Girls in Prison

Girls in Prison (1956)

Directed by Edward L. Cahn
Produced by Alex Gordon
Screenplay by Lou Rusoff

Cast:
Richard Denning as Rev. Fulton
Joan Taylor as Anne Carson
Adele Jergens as Jenny
Helen Gilbert as Melanee
Lance Fuller as Paul Anderson
Jane Darwell as Matron Jamieson
Raymond Hatton as Pop Carson
Phyllis Coates as Dorothy
Diana Darrin as Meg
Mae Marsh as 'Grandma' Edwards
Laurie Mitchell as Phyllis

A Golden State Production
An American International Pictures Release 

You can stream Girls in Prison on Tubi, Pluto and the Roku Channel, or rent on Prime Video.

Visit our website - https://aippod.com/ and follow the American International Podcast on Letterboxd, Instagram and Threads @aip_pod and on Facebook at facebook.com/AmericanInternationalPodcast  

Our open and close includes clips from the following films/trailers: How to Make a Monster (1958), The Brain That Wouldn't Die (1962), I Was a Teenage Werewolf (1957), High School Hellcats (1958), Beach Blanket Bingo (1965), The Wild Angels (1966), It Conquered the World (1956), The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971), and Female Jungle (1955)

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
We're not talking about actors. We mean a real monster. I brought her back. She'll live and I'll get her another body.

(00:07):
I know they're gonna catch me but don't let anyone see me like that! Please, doctor help me!
Biologically speaking, it's of primary importance that man should want to mate.
Hey, that's right!
You don't get all your kicks from surfing, do you?
We want to be free to ride our machines without being hassled by the man.
And we want to get loaded.
You think you're gonna make a slave of the world? I'll see you in Hell first!

(00:33):
The American International Podcast.
Are you ready?
Oh, you found the American International Podcast. I'm Cheryl Lightfoot.
And I'm Jeff Markin.
And today we're headed to the big house to watch Girls in Prison from 1956.
Girls in Prison was directed by Edward L. Cahn, written by Lou Rusoff,
and produced by Alex Gordon for Golden State Pictures.

(00:55):
Girls in Prison stars Richard Denning as Reverend Fulton,
Joan Taylor as Anne Carson, Adele Jergens as Jenny, Helen Gilbert as Melanee,
Lance Fuller as Paul Anderson, Jane Darwell as Matron Jamieson, Raymond Hatton as Pop Carson,
Phyllis Coates as Dorothy, Diana Darrin as Meg, the short redhead,
Mae Marsh as Grandma Edwards, Laurie Mitchell as Phyllis, the Tall Blonde.

(01:19):
Also appearing are Luana Walters as the Cellblock Guard,
Riza Royce as Party Chaperone Guard,
Lottie Salisbury as Pianist at Party.
Although that title is dubious as she has several other jobs in this film.
Edmund Cobb as the Work-Gang Guard,
Jeanne Evans as the New Girl in the Laundry,

(01:40):
aka "the Stooley," Mari Finley as Mari,
Diane Richards as the Nightclub Singer,
and Kerrmt Maynard as Prison Guard.
Girls in prison starts with an insistent drumbeat,
and a woman bent over her hair dangling down.
She flips her hair back and starts singing "Tom's Beat."
This is Diane Richards as we just mentioned.
Can't you feel the beat?

(02:01):
I can, and it's "Tom's Beat."
A waiter opens the door to the restaurant, looks to his left and is right,
and he clocks two playing close cops,
flanking the star that grill entrance.
He goes to report this to an organized crime type guy, dining with his date.
This guy goes out to see for himself,
and confirming that there are policemen outside,
he goes back inside and hands his revolver to the waiter/partender,

(02:25):
then he sits back at his table.
A woman comes into the club.
The man seems distressed by her presence,
and he motions for her to get out of there.
The woman is determined to speak with them.
She just can't seem to navigate the floor of people bopping the "Tom's Beat."
The police have followed the woman in,
and before she can figure out how to walk around a small cluster of people
in the center of a dance floor, she's arrested.

(02:46):
The man at the table sees this and glutes,
and that's the end of Tom's beat.
And the cold open.
After the credits, the film continues.
Post-trial and the woman, Anne Carson, is escorted into the prison.
They pass a strange older woman who curses to welcome her to,
maddened something or others finishing school for ladies.
This is the pianist that we referred to earlier

(03:07):
who has several small parts within the film
that have nothing to do with the piano.
All of them are annoying too.
Anne Carson is escorted into see the prison matron,
Matron Jamieson.
The matron is looking over her record,
Carson, Anne aged 21,
charged with conspiracy,
Armed Bank robbery,
and assault with a deadly weapon.
Reverend Fulton is standing in the room,
and he looks over the newcomer.

(03:29):
Boy, does he ever.
I didn't do it, says Anne.
I wasn't guilty.
"Oh, go buy what the record says," says the matron.
Try and superior court Los Angeles found guilty of all charges.
Well, don't she wouldn't be there?
Ann says that no one would listen to her during the trial.
Well, I think they listened. They just didn't believe her.
Reverend Fulton tells her not to worry.

(03:51):
When they have a chance later, they'll talk.
Talk explains Anne.
I've had all the talk I could stand.
Psychiatrist lawyers.
They all talk, but no one would listen.
Matron Jamieson gives Anne some advice.
Don't tell anyone where she's from or what she did.
Anne nods and the waiters ask the female guard
to take her away to her cell.
After Ann has gone, the matron opins it all prisoners claim innocence
and then have the audacity to want the benefit of the doubt

(04:14):
at parole hearings and old herbs to citical oil and matron.
But the Reverend didn't get that impression at all.
We saw was a trapped, frightened girl reaching out for someone to believe her.
He'd like to read her case history and the matron thinks that's a good idea.
Then he'll see how innocent she truly is.
Then the matron looks like she's noticing the Reverend for the first time.
She says he's too good looking and athletic to be Reverend.

(04:37):
Well, actually the Reverend says that he did box a bit in the Navy.
So put a pin in that one.
And then the matron dreamingly wishes they'd sent a 50-something priest with ulcers.
No kink shaming, but ew.
Actually, she wants to work with another sour old cynic like herself.
Reverend Fulton said that he requested this assignment and matron is a guest.
Why?
While Reverend Fulton explains, he was a reckless youth himself

(05:01):
and he could have ended up in a women's prison like Anne did
and he not found something to believe in.
Next we see Anne being escorted to herself and there she meets her new rumies.
Melanee is the first to greet her.
Say you're pretty.
Melanee says she yes, Anne's name and offers to show her around.
She pulls a drawer out from under one of the bunks and tells Anne she could put her things in there.
Still laying on her bunk is Jenny.

(05:22):
Smoking a ciggy.
You're a first-timer, aren't you kid?
Anne says yes and Melanee tells Anne that Jenny can show her the ropes.
The last of Anne's new roommates is Dorothy, played by Phyllis Coates.
And she's standing by the window looking pensive.
Melanee declares that they're all friends now and asked for confirmation from Jenny.
Jenny says Anne's the first-timer, she can always tell and Anne agrees anyways.

(05:45):
Jenny offers to show Anne the ropes and then spooky Dorothy kneels down by the bed and says that she knows Anne is Lois Johnson.
Anne denies this.
Dorothy asks, "You remember Andrew and Timothy, my little boy?"
Jenny tells Dorothy that Anne isn't Lois so Dorothy wanders away.
Then Jenny explains that Dorothy thinks every new girl is Lois.
She's the one who ran off with her husband and kid whispers Melanee.

(06:08):
Then in a southern accent, Melanee compliments Anne's skin and hair.
"Don’t let the funny southern talk fool you," says Jenny.
It comes direct from Duluth, Minnesota.
"Now that isn't fair," drawls Melanie.
"I worked in Georgia for three years."
"Work," says Jenny.
She tells Anne to check Melanie's hands for calluses.
Rolling Drunks isn't work.
Then Anne, going through her things, opens up a portrait of her father and, "My God, Raymond Hetten looks both surprised and reasonably deceased in this picture."

(06:38):
Jenny grabs it and Anne snatches it back.
Jenny says this kid's got a temper.
Then Jenny asks what Anne's rap is.
One to five says Anne.
But Jenny wants to know what she's in for.
Anne tries to take the matrix advice and pre-varicates, but Jenny knows first-timers don't put in the hole for shoplifting.
Anne won't budge, but Jenny warns Anne not to fight it.
Jenny knows everything, eventually.

