounting around every corner, no-one could anticipate the shocking earthquake that will change their lives
forever.
Now remember, this is from 1956 so its much more soap opera than sleazefest. Just the implication that some of these women might be lesbians
was probably more shocking in its day than seeing Sybil Danning going at it with Linda Blair in Chained Heat was for me. In other words, some
folk may find this seriously dull. Others with an interest in older films and genre history however will find lots to like here.
The cast is solid and includes Richard Denning (Creature from the Black Lagoon, Day the World Ended), Joan Taylor, Adele Jergens and Lance
Fuller (This Island Earth) giving good performances in the lead roles. The supporting cast is full of faces familiar from B movies and TV.
Director Edward L. Cahn keeps things moving along nicely and handles the low budget well. This was his 44th film in the director's chair and he
could probably do them in his sleep by this point. He's probably more familiar to visitors to this site for films like The She Creature, (one of my
favourite 50s creature features), It the Terror from Beyond Space and Invisible Invaders. Writer Lou Rusoff, (probably best known for the cult
classic It Conquered the World), gives him a decent enough script to work from with a twist that while cliché now was certainly uncommon in it's
time and wasn't what I was expecting in a film of its era.
Being a budget release of a public domain film there aren't any extras but it's rare these kinds of films have any. The print quality is pretty good,
better than many discount releases.
This is an enjoyable walk down memory lane for those who remember these films from their runs on television back before the days of infomercials.
And those interested in the roots of one of the more popular exploitation genres will find this worth their time as well. Others may find it to tame to
hold their interest. But for those who like the older films it's recommended.
have one of its distant ancestors, 1956's “Girls in Prison”. Given a release by DV1, they describe it thusly:
Sentenced to prison for her part in a bank heist, 21 year-old Anne Carson finds herself locked up in a cell with three deceptively beautiful inmates;
Jenny, a prison hardened hellcat, the manipulative sweet-talking Malanee and the mentally unstable Dorothy. But when word spreads that Anne
may be the only person with knowledge of the where-a-bouts of the stolen loot, she becomes a target for every glamorously manicured prison
bitch locked up in the big-house.
With her pleas of innocence falling on deaf ears, the only ally Anne can find is the prison Chaplin, whose own motives are as murky as the storm
clouds overhead. And with dangers mounting around every corner, no-one could anticipate the shocking earthquake that will change their lives
forever.
Now remember, this is from 1956 so its much more soap opera than sleazefest. Just the implication that some of these women might be lesbians
was probably more shocking in its day than seeing Sybil Danning going at it with Linda Blair in Chained Heat was for me. In other words, some
folk may find this seriously dull. Others with an interest in older films and genre history however will find lots to like here.
The cast is solid and includes Richard Denning (Creature from the Black Lagoon, Day the World Ended), Joan Taylor, Adele Jergens and Lance
Fuller (This Island Earth) giving good performances in the lead roles. The supporting cast is full of faces familiar from B movies and TV.
Director Edward L. Cahn keeps things moving along nicely and handles the low budget well. This was his 44th film in the director's chair and he
could probably do them in his sleep by this point. He's probably more familiar to visitors to this site for films like The She Creature, (one of my
favourite 50s creature features), It the Terror from Beyond Space and Invisible Invaders. Writer Lou Rusoff, (probably best known for the cult
classic It Conquered the World), gives him a decent enough script to work from with a twist that while cliché now was certainly uncommon in it's
time and wasn't what I was expecting in a film of its era.
Being a budget release of a public domain film there aren't any extras but it's rare these kinds of films have any. The print quality is pretty good,
better than many discount releases.
This is an enjoyable walk down memory lane for those who remember these films from their runs on television back before the days of infomercials.
And those interested in the roots of one of the more popular exploitation genres will find this worth their time as well. Others may find it to tame to
hold their interest. But for those who like the older films it's recommended.
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