A pretty young woman by the name of "Anne Carson" (Joan Taylor) gets mixed up with two other men in a bank robbery and gets a 5-to-10 year prison sentence even though she declares her innocence. Along with that, $38,000 was stolen and since she left one person at the bank and the other person is dead, everybody thinks she hid the money. And everybody wants it bad. Anyway, for a women-in-prison (WIP) film made in the mid-50's this movie wasn't too bad. Not only did Joan Taylor give a pretty good performance but she was rather cute too. Along with that, I liked the way the director (Edward L. Cahn) depicted her lesbian cell-mate "Melanee" (Helen Gilbert). Although certainly tame by today's standards, it was rather racy for this particular time-period. I also appreciated the fact that her other two cell-mates, "Jenny" (Adele Jergens) and "Dorothy" (Phyllis Coates) weren't bad on the eyes either. After all, they could have looked a lot worse. All in all then, I rate this movie as slightly above average.
12 Reviews
Yowza!
boblipton16 April 2022
Anne Carson is in prison as accomplice to a bank robbery. Everyone but muscular priest Rcihard Denning thinks she knows where the loot in buried, and is willing to offer her favors for a cut. Denning believes her claims of innocence.
It's an ambitious little film with a good story and not much in the way of direction; an accomplished cast makes it work, including old-timers like Mae Marsh, Jane Darwell, and Raymond Hatton, and the frisson of lesbianism that had rapidly become standard for this sort of movie helps too. However, the direction by Edward L. Cahn is never more than adequate.
It's an ambitious little film with a good story and not much in the way of direction; an accomplished cast makes it work, including old-timers like Mae Marsh, Jane Darwell, and Raymond Hatton, and the frisson of lesbianism that had rapidly become standard for this sort of movie helps too. However, the direction by Edward L. Cahn is never more than adequate.
Not my favorite women's prison film
cgvsluis15 May 2022
Ann Carson is convicted and sentenced to prison for robbing a bank. The money was never recovered and the alleged third party went free. The bad news for Ann is that everyone thinks she has the money...the matron, her fellow inmates, and the third party who escaped! The only person who even questions her innocence is the prison reverend played by handsome Richard Denning.
A lot of stony faces and rough women in this gritty film that primarily takes place inside a women's prison.
This is by no means my favorite women's prison film... that might go to Ida Lupino or Barbara Stanwyk's previous offerings, but it was just different enough for me to recommend a watch. The film is a little slow but does have a good climax at the end.
A lot of stony faces and rough women in this gritty film that primarily takes place inside a women's prison.
This is by no means my favorite women's prison film... that might go to Ida Lupino or Barbara Stanwyk's previous offerings, but it was just different enough for me to recommend a watch. The film is a little slow but does have a good climax at the end.
I enjoyed this film!
Teenie17 January 2000
For those of you that enjoy mindless but fascinating "theme" movies of the '50s, then this one is for you. Adele Jergens steals the film as the prison bully that befriends Ann. The best scene is at the end of the film where Richard Denning, a minister that was a star boxing champ at college mind you, dukes it out with the bad guy. There's an earthquake (makes no sense) and a windstorm. For highlights on the making of the film, check out American International's producer/founder Sam Arkoff's book, "Flying Through Hollywood by the Seat of My Pants," and he'll explain the reasons for the natural disasters. Overall the film is interesting, since it makes you wonder how the prison women manage not a hair out of place or smeared makeup after the fights. Cute stuff.
Not as good as the cover promises....but it does have its quirks
gridoon18 August 2007
Warning: Spoilers
Going by the title and the cover, I was expecting a straight-up Girls-In-Prison flick (duh!), but this film seems less concerned with daily prison life than with the plot that has several characters, operating in & out of prison, looking for the still-missing loot of the bank robbery which got the heroine, Joan Taylor, in prison in the first place. Everybody thinks that she has the money hidden somewhere and....spoilers follow....everybody is right! That's quite a twist on most pictures of this kind: the innocent-looking heroine thrown into the cesspool is actually guilty! But don't worry, there's a kind preacher there to help her regain her conscience. The film does have some prototypical elements of WIP movies (including a very short and shot from a great distance mud fight that reminded me of Roberta Collins vs. Pam Grier in "The Big Doll House"), and there are subtle but unmistakable clues that Helen Gilbert's character is a lesbian who gets angry at Taylor for rejecting her. There is also an earthquake sequence, pretty well-done, and an IMPRESSIVE stunt of a woman climbing onto the back of a moving truck and then getting thrown on the ground. It's too bad that between these moments the film is actually quite boring. (**)
I'm leaving and I'm taking that money with me!
sol12186 December 2011
Warning: Spoilers
**SPOILERS** Woman prison flick involving sweet and innocent Anne Carson, Joan Taylor, who ends up taking the rap for the notorious Medesto Bank robbery where one of her partners in crime ended up getting killed in a police shootout. It's the surviving member of the robbery trio Paul Anderson, Lance Fuller, the actor not the 1950's and 1960's world champion weight lifter who set Anne up after he fled a night club that both he and Anne were hiding in during a police raid.