(07:00):
And Jenny affirms that she will find out the hard way if she has to.
Then Jenny tells Melanee to take Anne and stand by the door because Jenny wants some cover.
Jenny rips a piece of paper from a notebook, goes back to her bunk and starts scribbling.
At the door, Melanee warns Anne to stay on Jenny's good side.
She can get Anne anything she wants from the outside, perfume, liquor, anything, as long as she's got the money for it.

(07:24):
Jenny reaches into her underbunked drawer and from a false bottom, pulls out a knife.
Jenny uses that knife to slice apart the box that had contained Anne's things.
Anne motions to Dorothy.
That one gives me the creep, she says.
Dorothy? The doctor thinks she's almost cured.
Jenny looks after her like she was her kid.
Then Dorothy goes over to Jenny and says that it'll be Timothy's birthday soon.

(07:46):
Jenny says they'll throw a party for him just like they did last year.
Melanie tells Anne that Dorothy went after her husband and mistress and ended up killing both her man and the little boy, though the woman got away.
Anne says but she talks about them like they're still here.
Melanie says that to Dorothy, they are still alive.
Then lunchbell rings and the cell doors open. Dorothy goes over to Anne.

(08:07):
You can't fool me, Lewis. I'd recognize you anywhere.
Dorothy goes out for some chow and Melanie tries to get Anne to come with but Anne doesn't have an appetite.
He just got to eat something, says Melanie.
"Keep away from me, snarls Anne. Don't touch me. I'm just trying to be friendly," says Melanie.
"I don't want any friends," says Anne.
Anne's not there to make friends.
If they always say in real-life he shows.

(08:29):
As Melanie leaves, she says that this can be a terrible place if you don't have any friends.
Jenny's still in the cell but on her way out, stops to offer Anne her own rules.
There's only one. And say it with me.
No snitches.
"Keep your mouth shut. If you think you saw something, no you didn't."
Remember that. It's your life insurance policy here.
After Jenny leaves, Anne goes to sit at the little desk and starts sobbing.

(08:53):
A prison guard comes in and says Melanie said that Anne was sick and asks if they should fetch a doctor
and says no, it's not necessary.
The guard tries to console her saying, "Not to worry, the first day is always the hardest."
"Yeah, I'm sure every day is better than the last."
"It will be no."
She leaves Anne to moat at her desk.
And now we're back with the baddie old woman we saw at the beginning of Anne's prison journey.

(09:16):
She's in a storage room poking her stubby fingers into a slit in the box that contained Anne's things.
The one that Jenny opened up. And Bingo, she finds a folded up piece of paper inside.
She unfolds it and reads it with a surprise and gleeful look on her face.
There's even a smidge of kooky in there.
Now we've found ourselves in Reverend Fulton's office.
He's at his desk and looking over Anne's file.

(09:37):
All the newspaper clippings regarding her arrest and trial are included.
They're arranged in such a way that we can read all of them.
Slain Bandit found, girl accomplice arrested.
They're in member of Trio's still at large.
Bank loot's still unrecovered.
So there's the whole story. And three senses.
The matrix comes in and asks the Reverend to piece through with the file.
He has her take a seat and she asks if he's still convinced of Anne's innocence.

(10:01):
There's room for doubt, he says.
The matrix picks up an article and reads that throughout the trial Anne cars to maintain that she didn't know the two men she accompanied were planning on robbing the bank.
Do you believe this type she says and Reverend Fulton says it wasn't proved otherwise.
The matrix reads on around cross examination she maintained that she left the dead man in the car and ran out without the briefcase of money.

(10:22):
She never back down from her story which actually is good thing when you're trying to maintain your innocence.
Don't change your story.
The matrix calls this a yarn and Reverend Fulton says that her story could be true.
It was her word against the prosecution and she didn't have a chance.
The matrix rolls her eyes and says that she can't match the reverence knowledge of God but he's got nothing on her when it comes to figuring out girls in prison.

(10:46):
She thinks he's a sucker and that he should stick to a Sunday sermons.
Reverend Fulton says that the new church mission is to participate in life with tools like psychology and psychiatry and to not be afraid to fight.
And this is what he tends to do in regard to Ann Carson.
If he's right about her he certainly will hesitate to go to bat for her.
But the matrix doesn't believe that he's going to be right about this.

(11:08):
Now it's party time at the prison.
No boys at this one though.
The girls in prison are dancing to Tom's beat.
The only song that matters.
Except for Ann Jenny and Grandma Edwards who are couch sitting.
Grandma says between Jenny and Ann and Grandma reports that the item Jenny has been waiting for is in the prison office.

(11:32):
Granny will see to it that she gets it in the morning.
Jenny is happy but Grandma needs a tattoo.
Where's her bourbon?
Jenny says any day now and she'll get it to her as soon as possible.
And watches all these machinations with her bras raised high but an otherwise blank expression on her face.
And Grandma turns to Ann and says you're new here aren't you?
You're gonna like it here.
And now the batty woman from the storeroom is at her place at the piano.

(11:58):
She is now the pianist at the party.
It's her true calling.
Some of the girls in prison have gathered around to listen to her play.
The daddy old woman is also warbling along but this seems to be quite popular amongst her fellow inmates.
Reverend Fulton comes to the party looking for Ann.
He finds her on the couch and seeing him.
Grandma takes her leave.
The Reverend plunks himself down right next to Ann and asks how she's doing.

(12:22):
She'll shock Ann once to know another word for nightmare.
I think nightmares just the word for nightmare.
Can you imagine being here with these women?
Reverend Fulton says he can very much imagine that.
Ann's afraid that she's gonna become like the other prisoners.
She thinks that it's contagious.
Then we cut away to see the girls in prison dancing in a circle.
I hope it's not contagious.

(12:44):
(laughs)
Reverend Fulton tells Ann that if she becomes like them, she's gonna ruin his little project.
Ann wants to know what he's talking about.
Reverend says that he's not convinced the prosecution proved their case against her
and he thinks they can make an appeal.
Ann doesn't want this though.
There are too many things working against her in bad environment, et cetera.
And she'd rather the Reverend just leave it alone.

(13:06):
But Reverend Fulton ignores her wishes and says that he's gonna keep digging.
Ann vehemently objects to this, but then a guard blows the whistle and tells everyone that it's sack time.
Before leaving Ann tells the Reverend that it's not that she's ungrateful,
it's just that it's no use.
And she just wants to drop the whole thing.
The gangster guy from the club in the cold open is paying a visit to Pop Carson and's father.

(13:27):
You recently saw a picture of him, so we know who it is.
Pop is sitting on his porch and asked if Paul is a cop.
I'm anything but that laughs Paul.
Paul seems to know a lot about Pop even though he busted out a prison during a five-year sentence
after only serving one year.
He's still owes Michigan four more years.
"If you're thinking about blackmailing me or wasting your time," says Pop.
Paul looks around at his surroundings.

(13:49):
"Yes, I can see that," he says.
Paul goes on to say that he's been following Ann's story in the papers
and he believes he could be helpful in finding the stolen money if it's hidden on the property.
Pop Carson says that Ann never had the money.
Unfortunately, because he could really use it.
He starts coughing and pulls on some pills.
"I need these to keep me alive," he stupidly confesses.
Paul offers to split the money.

(14:11):
Wouldn't Pop like to live it up with that much scratch?
And I looked it up and the 38,000 that Ann allegedly is concealing will be worth $443,000 today.
So, yes, Pop, what's like half of that?
Paul says he's sure the money is there on the property somewhere.
Pop doesn't believe that Ann would have left him in this condition.
Paul continues, "If he finds the money, he'd be willing to split it with Pop 50-50.

(14:34):
But Pop still maintains that the money isn't there."
Pop says that you don't know Ann.
She's been more of a mother to me than a daughter and I thought, "My God, man, grow up."
She told me she didn't take that money and that girl has never lied to me.
There's always a first time, says Paul, brandishing his gun.
You could just let me look.
Pop supposedly has no choice but Paul sweetens the deal, reminding him of all the great stuff

(14:57):
you'd be able to get with the $19,000.
Fix off the house, get a new car, new threads.
So, Pop is in.
Where do we start?
In the house, says Paul.
Paul opens the door from the porch into the house and Paul clumsily pushes the wheelchair
that Pop was sitting in inside.
I were back at the prison and Melanie is doing something to her hair.
She's trying to pin up her breezy curls on the top of her head.

(15:21):
She knows that the doctor is keeping Dorothy longer each time he sees her.
Ann says that Melanie hasn't been helping any.
Melanie says it makes Dorothy feel good if Dorothy thinks Ann is lowest. Why not help her?
I can think of a few reasons.
I've just predicted exciting things are going to happen in the next 30 days her horoscope told her so.
And then a guard comes to the cell saying that Reverend Fulton has summoned Ann to his office.

