Product Details

• Actors: John Avery (III), Henry Bederski, Ted Brooks (III), Conrad Brooks, Regina Claire
• Format: Black & White, EP, HiFi Sound, Original recording reissued, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Wea Corp
• VHS Release Date: June 1, 1999
• Run Time: 72 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6305399379
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #486,940 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

"How can a great doctor have such a jerk for a son?" asks Ed Wood in his cheap dime store crime thriller about a sneering delinquent whose mania for handguns leads to murder. "I never thought carrying a gun would lead to this," he burbles to his far-too-understanding father, but it's too late. His cold-hearted partner Timothy Farrell blackmails Daddy (who just happens to be the most gifted plastic surgeon in the world) into giving him a new face, but Dad has a trick up his sleeve. Wood regular Lyle Talbot headlines as the investigating police inspector, former Mr. America and future Hercules Steve Reeves takes his shirt off for no good reason to flex his physique to the camera, and Wood's real-life girlfriend and frequent costar Dolores Fuller wears angora as the doctor's nice-girl daughter. "Cheap? Does this look joint look cheap to you?" demands the crook's gold-digging girlfriend? In a word, yes. There's a pleasing grungy B-movie aesthetic to Wood's nighttime location shooting, giving those moments a film noir flavor, but the rest of the film takes place on bland, generic sets with the flat look of a sitcom. Actually, flat is the operative word for this lethargic thriller: Wood displays his genius for arch dialogue and draws wooden performances from his largely mediocre cast. In other words, it's prime Ed Wood. The annoying guitar and piano score was borrowed from Mesa of Lost Women. --Sean Axmaker

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fine DVD transfer of overlooked Ed Wood crime thriller, March 8, 2002

By 

Surfink "Surfink" (Racine, WI) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jail Bait (DVD)

Jail Bait, shot by Wood in between Glen or Glenda and Bride of the Monster, is perhaps the least-known and -loved of his 1950s features, probably because it's more competently produced and slower paced than his more notorious films. The misleading title (referring to a handgun, not an underage girl) may lead to disappointment for the first-time viewer expecting sleazier fare. And Jail Bait just doesn't exhibit the unbridled lunacy and delirious verve of Plan 9 and Glen or Glenda, although there's plenty of Ed's mind-numbing, circular dialogue and a handful of ludicrous plot points for the seasoned Woodophile to savor. The cast features Hollywood veterans Lyle Talbot and Herbert Rawlinson (who died of lung cancer during production), Wood's then-girlfriend Dolores Fuller (later composer of a number of Elvis tunes), newcomer Steve (Hercules) Reeves, perennial sleazemeister Timothy Farrell (Gun Girls, Devil's Sleep, Girl Gang, Racket Girls), Vogue model (and Jack Paar's sexy weathergirl) Theodora Thurman, and apparent nonactor 'Clancy Malone' (actually Scott McCloud, Glen or Glenda's unit director). It's fun to track the conflicting acting styles (and competencies): former silent star Rawlinson (as Dr. Gregor) out-acts the bunch; Fuller is stiff as a board; Farrell and Thurman chew the scenery voraciously; Steve Reeves personifies the 'dumb hunk' (watch him attempt to run lines with Talbot while putting on a coat and tie); and Malone just tries to act his way out of a paper bag. The plot is essentially the story of a jerk (Farrell) and an idiot (Malone) who go on the lam after shooting a cop while robbing a beauty parlor (!?). Logical lapses abound (e.g. Malone's father hides him from the cops, then lets him go if he promises to turn himself in later; Farrell's moll [Thurman] is hopelessly loyal even though he constantly treats her like dirt). It all finishes with a hilarious "twist" ending involving plastic surgery. Bad Film fanatics will love to cringe at the irritating piano-and-guitar score (recycled from Mesa of Lost Women) by Hoyt Curtin (who wrote the Jetsons theme and scored all the major Hanna-Barbera cartoon series) and the embarrassing minstrel show sequence, which in true Woodian fashion is inserted into the movie for no apparent reason whatsoever. While Jail Bait never reaches the dizzying heights/depths of Wood's more famous films, there's enough chaff to be found amongst the wheat to satisfy trash film junkies with the patience to dig a little.
Image's DVD, part of their Wade Williams Collection, is as fine a presentation of the movie as you're likely to see. Although there is some light speckling and blemishing (mostly around reel changes), the source print exhibits overall excellent brightness, contrast, and shadow/highlight detail. The picture is very crisp, at times revealing some fine grain in the source material. The Dolby 1.0 sound is clear, although the level seems a bit soft. Eleven chapter stops and a slightly washed out Jail Bait trailer (also suffering from some speckling, blemishing, and vertical scratching) are included. A minimal but very fine package; perhaps a bit pricey for some considering the few extras, but nonetheless essential viewing for serious aficionados of Ed Wood or cheap, trashy movies in general.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Jailbait is Not What You Think, May 9, 2000

By 

Joe Oliver (Nacogdoches, TX United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jail Bait (DVD)

This movie is not good/bad; it's just plain bad. "Jailbait," as a term, which normally means an underage girl, here means a handgun possessed by a parolee! This film has none of the charm of Plan Nine or even Bride of the Monster. It's just bad. It looks like amateur home movies of a community theater rehearsal. Unless you are committed to seeing every Ed Wood travesty, this one you should probably pass up. It's a stinker.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Truly "Edwoodian." So Bad it's good, January 24, 2004

By 

Andre M. "brnn64" (Mt. Pleasant, SC United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Jail Bait (DVD)

Folks, leave your brains at the door. This is good old Edwoodian schlock about a bad boy who gets mixed up with the wrong crowd. Laugh out loud at the outragous stupidity and unintentioned humor of horrible dialougue, bad acting , and sheer senselessness. Who the heck would insist that a doctor under pressure of gunpoint operate on him? (That's just for starters). The surprise ending (which I won't reveal here) is pretty good. But the Blackface minstrel performance as an abomination not only for modern P.C. reasons (as an African-American myself, I've seen far worse in old movies), but it is not funny at all (the guy in Blackface whines and strains his voice in a gross effort to sound "Black" and the gags consist of very bad puns). In true Edwoodian style, it has nothing whatsoever to do with the story. But if you and your friends are filled with beers and pizza and want a good howl for over an hour, then this is for you.