In prison it's the prison Chaplin Rev.Fuller, Richard Denning, who feels that Anne got a raw deal and is determined to straighten things out for her. That's quite a job for the good Reverend since Anne is shearing her cell with tough as nails Jenny, Adele Jergens, and Melanee, Helen Gilbert, who are determined to find out where Anne hid the cash, $38,000.00, from the bank robbery that's never been recovered. There's also convicted murderess Dorothy played by Phillis Coates the former "Adventures of Superman" TV show's Lois Lane as one of Anne's cell-mates. The severely mentally deranged Dorothy suspects every woman in prison of being the one who took off with her husband and child whom she ended up up murdering. And with Anne no exception she's targeted by Dorothy for death as soon as she turns her back on her.
It's in fact Paul Anderson who goes all out to find the stolen cash by crashing Anne's pop's Pop Carson's, Raymond Hatton, shack in the country and holding him hostage until his daughter, who's now behind bars, can come up with the stolen cash. Pop for his part is so cool and unafraid of the gun toting Anderson that at time he almost challenges him to shoot him! That's probably so he can have an excuse to finally get himself out of this corny movie by being killed off in it.
***SPOILERS*** It's Rev.Fulton who ends up saving the day as well as Anne & Pop Carson by tracking down Anderson in Pop Carson's place and then duking it out with Paul Anderson. By then both Jenny & Mclanee were history with Dorothy, who just dropped out of sight, no where to be seen. Not much to recommend here but actor Raymond Hatton's amazing and almost effortlessly performance as the nonchalant and I don't give a you know what Pop Carson! The guy is so cool that he takes coolness up to higher level as well as lower temperature. As for the big hero in the movie Rev. Fulton he, wearing a bullet proof vest, has no trouble dispatching Lance Fuller who's played by actor Paul Anderson. But I couldn't keep from wondering if he would have had such an easy time dispatching that other Paul Anderson who back in the 1950's and 1960's was considered to be the strongest man in the world!
In prison it's the prison Chaplin Rev.Fuller, Richard Denning, who feels that Anne got a raw deal and is determined to straighten things out for her. That's quite a job for the good Reverend since Anne is shearing her cell with tough as nails Jenny, Adele Jergens, and Melanee, Helen Gilbert, who are determined to find out where Anne hid the cash, $38,000.00, from the bank robbery that's never been recovered. There's also convicted murderess Dorothy played by Phillis Coates the former "Adventures of Superman" TV show's Lois Lane as one of Anne's cell-mates. The severely mentally deranged Dorothy suspects every woman in prison of being the one who took off with her husband and child whom she ended up up murdering. And with Anne no exception she's targeted by Dorothy for death as soon as she turns her back on her.
It's in fact Paul Anderson who goes all out to find the stolen cash by crashing Anne's pop's Pop Carson's, Raymond Hatton, shack in the country and holding him hostage until his daughter, who's now behind bars, can come up with the stolen cash. Pop for his part is so cool and unafraid of the gun toting Anderson that at time he almost challenges him to shoot him! That's probably so he can have an excuse to finally get himself out of this corny movie by being killed off in it.
***SPOILERS*** It's Rev.Fulton who ends up saving the day as well as Anne & Pop Carson by tracking down Anderson in Pop Carson's place and then duking it out with Paul Anderson. By then both Jenny & Mclanee were history with Dorothy, who just dropped out of sight, no where to be seen. Not much to recommend here but actor Raymond Hatton's amazing and almost effortlessly performance as the nonchalant and I don't give a you know what Pop Carson! The guy is so cool that he takes coolness up to higher level as well as lower temperature. As for the big hero in the movie Rev. Fulton he, wearing a bullet proof vest, has no trouble dispatching Lance Fuller who's played by actor Paul Anderson. But I couldn't keep from wondering if he would have had such an easy time dispatching that other Paul Anderson who back in the 1950's and 1960's was considered to be the strongest man in the world!