(15:42):
Ann folds up a letter and hides it under her mattress.
Melanie makes some kind of hot for Reverend joke and Ann just glitters at her.
After Ann leaves, Melanie of course reads a letter that Ann hid, but disappointingly it's just a boring letter to Pop.
Jenny Snarks, were you expecting a map with X marks the spot?
Melanie knows Ann's got that money hidden somewhere.
Jenny says she has people working on it for her on the outside.

(16:05):
Melanie says that if only they could break out and take her with us.
It's gum like us think alike says Jenny.
Jenny is having some gun shipped in for just this occasion.
She says that Ann is becoming a real friend to her.
The worst Melanie treats her the more Ann opens up to Jenny.
So Jenny tells her to keep it up.
Melanie is happy to oblige.
She says making her up to look even more wonky.

(16:27):
She despises that girl.
She turns to Jenny to show off her off-center due causing Jenny to shut her loudly.
Melanie rolls around to check her reflection in the mirror.
Now we see Reverend Fulton pacing around a bench on the prison grounds as Ann is escorted over.
It's a garden in the moonlight.
How romantic.
It's beautiful says Ann, for a moment I forgot where I was.

(16:48):
Fulton says he thought she'd be more comfortable out here.
Then he gets down to business.
Reverend Fulton gets right to the point.
He talked to her at trial judge today.
See says Ann, I told you there was no point.
O Contrary says Reverend Fulton.
The judge thought that several things were against her in the trial.
For one, the briefcase had disappeared.
That's what it really boils down to, isn't it, says Ann?

(17:09):
The money.
She says they know about it in here too.
I think it was a celebrity and hearous.
Yeah, they find out best as Reverend Fulton.
He understands there were three people involved.
Ann, George Stoney and a third man who got away on foot.
He wants to know if Ann can help identify that man.
But Ann has no further information.
And she wishes that he would just forget the whole thing.

(17:31):
Reverend Fulton says that he's out on a limb now and he can't get off.
Ann says that was his choice.
It wasn't what she wanted and it still isn't.
She demands to be left alone.
A demand he's sure to ignore.
The Reverend reminds her that she wanted someone to believe in her.
And he is that someone.
Just leave me alone, says Ann.
That's what I really want.
Oppas sitting around at home in his wheelchair while all tears apart the house.

(17:54):
He hasn't found anything.
All wants pop to visit Ann in the prison and get her to tell him where the money is.
And to tell him if she doesn't tell him, he'll kill pop.
Pop reconsider and decides to call the whole partnership off.
But then decides he was only kidding when a reminder of Paul's gun.
Back at the prison, an unseen man rolls up a message and places it into the stem of a hoe,

(18:17):
pushing the handle in on top of it.
And then we cut to fill us the tall blonde and make the short redhead.
Walking behind Ann as they work in the yard.
Girl carrying large bags of dirt or something.
Meg says that she's getting out in two weeks.
And she and Phyllis say that they have cooked up the perfect plan.
Meg needs dough after she gets out and Ann could use some in here, right?
And doesn't know what they're hinting at.

(18:39):
So Phyllis tells Red to stop with the subtlety.
In the equipment shed, hose are being distributed to the prisoners.
And we see the guy who would put the message in one of them.
Jenny Winks at the man who did that and gets the special hoe.
And then the prisoners and sacks of plant food are loaded onto the truck and sent out to garden.
Later the girls are poking at the dirt with their hose or whatever verb goes with hose.

(19:01):
Using Melanie as cover again, Jenny kneels down to retrieve the message hidden in the hoe.
She tells Melanie that the dough hasn't surfaced yet.
And asked Melanie to rough up Ann so that she'll come running to Jenny.
Ann looks away towards them and Melanie starts talking about Ann's case history,
especially in regard to her father.
Leave my father out of it, sorrows Ann.
Melanie gets in and off the digs that a fight becomes inevitable.

(19:24):
And pushes Melanie and they start to wrestle.
And then they roll into a conveniently positioned puddle so that the viewers can enjoy some female mud rustling
until a guard comes along to break up the show.
Then we cut to Ann's standing before the matron in the matron's office.
Matron asks if Ann will take full responsibility for her share in the fight.
Ann is silent, so is awarded with five days in solitary confinement.

(19:46):
Yay! That's gotta be like a vacation.
In solitary, Ann is receiving a meal and she asked the guard if her message to Reverend Fulton was received.
But she's told that he's away and she'll be on solitary before he comes back.
After the five days, Ann is returned to her cell.
While you're initiated now, kids says Jenny.
Five days with nothing to do but sit around and think says Ann.

(20:09):
Dorothy says that Sunday is Timothy's birthday.
Jenny tells her that Melanie will be back from solitary by then.
Now we see a car arriving at the prison.
Paul is dropping off pop.
He tells Pop that, "You know what to say to Ann and then he better lay it on thick."
Pop asks for help getting out of the car, but Paul is wise to his scam.
Or our amusement, Pop exits the car in perfect health, and then adopts an old man's shuffle as he approaches the prison door.

(20:34):
In their cell, the girls are limiting Sundays.
Melanie's horoscope says to expect new and exciting experiences in the next few weeks.
She remembers another day with whether like this, there were three earthquakes all in a row.
And today is Timothy's birthday.
She asks Jenny if they'll bring him to see her.
Maybe he can't get away, honey.
We'll have the party anyway.
Dorothy then reminds Jenny.

(20:55):
They'll need six candles for his cake.
Timothy's six.
Then the guard comes over to get Ann.
She has a visitor.
As Ann leaves, Dorothy's convinced that Ann's father has brought Timothy to see Ann.
Melanie encourages her to get angry at Ann.
And Jenny tells Melanie to cut it out.
Melanie and Jenny Bicker.
And then Jenny goes to read Ann's letters stashed under her pillow.

(21:16):
But there's still nothing good in them.
So Ann is escorted in to speak with her father.
She's excited to see he's down on the wheelchair.
He must be feeling better.
He says he's not.
He's a sick man.
And if he won't kill him, his heart will.
He explains that there's a man who is insistent that the money is in the house, and he can't get rid of him.
She tells him to call the police, but he says he can't.

(21:37):
This man has something on him.
And that's besides the gun.
This man knows that Ann has that money.
Ann asks for a description of this man, which Pop gives, along with his name.
So no description needed.
Ann recommends letting him just search the place.
That'll convince him that she doesn't have the money.
Pop says that he did look, but he's not leaving without the money.
So they've got to find it.
And then to amp up his sob story, Paul says that he got kicked off the county relief rolls.

(22:02):
And now, unless Ann helps out, he's going to starve to death.
Ann's eyes are full of tears.
And she offers to send him her prison earnings.
And she says the county will put him back on.
And then when she's out, they can run away together.
Pop tells her that Paul has agreed to split the money with him 50/50.
All she asks to do is tell him where she's hidden it.
And insist she hasn't got the money.
And with that, her visiting time is up.

(22:23):
Before leaving, she tells him so right to him.
And he should write to her too, everything.
Everything he asks.
She says she has a way to get mail past the guards.
Leaving Pop moans that this will probably be the last time he ever sees her.
Don't say that she cries.
But Pop says, you don't know this Paul, but doesn't she know him?
I think she knows him.
But now it's party time.

(22:45):
Well, if you can call it a party.
Dorothy bans Ann from her said kids birthday party.
Just as well, Ann was leaning in and comfortably close to crazy Dorothy.
Melania's eyes Ann look out duty at the door.
And then Dorothy blows out the candles and Jenny carves up the cake with that knife that she's got stashed.
Everyone but Ann gets a wedge of the cake, but it doesn't matter as the lights go out in the bell rings.

(23:08):
It's bedtime.
Lights out already.
This party was just getting started.
Jenny puts Dorothy in bed and Dorothy starts to cry.
Timothy's dead, isn't he?
Yes, says Melanie.
Now go to sleep.
Dorothy looks down at Melanie from the top bunk.
Lois killed Timothy, didn't she?
She thinks I don't know.
Leave me alone, says Melanie.
Dorothy gets up from her bunk and pulls out that knife from Jenny's drawer.

(23:31):
That Jenny had just used at the cake.
And she goes after Ann in her bunk and screams Jenny help.
And Jenny tries to wrestle the knife away from Dorothy.
The noise alerts the guard who disarms Dorothy, pockets the knife and has scored Dorothy from the cell.
Melanie's happy to see the back of Dorothy, but Jenny snarls that Melanie help bring this on.
And calls her a cesspool.

