Jail Bait ** (1954, Timothy Farrell, Lyle Talbot, Steve Reeves, Dolores Fuller, Herbert Rawlinson, Clancy Malone) – Classic Movie Review 5,169

Edward D Wood Jr strikes again in the 1954 film noir thriller Jail Bait starring Timothy Farrell as gangster Vic Brady, who blackmails a plastic surgeon (Herbert Rawlinson) into giving him a new face to evade the law.

‘Plastic surgery, at times, seems to me to be very, very complicated.’ – plastic surgeon Dr Boris Gregor (Herbert Rawlinson).

Director Edward D Wood Jr strikes again in the 1954 American film noir thriller Jail Bait starring Timothy Farrell, Lyle Talbot, Steve Reeves, Dolores Fuller, Herbert Rawlinson and Clancy Malone.

Timothy Farrell stars as dangerous gangster crook Vic Brady, who gets his girl Marilyn (Dolores Fuller)’s famous plastic surgeon father Dr Boris Gregor (Herbert Rawlinson) to give him a new face in order to escape the law. Clancy Malone also stars as the plastic surgeon’s delinquent son, involved with the gangster, and arrested for carrying an unlicensed handgun.

Transvestite film director Edward D Wood Jr casts muscleman Steve Reeves (in his movie debut) as a police detective called Lieutenant Bob Lawrence, in his shamelessly exploitative and desperately cheap, no-talent movie. Most notably in the cast, Lyle Talbot plays Inspector Johns, Herbert Rawlinson plays plastic surgeon Dr Boris Gregor, Clancy Malone plays Dr Gregor’s son Don Gregor, and Dolores Fuller plays Dr Gregor’s daughter Marilyn Gregor.

Though its dialogue, acting, direction and score are impressively bad, it is a tiny, tiny bit better made than Wood Jr’s ultimate so bad it’s good movie Plan 9 from Outer Space (1956), alas. But it is still funny and enjoyable nonetheless.

The script is by Ed Wood and Alex Gordon. The score by Hoyt Curtin was previously used in Mesa of Lost Women (1953).

The film is produced by Howco, owned by Joy Newton Houck Sr and J Francis White, also the owners of a chain of Southern US cinemas.

Reeves was up for the lead in Samson and Delilah (1949), but refused to lose about 15 lb of his musculature to have a chance at the role. Just before Jail Bait, he previously appeared uncredited as an Olympic Team Member in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.

Clancy Malone was a grocery store delivery boy and this was his only role. It is also model and radio star Theodora Thurman’s only film.

Dr Gregor was planned for Bela Lugosi, but silent film star Herbert Rawlinson took over. He died from lung cancer the night after the shoot.

Edward Davis Wood Jr (October 10, 1924 – December 10, 1978)

Ed Wood was little known until he was posthumously awarded a Golden Turkey Award for Worst Director of All Time in 1980.

The cast

The cast are Lyle Talbot as Inspector Johns, Steve Reeves as Lieutenant Bob Lawrence, Herbert Rawlinson as Dr Boris Gregor, Clancy Malone as Don Gregor, Dolores Fuller as Marilyn Gregor, Timothy Farrell as Vic Brady, Theodora Thurman as Loretta, Bud Osborne as Paul McKenna, Mona McKinnon as Miss Willis, La Vada Simmons as Miss Lytell, Regina Claire as newspaper reporter, John Robert Martin as Detective McCall, Don Nagel as Detective Dennis, and John Avery as a Police Doctor.

© Derek Winnert 2017 Classic Movie Review 5,169

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com

Steve Reeves makes his feature debut as Lieutenant Bob Lawrence.