Why suck a low rating.
jeffhaller4 October 2020
I don't get it. Many of these grade D- movies are often well written. The acting is sometimes very good and they move - no boredom. This one is good and has a couple surprises along the way. The earthquake is a ball. Gotta admire writers who were hired for schlock and gave it something. Compare something like this to 1956's Oscar winner "Around the World in Eighty Days." Do you really think that was as entertaining as "Girls in Prison."
campy but dull
goldberg-518 May 1999
Less-than-thrilling, the film drags but the ending is goofy enough to make it possibly worthwhile. Features earthquakes that come from nowhere, a boxing preacher, and girls in prison who seem not to have been quite locked up. Trouble ensues.
Adele Jergens has a Field Day!
mls418230 November 2020
It is nice to see B girl Adele Jergens have some fun right before she retired. This is pure camp, which is why we watch it. I Iove 1950s and early 1960s women's prison movies. They all have their roots done, perfect hairdos, tailored prison uniforms and are probably wearing girdles. The worst they do is use double negatives and pull each other's hair. I'm sure I watched these rerun on TV as a little kid thinking society was SO much better then, thinking, "Oh I see hippies on the street doing worse!"
Good Genre Film
wiluxe-215 May 2005
I bought a VHS copy of this odd little women-in-prison film on eBay because it featured the sublime Phyllis Coates (the first "Lois Lane" on television and, arguably, the best ever) in a supporting role as 'Dorothy', a disturbed inmate. A small but memorable role for Phyllis here: oddly enough her character assumes every new female inmate is a woman named 'Lois' who broke up her family and led her to murder someone.
Lots of great-looking women inmates throughout the film. Prison life is pretty rough, with lots of meaningless busywork for the inmates.
The opening scene is pretty avant garde; the director deserves credit for his experimental approach to introducing the characters.
Lots of great-looking women inmates throughout the film. Prison life is pretty rough, with lots of meaningless busywork for the inmates.
The opening scene is pretty avant garde; the director deserves credit for his experimental approach to introducing the characters.
2nd Only to CAGED
noname147910 July 2017
All the performances were excellent in this movie, except maybe the head prison matron played by film veteran Jane Darwell. This film was exciting from the first moment with a very early rock 'n roll song TOM'S BEAT to the last scene. Prison scams, girl fights, threats of violence at every corner, a prison break, lesbianism, all adds up to an entertaining film. Stand-out performance by Adele Jergens as a gun moll.
THE GALS CRASH THE JOINT! LOOK OUT!
tcchelsey11 January 2024
Edward L. Cahn was a master of some campy films in the 50s and early 60s, and this is one of them.
It's all about a large stash of stolen bank loot squared away somewhere, and the good gal versus the bad to get it all. But first, there's a classic prison escape, due to mother nature --an earthquake! Rare for 50s films, but a real treat with lots of shakin' and screamin' and cardboard sets rockin'!
Adele Jergens, popular blonde in lots of B films, plays the toughest cookie, and she's fantastic in this type of role. Many other familiar actresses on board, including veteran Jane Darwell and tv's first Lois Lane (Superman) Phyllis Coates. Richard Denning plays the good guy slash minister here, following the trail which leads to the broken down house of an old man, related to one of the stripes. The old bird is tough enough in his own way, and is the mazuma still hidden with him?
There's lots of scrambling and gunplay, and somehow it all jives in classic black and white. Watch Adele Jergens right to the bitter end!
Cahn directed this very well as the acting is quite good, not the cheapie its supposed to be.
The finale is memorable, in that sort of campy 50s style we all love. A special thank you to MOVIES Net for rerunning this classic on its late show lineup lately. Cahn's next classic, THE SHE CREATURE, followed by the ultimate, VOODOO WOMAN, some of these films he also produced.
Always on dvd for collectors. A Must.
It's all about a large stash of stolen bank loot squared away somewhere, and the good gal versus the bad to get it all. But first, there's a classic prison escape, due to mother nature --an earthquake! Rare for 50s films, but a real treat with lots of shakin' and screamin' and cardboard sets rockin'!
Adele Jergens, popular blonde in lots of B films, plays the toughest cookie, and she's fantastic in this type of role. Many other familiar actresses on board, including veteran Jane Darwell and tv's first Lois Lane (Superman) Phyllis Coates. Richard Denning plays the good guy slash minister here, following the trail which leads to the broken down house of an old man, related to one of the stripes. The old bird is tough enough in his own way, and is the mazuma still hidden with him?
There's lots of scrambling and gunplay, and somehow it all jives in classic black and white. Watch Adele Jergens right to the bitter end!
Cahn directed this very well as the acting is quite good, not the cheapie its supposed to be.
The finale is memorable, in that sort of campy 50s style we all love. A special thank you to MOVIES Net for rerunning this classic on its late show lineup lately. Cahn's next classic, THE SHE CREATURE, followed by the ultimate, VOODOO WOMAN, some of these films he also produced.
Always on dvd for collectors. A Must.
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