(23:52):
Jenny tells Ann that she's lucky she was awake.
And says that it's odd.
She was only awake because she was worried about her dad.
Jenny gets the whole sad story of Ann being parentified at a young age to take care of a grown man.
You should be taking care of her.
Ann says that all the money in the world isn't worth this.
And Jenny hears that sister.
Ann asks Jenny to use her special skills to smuggle letters to and from her dad.

(24:14):
And Jenny's on board with this idea, of course.
Then Ann tells Jenny she's the only friend she has in there.
Jenny tells her not to be stupid.
You don't make real friends in a place like this.
The next day the girls are milling around outside on the grounds.
Megan Phyllis are around and Jenny and grandma and Edwards are putting on a show for them.

(24:38):
Grandma tells Jenny that she received two new boxes of soap with some interesting contents.
She was only able to open one of them because the new girl in the laundry room seemed awfully interested in it.
And she points to the new girl who's leaning against the wall reading a book.
Jenny instructs grandma to put that item in a sack of plant food and let that girl see her do it.
That way if she uses duly she'll mark it.

(25:00):
And the grandma should just hold on to the other one for now.
Until they're sure what they're dealing with.
Oh and Ann Carson should be receiving some mail.
Jenny wants to deliver directly to her.
Then she leaves noticing that Megan Phyllis have been lurking nearby during that conversation.
Back inside, a guard is bringing Ann to see Reverend Fulton.
He's just back from vacation and what does she want while she was in there?

(25:23):
She tells him about her father's predicament and asks for his help.
Reverend Fulton promises to look into Pops money problems and that she shouldn't worry about her old man.
And now he's got good news.
He has a friend who looked at her case and is just now writing a brief on her behalf.
Ann cuts him off and tells him to stop.
She just wants to serve out her time.
Her infulton says she sounds as cynical as Jenny.

(25:45):
Ann says that she said it was contagious, but anyway forget about it.
Reverend Fulton says that this is bigger than her now.
Now it's his fight because he feels that he can best serve God by taking on her struggles,
even if she doesn't want him to.
Kind of arrogant, I think.
Ann insists she doesn't want her case appealed and says she won't cooperate,
but she would still like the Reverend to check in on her father's financial situation.

(26:09):
Ann leaves and the Reverend Powell's are out into the hall.
There he meets Matron Jameson who asks how the Carson Crusade is going.
I've just been fired says Fulton.
It's just as well as says the matron.
She has it on authority that Ann Carson did take the money and a break in the cases about to be made.
She also thinks there's going to be a prison break attempt soon.
And the plan is for the jailbreakers to take Ann along with them.

(26:32):
She says that they can't warn Ann or some reason, but they'll keep an eye on her.
And she's going to recommend that Ann be moved to an honor farm,
more in keeping with the kind of correction that a prisoner like Ann needs.
It might take three weeks though.
Back on side, Megan Phyllis are approaching grandma Edwards.
Meg tells grandma that she's getting out tomorrow and she's got five dollars that would do grandma better than it would do her.

(26:54):
All she would have to do is tell Ann that message arrived and it's under some bags in the store room.
Grandma says it sounds more like a ten dollar job.
So Phyllis reaches into her shirt to contribute.
Then grandma goes to Ann to tell her about the message.
And Ann rushes off to read her mail without expressing any monetary gratitude towards grandma Edwards.
Granny looks miffed.
Ann goes into the store room and is immediately jumped by Phyllis and Meg.

(27:18):
They threaten her with a clover or a pipe or something.
But Ann says that she doesn't have the money.
Jeez.
They give her a minute to fuss up and tell them where it is.
Meanwhile, grandma Edwards has gone straight to Jenny to tell her about the ambush.
So Jenny goes in to save the day. She chases off Megan Phyllis and holds Ann trying to comfort her.
The guard comes over.

(27:39):
Who slugged you, she asks?
Jenny says she stepped on her rake and it came up and hit her in the head.
I wasn't talking to you, says the guard.
I stepped on her rake, confirms Ann.
And now we're at Pops House.
He announces he has a letter from Ann.
Paul snatches it out of Pops hands, but Pops spoils the contents and nothing that it doesn't have any mention of hidden cash.
And Pops is tired of Paul's company and says that he's been through the house in yard without finding anything.

(28:02):
So it's time for him to accept there's no money there and get the hell out.
However, Paul has a story to tell about Ann.
She did take the money.
Paul says Ann told the court she didn't know she was on a job.
She lied.
She spent three days casing the joint.
She said she didn't really know the man who was killed. She knew him well enough.
They were out 12 times.
And she thought that leaving the third guy's name on a bit would lead him so grateful that he'd give up $38,000.

(28:26):
Pops asks how he knows so much.
Paul says there were three people on that bank job.
One guy in the girl drove off leaving the Patsy to shoot it out at the bank.
Paul was that third bank robber.
[GASP]
Wow, what a shocking development.
Well, that changes things says Pops provided you're telling the truth.
Paul says it's all true.
So tell Ann about me and see what Ann has to say.

(28:49):
Paul says that he's through playing around.
He wants his cut and Pops is going to give it to him.
[GASP]
[GASP]
[GASP]
The girls in prison are working the field again.
But it's lunchtime and Jenny has a letter for Ann.
After reading it, she has Meg go get Ann.
Ann comes and eagerly reads the letter and Jenny goes to Melanie who asks who it's from.

(29:14):
Her father says Jenny.
He keeps asking about the money and someone is looking for it.
Jenny goes to Melanie to report on the contents of that letter.
They have some competition in their quest for cash.
Melanie doesn't like the idea of some thief getting their money.
Jenny considers that maybe Ann's story is legit.
She didn't break even after the beating.
Melanie warns Jenny not to try going after that money without her.

(29:36):
And Jenny says, "Oh, she would never."
They mull over the difficulties in taking Ann with them when they break out.
Everyone has to go back to work now and the two agree that the break is going to happen tomorrow.
Jenny goes to Ann and asks her about things at home and Ann lies.
Everything's fine.
Back at Pop's house, Paul has grown tired of searching the house, so now he's searching the grounds.
He looks under a bush and with a little digging, he finds a statue, only it's empty.

(30:00):
Paul brings it into show pop.
Now what do you say, pop?
Not 200 yards from the house.
Now I'm really going to tear the place apart.
Pop is incensed.
He's so incensed that he gets up out of his wheelchair and helps Paul tear the place apart.
How could she do it?
How could she leave me like this?
An extraordinarily bad timing, Reverend Fulton arrives for a visit.
Enoch and Pop scrambles back to his wheelchair as Paul hides in the back room.

(30:23):
Come in, says Pop.
Reverend Fulton comes in the door and introduces himself.
Pop Carson invites him to sit down at the table and immediately starts in on his tail of woe.
But Reverend Fulton wants to talk about his trip to the county welfare agency.
He now knows that Pop is lied to Ann.
He's still getting checks even though his only disability is pure laziness.
Pop winds for a bit, but Reverend Fulton lectures him, telling him to stop abusing Ann's good nature and stop worrying her.

(30:47):
He's kept her tied to his wheelchair long enough.
Reverend stands to leave, but notices the satchel on the table.
Then he notices Paul's jacket hanging on a chair.
Who's coat is this, he asks?
Pop says he never really noticed it before.
Then Reverend leaves, saying he's going to help Ann see the kind of person that her father really is.
But Pop Carson can only be relieved to see him go.

(31:08):
Now we're back in the romantic garden setting, Reverend Fulton waits for Ann.
The garden brings her and Reverend Fulton delivers the news about her skyving layabout father
who lied to her about not getting help from the county anymore.
And then he says he saw the briefcase and he knows that someone was looking for the money.
He tells Ann, you do have the money, don't you?
Ann breaks down.
She just went to know what it was like to have money.

(31:30):
She just wanted to be able to buy whatever she needed.
A new dress, furniture, medication for her dad.
But what she really wanted was to tear up her dad's relief checks into a hundred pieces.
Throw them in the face of the county.
Popon says that dad must have been what he's sensed in her all along, her conscience.
He tells her she's going to give that money back, giving it back, book a piece of mind.

(31:51):
Otherwise she'll end up just like Jenny.
Ann says no, she's paying for that money with five years of her life.
And remember, you said you wouldn't tell anyone about anything we discussed.
The Reverend reminds her that her father is in danger because of that money.
And that's why Ann is going to confess and return the money.
And even worse, her soul is in jeopardy too.
Ann says she's heard enough and Reverend Fulton says he hopes though.

(32:13):
The next day the girls are outside again.
Grandma Edwards is reporting to Jenny the status of the gun she's smuggling in.
As she had been instructed when I've been putting them bag of plant food
and that new girl marked it just as projected.
So Grandma Edwards thought best to remove it.
The other one is still safe in the soapbox.
Jenny tells Grandma Edwards to smuggle the gun she pulled from the plant food up to Jenny's cell as soon as she can.

(32:35):
And tells Grandma that she has earned herself an extra drink today.
And I'll be back on the work detail where the girls all unload bags off the truck.
Jenny and Melanie grab one bag in particular and take it to the side of the truck as if to open it.
If Grandma's right, the guard should check us any second.
The guards indeed do come over.
Grandma was right, says Melanie.
What's so special about this act, Jenny?

(32:56):
The guard asks.
They look through it as Jenny and Melanie run to the side of the truck.
But they find nothing unusual.
Good old Grandma says Jenny.
Our in Reverend Fulton's office where he's looking out the window spying on the gals.
Matron comes behind him.
Nice view, A Reverend.
I never go cake quite used to it myself.
We're back with Jenny now.

(33:17):
She hauls and somewhere.
And back in the Reverend's office, the matron tells Reverend Fulton that Anne's transfer is now being considered.
There's a lot of quick cuts here.
During this time Grandma Edwards touches that new girl from the laundry room and says that she wants to introduce her to the others.
Back in the Reverend's office, still watching.
The Reverend and the matron witness the start of the gang up.
The Reverend and the matron spurry out the door to see if there's anything they could do.

(33:41):
But it's too late for new girl while she's been murdered.
Everyone's running away from the new dead girl's body.
Everyone except Anne, who screams.
Jenny comes back and hauls her away as the guards arrive.
And now there's a lineup.
The matron walks up and down the line of all the prisoners telling them that as usual, no one has said anything.
So for now, they're all considered a suspect. And they're going to be confined to their cells until further notice with all privileges suspended.

(34:05):
Back in their cell, Jenny Melanie and Anne are discussing the close call.
Jenny finds the gun that Grandma Edwards left for her.
"Budol grandma," she says.
Melanie is reading Jenny's horoscope.
She should avoid travel at this time.
Then Jenny tells Anne she's proven she's one of them the way she handled the matron.
Melanie is insured. She thinks she's in a different class, but with $38,000 stashed away.

(34:27):
And says she doesn't have the money, okay? Melanie says that she's going to prove that Anne does have it.
And then an extraordinary thing happens. An earthquake, wow.
The whole building shakes, beams and rubble fall from the ceiling.
The women panic in their cells and bang on the doors with their metal cups.
You see a corner of one building collapse.
In the matron's office, Reverend Fulton reports that there's a large amount of damage in the east wing.

(34:51):
The matron makes an announcement over the PA that the doors will be opened and everyone should head to safety at the phone entrance.
Where prison personnel will be in attendance.
Then she and the Reverend make a run for it.
The cell door is open and everyone picks their way over the rubble to get out.
But in opportunity, shifted bed frame, jams the door to Anne and Jenny and Melanie's cell.
Jenny and Anne try to unjam the door as Melanie gets the gun.
When the door opens, Melanie points the gun and Anne and Jenny and says they're all going out together.

(35:16):
But through the back gate, not the front.
Anne wants to get up, but Melanie says not with $38,000 you're not.
Jenny says that money is no good to a corpse. Then a second trouble sends the girls scrambling into their bunks for cover.
Reverend Fulton makes his way to the cell block to make sure everyone's clear.
Melanie's still holding the gun, warns the others to keep quiet.
Reverend Fulton completes his check, missing the girls huck her down in their bunk.

(35:39):
Once the coast is clear, Melanie tells Jenny to grab the meal ticket and let's get out of here.
Jenny warns Anne not to cross Melanie and they successfully escape out the back way.
Back at Pop Carson's house, they're listening to the news and hear that all but three girls have been collected.
Girls third in their mid forties.
Among the missing three are Anne Carson.
Notorious for the fatal bank robbery in Modesto.

(36:02):
Paul clocks that they'll be there by the morning.
Paul thinks that the morning will come faster if he's allowed to go to sleep now.
Let me catch up with Jenny, Melanie and Anne.
They've been walking a while and come across an abandoned shed.
Melanie is sent off to find some food and Jenny and Anne go inside and throw themselves down on a pile of hay.
Jenny warns Anne to keep an eye on Melanie.
She sure Anne has that money and Melanie aims to get part of it.

(36:24):
She goes on to say that she told her herself that Anne wasn't smart enough to pull a job like that.
She plants us over at Anne to see her reaction but there isn't one.
She didn't take the bait.
Jenny notes that Anne doesn't live far from there and your Bakersfield says Anne about three hours by car.
That's quite a walk.
Back in the prison, a guard reports to Reverend and Matron that the three missing women aren't in the building, nor on the grounds.

(36:45):
Reverend tells Matron that he knows they took Anne.
But Matron says they're too busy tending to the wounded here to go find her.
Anyway, the phone lines are down.
They'll be back by morning and they should be able to call the Bakersfield PD then.
Then a guard comes in to announce that the ambulance for Frisno are there.
The matron leaves and the Reverend goes out on his own.
In the shed Anne wakes up to find Melanie staring at her.

(37:07):
Where's Jenny? She asks.
Outside flagging down a car.
Melanie tells Anne to get moving.
She must be at her house by daybreak.
Anne once again insists that there is no money, but Melanie is tired of hearing this.
The only reason Anne is still alive is because of that money.
Melanie is apparently at her limit.
She jumps on top of Anne and starts strangling her.
I think this is just another salacious scene for.

(37:29):
Well, we know who it's for.
Jenny runs into Paul Melanie off of Anne.
Jenny says there's a town four or five miles away.
If they go there, they'll have no problem getting a car.
Melanie thinks this is perfect.
She's going to nap for an hour and then they can go.
She gives Jenny the gun and then rolls over into the straw and falls fast asleep.
Jenny heads out to keep watch, but Anne begs her not to leave her alone with Melanie.

(37:50):
She's crazy.
Jenny says she saw a truck about 10 minutes down the road.
So go and get it and Anne should come out running when she sees the lights.
Anne would like Jenny to leave her the gun, but Jenny says no, she might need it.
Anne tells her to hurry up.
She's in the matrix office, which miraculously survived the earthquake, a guard enters.
The matrix says that the phone should be back in an hour.
And when they're out back, send the Baker's Field Police to the Carson Place.

(38:13):
The truck pulls up at Anne's house and Jenny drops Anne off.
All sees them arrive and goes off to hide in a back room.
Jenny drops off Anne and wishes her well and Anne thanks her.
But Jenny doesn't take off.
She just pulls ahead a little and stops the truck.
At this time, the Reverend arrives as well and he sees Jenny's truck pull over down the road,
but it doesn't think much of it.
Anne goes inside.

(38:34):
Hopped tells her he heard on the radio that she got away and he was expecting her.
Me too, Anne says Paul coming out from hiding with his gun drawn.
Hopped says he's made a deal with him.
They get half the money.
Anne says she knows how these guys deal.
That's not a promise he's going to keep.
Anne says she's handing the money over to the police.
Besides, the police will be there soon looking for her.
And Paul wouldn't want to be here when that happens.

(38:56):
Paul says she's smarter and tougher than he thought.
Paul thinks that she's going to keep the money for herself.
But when he leaves, he's leaving with the money.
Paul spots Reverend Fulton running towards the door.
He orders Anne to get rid of him or else and then he goes to hide again.
Reverend Fulton comes in and greets the carcines and wants to know what he wants.
He said he was going to give her a ride back to the prison and says she's not going back.

(39:19):
Reverend Fulton is surprised that his constant annoyance hasn't changed Anne's mind.
She tells him to go looking terrified.
Meanwhile, Jenny is taking her position outside the house with her gun at the ready.
Reverend Fulton says he's going to the cops, but she just tells him to get out eyes wide.
The Reverend Fulton goes to leave and says he will be contacting the police as soon as he is able.
Thanks for warning me, Suzanne. You'd better go.

(39:42):
Reverend opens the door to leave and Jenny comes in.
Hi, Dad. I'm Jenny and his friend.
Her gun's drawn to.
She orders Reverend Fulton to get back and then orders Anne to get the money.
But instead of threatening Anne, she threatens to kill Pop and Anne seems to cave.
Anne says that the money is outside.
Jenny orders everyone to get out and has Pop grabbed the bag out on the porch.

(40:03):
Anne says that it's not her money to give away.
Jenny laughs at the notion of giving it to the police and promises to sign an affidavit,
swearing that she forced Anne to give her the money.
Anne looks to the Reverend for guidance, but it has none.
Meanwhile, Paul is sneaking out the back door to keep tabs on everyone.
Anne, what he sees as potentially his money, Anne goes to a post on the porch and the money is hidden inside.

(40:25):
A hundred times I've been aiming to fix that post, says Pop.
Then he adds, "I wouldn't take those bottom bills. They've got termites."
Now we see Paul heading toward the front of the house.
Jenny orders Anne to put the money in the bag.
And then we see Paul on his way to the front of the house.
Now that the bag's all filled up, Jenny tells Anne to walk her to the truck.
She really was going to give that money back to the police, says Pop.

(40:49):
"That's not the way she talked in size," says Reverend Fulton.
"You had a gun on you the entire time you were in there," Reverend says Pop.
As Jenny and Anne are walking away, Paul jumps off from behind the house and shoots a Jenny.
Jenny rolls around in fires, but then Paul shoots her again as she goes down.
He runs for the money, and the Reverend decides to confront Paul, and though Paul could shoot,
he opposite the rope punches instead, not knowing that the Reverend did some boxing in the Navy.

(41:12):
Reverend takes off his tree jacket so we can do some serious fighting and starts wailing on Paul.
Pop says they don't make preachers like they used to.
Anne runs over to Jenny and watches as the Reverend beats us not out of Paul.
Paul is not then conscious just as the police show up.
Without saying a word, the police pick up Paul and drag him to the squad car.
Then the Reverend joins Anne at Paul and Jenny.
Anne tells Jenny she's not her bad and they're calling an ambulance.

(41:35):
"I got a coming kid," runs Jenny.
And she looks at the Reverend, confesses to killing the stoolie and dies.
Later, Anne says a tender goodbye to Pop.
Who's only concerned is who's going to look after him?
Only wise to his shenanigans, Anne tells Pop to look after himself for once.
As she and the Reverend leave, Pop asks if the Reverend will be back and Reverend says in a few days he'll come back.

(41:58):
So I guess the Reverend's going to be looking after him too.
After Anne is placed in the back of the police car, the Reverend shuts the door for them.
Then he goes off to his own car as the camera pans up to the steeple of a church.
And that's the end?
Welcome back to the American International Podcast where we're talking about Girls in Prison from 1956.

(42:21):
Girls in Prison was the first of many films that Edward L. Conn did for A.I.P. with producer Alex Gordon.
The L.A. evening citizen news announced in February of 1956 that Richard Denning had been cast for Girls in Prison.
Shortly after that, they published notice that Girls in Prison was started filming on March 5th, 1956.
On March 9th, an article in the paper said that Diana Deren and Joan Taylor had been cast.

(42:43):
Of Taylor, they wrote that this would be, quote, "a part," which is a departure from her native Indian girls.
Yeah, she's an Apache woman.
You haven't seen that yet.
In Heta Hopper's column for April 6th, 1956, she said that Girls in Prison producer Alex Gordon had wired her in response to a previous column about the lack of older Hollywood actors in current films.
Gordon wrote, "Producers didn't tire of them. It was exhibitors who screamed every time we used them.

(43:08):
But in our latest picture, Girls in Prison, we had Raymond Haddon, May Marsh, Jane Darwell, and Eddie Cobb.
Exhibitors complained the public will think it is an old picture or a reissue.
So that's why so many old timers aren't working today, but we keep right on using them."
In Edward's Shalitz, April 11th, 1956, L.A. Times column, he wrote that Richard Denning would be soon starring in Hell Raiders for A.I.P.

(43:31):
And just as he did with Girls in Prison, you would have profit participation.
The Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle noted in April 1956, blurb that Diana Deren, whose screen name doesn't reveal it, is a Jewish girl.
And as she just signed for a role in Girls in Prison, though it was probably a post-production at that point.
Though the film depicts an earthquake, the set was nearly rocked by another natural disaster.

(43:52):
On location in Chatsworth, California, as Khan filmed the scene of Anna Melanie wrestling in the mud, a minor tornado hit.
According to Mark Thomas McGee in the book, "Faster and Ferry" sir, as this was the only day the crew were scheduled to film in this location, Khan kept the camera's rolling, saying it'll add to the realism.
A production-coded administrator warned a cordon that any hint of lesbianism, whether in speech or manners, had to be eliminated from the script.

(44:16):
A cordon filmed them despite the warning.
Girls in Prison was released on a double bill with Hot Rod Girl beginning in July of 1956.
Box office magazine recommended theater owners use a mock prison set in the lobby with one or two girls, appropriately attired behind the mock prison bars.
Taglines for Girls in Prison include "What happens to girls without men?"
"What happens to women without men?"

(44:37):
"Revelation of truth about girls behind prison bars."
The shocking story of one man against 1,000 women.
That sounds exciting.
Box office magazine said "Girls in Prison was a far better picture than Hot Rod Girl.
There's a more marquee voltage in the cast of this one than is to be found in its running mate."
Certainly the screenplay, which is far from free of clichés, is not going to win awards for its finesse, originality or believability.

(45:01):
It boasts virtually nothing that has not previously been used in countless earlier offerings dealing with women in prison.
"Brighty said, girls in Prison is as routine as its title, an over-length jail yarn with telegraphic situations which reduce movement to a walk.
Characters occasionally get overwhelmed enough for casual interest, however, and the film is okay for lower case bookings in program runs.
Miss Taylor shows to advantage and turns in a performance better than her material."

(45:25):
The Los Angeles Examiner said, "There's a pretty good story in Girls in Prison, which apparently stemmed from the big earthquake that rocked the Tehatchapy Woman's Prison a few years back."
The review in Vermont's Rutland Daily Herald said of Girls in Prison, "Action is scarce.
Words are many, and the chaplain's occasional philosophizing is in call for.
Addicts of the Prison flick will enjoy it, notwithstanding."

(45:47):
In a Boston Globe, a brief review of both Girls in Prison and Hot Rod Girl had a reviewer concluding, "Neither film is a particularly noble picture of American youth.
But for that matter, neither is a notable example of cinematic attainment.
Girls in Prison seems to have been made primarily for addicts of the thrill school."
Industry Insider Newsletter, Harrison's reports reviewed Girls in Prison and called it "An Ordinary Prison Melodrama of Program Grade, best suited as a supporting feature."

(46:14):
The introduction of an earthquake so as to give Joan Taylor a chance to escape with her cellmates as arbitrary, but it may get by with those who are not too fussy about story values.
The photography is sharp and clear.
In August of 1956, Charles F. Stewart wrote to the editor of the Louisville Courier Journal, complaining that, "I was planning to take my children to the movies last night,

(46:36):
but after reviewing the entertainment section found that there was a minimum to see."
After mentioning titles that included Hot Rod Girl and Girls in Prison, Stewart concluded, "Hollywood does not seem to be cooperating to any great extent in the public struggle against a juvenile problem."
Variety announced in 2015 that "Cinadine" was teaming with producers Lou Arkov, Jeff Katz, and Hal Saddoff to reinvent 10 AIP titles, placing them all in the same cinematic universe.

(47:01):
Girls in Prison was one of the titles to be remade, along with Viking women and a sea serpent, the bragging eaters, chic creature, teenage caveman, reform schoolgirl, the undead, or the classal beast, the cool and the crazy, and the day the world ended.
The plan was to shoot all 10 films back to back and had them share a single movie universe with a big recurring cast of Annie Heroes, Monsters, and Bad Girls.

(47:23):
Sadd-Lewarkov, the films would be distributed by synodime in theaters on DVD, along with digital and television releases, including a slot on a planned digital network that was to target the Comic Con audience.
The film was also made as part of Showtime's Rebel Highway series in 1994, directed by John McNaughton and written by Samuel Fuller and Crystal Lang.
Ioni Sky and Anne Hage starred in a story that more closely resembled reform schoolgirl than girls in prison.

(47:48):
Just like with the reform schoolgirl, the theatrical movie poster for girls in prison featuring a cat fight between Helen Gilbert and Joan Taylor has become a collector's item.
The poster shows the blonde haired Gilbert strangling the dark haired Taylor.
The film was also made by the film director and director of the film "The Night of the World".
So now as we always do, let's talk about how we felt about the movie. I'll let you go first.

(48:11):
I always enjoy these old black and white films.
I know. Is there a but there?
No, I always look forward to doing these ones.
Really mean, did you enjoy this one the way you expected to?
Well, for much of the movie, I thought it just seemed to be the same old same old because we've already done a few women in prison films.
99 women, I think was the first one. We did reform schoolgirl not that long ago.

(48:34):
And it seemed to be following the same beats, but then that earthquake hit.
Yeah, I thought it came out of nowhere.
So it was nice to see something totally different than what we've seen before.
I was not expecting that.
There was I.
It does seem like a bit of a contrivance, but I don't mind.
Because it got us out of there and we really needed to get out of that cell.

(48:55):
It was such a static movie before that.
Right. Another one that we did was "Why must I die?"
And very little of that took place in the prison.
And we were with Terry Moore's character there.
She wasn't really in the cell with the others. She had a private cell because she was on death row.
Only her lawyer visited her.
So we missed a lot of the camaraderie that you have between prisoners.

(49:19):
Well, the ever-patchist character didn't miss any of it.
The kind of beater upside the head with it.
I'll let camaraderie.
So when we were watching this in my head, I kept getting confused with form schoolgirl
because at the beginning, it's almost the same movie.
There's a creepy guy who wants to help for whatever reason in both films.

(49:42):
It's a teacher in form schoolgirl and here it's a reverend.
Yeah. It's impossible to say what their reasons are.
Being cynical, I kind of describe it to attraction.
There's something going on there.
The teacher in reform schoolgirl zeroed in on whatever her name was.
And he didn't care about any of the other prisoners.

(50:04):
And it seems like Reverend Fulton doesn't care about any of the other prisoners either.
The only one he mentions by name is Jenny.
He hasn't had anything positive to say about her whatsoever.
Well, I mean, can you blame him?
But no, he's focused on Anne to kind of a self-aggrandizing point.
It seems like he's making this more about himself and proving that he can save a person

(50:26):
is more important than what this person actually wants him to do.
Anne just wants to serve out her time and go get her money.
Everyone else mess that up for her.
At least in a reform schoolgirl, it was a teacher who was bugging her.
Here, it's a feature and that makes the film a little preachy.
Well, yeah, he's such a dry character too.

(50:47):
I don't know anything about him.
At least the teacher in reform schoolgirl had a bit of a backstory.
He had a girlfriend, he claimed.
Well, some priests don't get to have girlfriends.
No, but he was in the Navy and he was a boxer.
That's all we know.
And it does come into play.
That's right.
I didn't say to put a pin in that when we first came across it.
I do think that they had a nice variety of characters in this prison.
And I don't think that any of them were really clichés,

(51:10):
except for maybe the crazy one, Dorothy.
Was she a cliche?
I thought maybe she was the least cliche.
We had the tough broad.
And we had the homicidal broad.
But I think that they were both presented more dimensionally
than just being that cliche person.
But I just being stuck in that character type.

(51:31):
Well, his coach is Dorothy, who is dealing with mental illness
based upon what she did is similar to the girl in the reform schoolgirl
who believes she was pregnant.
But just scarier.
She's a lot more frightening than that girl.
And she did a really good job too, because she gave me the willies
after the birthday party and they all have been sent to bed.

(51:54):
And she's sitting up there kind of fretting about her kid.
And the way her head swivels towards Anne and looks at her,
it's like the extra-sus-movie where her head just spun around.
That scene gave me goose bumps because it was so creepy.
I think it's creepier because she's just lurking
in the background most of the time.
Every once in a while she comes down and says,

(52:16):
"It's Timothy's birthday."
Right, or you're lowest.
You killed my baby.
Everything she says is creepy.
And then she goes back to the shadows.
Yeah, she was very effectively done, a kind of mystery when she was gone.
I liked Jenny.
I liked her character.
Even though she ultimately was bad,
she did such a great job of pretending not to be.
And I kind of like that character type,

(52:38):
the tough broad who's seen it all.
She's always smoking.
Yeah, I thought she was interesting too.
That's Adele Jirgins, who did a few films in the early days of the IP.
I think this is the last one that she did.
So we got some earlier films using it.
I think the day of the world ended and something else.
So we'll see her again.
Yeah, I did care for Melanie, though.
She just seemed psycho, or no good reason.

(53:01):
She didn't really have enough backing that up.
But I guess she was in prison, so she wanted out.
Yeah, she's just nothing else to do but her hair.
Well, she couldn't spend a little more time on that.
And we had Raymond Hatten returning again.
He's in so many of these old black and away films.
Yeah, and spoiler alert, he's coming up in the next one too.

(53:22):
He kind of always plays the same character too.
Just kind of the daddy old guy.
Yeah, he was windy wagon wheels and flush in the spur.
And he was the kind uncle in Shake Battle and Rock,
who was married to what's her name?
Oh, Margaret Jamont.
Yeah.
But he's always a comic relief type character.
And here it doesn't play as well.

(53:43):
No, because he's kind of pathetic in this.
He wears out his welcome very fast too.
I kind of start down it a couple of times the way he expected his kids to take care of him, like a baby.
She's the baby.
He's supposed to take care of her.
Yet he's wandering around his house because there's no child to take after him.
You're right.
It's pathetic.
I think this is a pretty good movie.

(54:05):
And spite of the character of Anna Carson, who is probably one of the least likeable characters in the entire movie.
That is true.
Maybe it's just because she had a plan and everyone else was putting the spokes in her wheels.
She just wanted to keep her head down and get out when she got out and find that money.
She tucked away in the bramble behind the porch.

(54:26):
And I just think it's an interesting choice to make the main character so dull.
I mean, you don't support her.
You don't care that she wants to keep the money.
No, the only thing that I can say is I can contrast with the other characters, like with the reverent,
when she was telling him to freaking leave her alone and he wouldn't.
I kind of was on her side then.
But then when she was in the cell with the other women, yeah, then she was the easiest to overlook of all the characters in there.

(54:52):
She was kind of whiny.
She didn't have much to do other than deny she had the money every single time.
And that's odd because this movie is full of weird characters.
Get the old lady who played the piano, got grandma, fill us in Meg.
Everyone's putting on a hell of a performance.
And Anna is just kind of there.
The reverent to you. He's very boring as well.

(55:14):
What do you think Anna was supposed to accomplish by going to the club in the beginning?
Is she just looking for a place to hide?
I have no idea. That was never explained.
I mean Paul was definitely not happy to see her there.
No, and she's better off without him.
Maybe she wanted to share the money with him, but...
I don't think she wanted to share the money with him.
No, what?
So it didn't make any sense for her to go there unless she's just...

(55:35):
What that would be the only reason to go there is if she wanted to give him his cut.
Or to hide.
But then she'd have to expect to give it to him.
Right. So if she wants the money, she has no business being there.
And before she showed up, the police are already there sticking out the joint.
Because the waiter goes out and sees them and then Paul goes out and confirms this.
Why are they there if they don't even know the Paul's involved?
Right. Maybe it's a coincidence.

(55:58):
The movie just doesn't explain it.
I think this wanted an excuse to play a Diane Richards singing "Tom's Beat."
So they had to put them in a club and then they decided to use that as a way to get Amcott.
It just doesn't really make sense.
I have a question for you as a man and I'm a woman.
Is there an appeal to the girls in prison type movies, "Kage Teet," etc.

(56:22):
Apart from the purient, seeing a bunch of women rustling and tearing each other's clothes off from time to time.
Is there anything else to that genre besides that for you in your opinion?
I don't know. I always look forward to those scenes when we're doing the podcast
because it's easy to write about the fight and I wait for them to finish so I can go out of the next part.

(56:43):
It just seems to me that there's a particular kink involved here that maybe neither one of us shares.
Well, I'm not a fan of rustling and I know that a lot of people are.
I think it probably goes along the same lines.
I mean, if I was going to watch rustling, I'd probably rather watch women rustle than two big guys in short pants.
You know, that's fair. I think I would agree with that.

(57:04):
But then I'm not really into rustling either.
But here, there just seems to be a salaciousness to it that can't really be expressed because it's the 1950s.
But that is just understood by the audience.
I wish we were able to ask Lou Rousseff what he thought.
Yeah, there's a lot of times when I'm watching a Lou Rousseff movie where I wonder what makes that guy tick.
And this is definitely one of them.

(57:26):
Then rolling into the puddle.
Come on, nobody is that dumb. It's not going to think that, "Oh, yeah, that's for me."
You know, that was made for a certain segment of the audience.
Now they're rustling around in mud.
Well, it's exploitation. It's an exploitation film you can tell by the title.
It's very tame by today's standards.
Yes.
Even the rustling, the fighting is tame by today's standards.

(57:49):
Right. Yeah, I'm trying to judge it by the way it would have been perceived in the 50s.
Not the way we're looking at it now.
70 years hence.
If I had one complaint about this movie, it's probably the length.
Really drags at points.
Because what's happening at pops, it happens over and over and over again.
How many times can Paul complain that he can't find the money?
Well, apparently about 17.

(58:10):
And then in the prison, everyone's just trying to enagle their way into Anzgood Graces
so they can find out about the money.
And if that doesn't work, they're going to beat the crap out of her and find out.
Well, in the prison, there's a lot of business going on, but it all turns out to be important.
There's a lot of talk about how Jenny is going to need to get a gun in there.
But we don't know why, and the reason is so millenia can take it so they can come and present.

(58:31):
Well, they're a team. So it's okay that she took it.
You didn't really go against the plan.
Well, they're supposed to get two guns, remember?
Right.
They only got the one.
Right. And it was for two of this that the earthquake happened because I don't know how they plan to break out otherwise.
They're just like, okay, move our plan up. This works.
Maybe they were planning the earthquake.
I mean, Dorothy kind of foreshadowed that the last time there was this kind of weather, there were three earthquakes.

(58:56):
So maybe they were counting on it first to tornado, then the earthquakes, and then we run.
I think it's safe to say that despite all those strands that they're ended up being no loose ends in this movie.
No, I don't think so.
We don't know what happened to Dorothy, but that doesn't matter.
I mean, she was part of it off to somewhere to be watched.
And I'm sure that she survived the earthquake and is still being watched.
I didn't even know if she didn't.
It's probably a kindness that she didn't.

(59:18):
Since they don't seem to be able to cure her.
Or she probably needs to be on medication of some kind and hasn't been invented yet.
We saw Richard Denning, who was Reverend Folden here, and Oklahoma woman.
He was the stand up guy in that movie, too.
Yeah, but he was not as annoying in Oklahoma woman.
He's really dull here.
Joan Taylor, we will see when we get around to watching a patchy woman.

(59:43):
Two of them together.
What's the opposite of lighting the screen on fire, throwing water over it, dousing it.
Everything kind of stops when it's just the two of them, which is unfortunate.
This is a movie where things kind of need to go.
And again, a lot of that was repetitive.
Yeah, they needed a way to get a man in there to play the Richard Denning part.

(01:00:05):
One man against a thousand women.
And how do you do that?
I guess you make him a Reverend because then he's...
A chaplain at the prison, yeah.
Right, right. There's a reason for him to be there.
All the other guards were women.
Everyone else was all woman inside the prison.
Oh, no, they were guard. They were male guards.
They were male guards on the outside when they were doing the gardening and stuff.
But yeah, in terms of having one-on-one interaction, that would probably be the only way they could make that plausible.

(01:00:29):
Having be the chaplain.
Which is unfortunate because as I said, it makes the movie a little peachy.
But I think that might have been a little loose off in there too.
Oh, just trying to keep the morality level from sinking too low.
That was one of the things that I mentioned in the notes is that somebody had written in saying that there's nothing to take as kids to because of titles like Girls in Prison.
So I'm sure they were aware of how they were being perceived from an industry standpoint.

(01:00:54):
And they were probably trying to keep parents from picketing outside the theaters.
Yeah, and AIP, despite doing a lot of exploitation type pictures, was really, really conservative in their views.
So they'd add this piece of morality in there.
Oh, yeah.
It's like a necessity to say, "Okay, we're doing this, but you know, it's not necessarily the right thing."
And we see that throughout the years.

(01:01:16):
Right. The bad guys are always punished.
Bad guys were always punished, but I mean, let's teach a little religion in here.
We saw, I was a teenage Frankenstein.
And there was that part that was cut out in the British version where they're talking about the Bible.
Oh, right.
And quoting the Bible.
And a Bible code and Queen of Blood, which we did last week.
And even going further in the original cut of the trip, AIP adds that cracked glass view at the end of the film.

(01:01:43):
That cracked a Roger Cormin didn't approve because they don't have a courage of their convictions.
Seems Nicholson and Sam Arcoff needed to make their statement that...
Dr. Dr. Dr. Oaksman.
Exactly.
Yeah.
Obviously that changed over time and movies weren't afraid to not pollinate punches.
They didn't feel like they had to shore up their message with something positive and wholesome.

(01:02:08):
So at some point that goes away, but not so far, not even the 60s for AIP.
All right.
Well, I'd like to hear your final grade for Girls in Prison using our good old AIP scale or ASASIM.
I as intermediate NP is pathetic.
Well, Girls in Prison is another film that I feel unfortunate that we're rating it on a three point scale.

(01:02:32):
Well, you can always add commentary.
Because some of the performances here, Joan Taylor, I don't think is great.
Maybe it's not her, maybe it's her character.
It's her character.
The character of Ann Carson just isn't compelling to lead a movie.
And that's what she's asked to do here.
And I would knock off points for that.
I wouldn't say it's a five star movie, but I enjoyed this film.
I'm going to give it an A. I think it's worth a wash for sure.

(01:02:56):
But that's because I have to round it up.
But besides the Ann Carson character and the length, I don't really have anything to complain about here.
It's an interesting film for the most part.
And the earthquake certainly caught me off guard.
That was a nice surprise.
And I think especially looking at its age, this movie is 69 years old this year.
And you had to put yourself kind of in the times to watch it properly.

(01:03:18):
But I don't think it's that difficult to go back in time and do that.
I think it generally holds up as a decent film and an interesting story.
And yeah, I'm giving it an A.
What are your thoughts?
Well, like you have been kind of flip-flopping between A and I.
And even as I'm sitting here, I'm not sure what to give it.
And I think it's for the same reason that you also had to round up.

(01:03:40):
And my first thought is kind of rounded down because the two main characters,
not just Joan Taylor's Ann, but Richard Denning as Reverend Fulton,
are so uninteresting and preachy on the Reverend's part and just kind of one note on Ann's part.
But I can see Joan Taylor has a lot more inter-facial expressions.

(01:04:02):
There's a lot more going on there than she's allowed to say.
So I think she's a good actress.
I don't think this is a great character.
I do love her other cellmates.
I think that they really make the movie.
A lot of the other characters are urging on annoying the old lady who played the piano,
the matron.
I thought she's really cynical and I understand that.

(01:04:24):
But also there's not much more to her.
I wish there had been more to Reverend Fulton.
We don't even know his first name.
I think if he had a bit more of a backstory, if he was more of a human being,
rather than just a position, he's just the religious guy, he's just the chaplain,
with a one-track mind and an inability to listen to the women he's counseling.

(01:04:45):
I think there's more to him than that.
I'd be more invested in not just his character, but in the movie itself.
So I think I've got to round it down just for those reasons.
The good stuff's on the side.
And the main course is just not that great.
So while there's a cool earthquake, which I did like, same as you.

(01:05:06):
And Jenny is a great character.
And Dorothy is appropriately creepy and even Melanie adds life to the film.
There's just a lot taking away from it.
And a lot of the other touches like Raymond Hatton's character,
and Mae Marsh is grandma.
I get what they're trying to do.
They're trying to add a little levity to the film.

(01:05:27):
But that kind of levity just annoys me.
And so putting all that in balance, I think it comes out on the intermediate side.
It's just average to me.
I can't really call it awesome.
So I, for me, one thing we didn't note that was that Laurie Mitchell plays Phyllis in this movie.
And we will see her again in Attack of the Puppet People.
But she's putting on kind of this New York accent.

(01:05:50):
Mm-hmm.
And not well.
I always like putting out the bad accents.
I don't know.
She's doing the tough broad accent.
I gotta go to “woik".
Yeah, that just seems to be a character type in that all characters who are that way to talk that way.
So she doesn't have much to do here because I think even little megs deals the scenes that they share together.

(01:06:11):
But I thought we needed to call her out since we will be seeing her again.
Yeah, I really want to see that movie.
I like everything I know about it and I can't wait to watch it.
But this movie I'm kind of glad to see the back of it.
Well, I'm always glad to put one behind us because it means we get to put on another one.
Yeah, exactly.
So to find out more about Girls in Prison and other films that we've talked about on the podcast,
you can visit our website, appod.com.

(01:06:33):
There you can find trailers, posters, and more information on the films.
And other paraphernalia that isn't available on an audio-only podcast.
There you can also message us.
Let us know your opinions on the films we've talked about.
Let us know when you disagree with us or agree with us.
How would you bet?
Let us know if we're wrong in our opinion.
The opinions are never wrong, but sometimes they're misinformed.

(01:06:56):
And you can do all that and more at our website appod.com.
Well, I feel the earth is trembling, so I think it's time to get out of here.
For the American International Podcast, I'm Cheryl Lightfoot.
And I'm Jeff Markin.
And we'll meet you at the drive-in.
Follow the American International Podcast on Instagram and Letterbox @aip_pod
and on Facebook at facebook.com/AmericanInternationalPodcast.

(01:07:19):
The American International Podcast is produced and edited by Jeff Markin.
A man whose mind is distorted by hatred.
And Cheryl Lightfoot.
A girl hungry for too many things.

(01:07:41):
The American International Podcast is part of the Pop Culture Entertainment Network.
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