Jail Bait

Dir: Ed Wood

1954

***

Inspired by the 1935 script Let ‘Em Have It by producer Edward Small, Ed Wood’s suspenseful thriller is the first to feature the idea of a criminal undergoing plastic surgery to elude the authorities. I always thought it to be a contemporary idea and if I had to guess its origins I would have guessed that it was a story right out of a 1950s pulp magazine but no earlier than that. Say what you will about the infamous Ed Wood but Jail Bait (sometimes known as The Hidden Face) is a class crime-thriller, a film that stands out from his other works. To be fair, it has been suggested that Jail Bait is somewhat superior in quality to most of Wood’s works due to the fact it was co-written by Alex Gordon, whose talent led to a far tighter narrative structure and a more coherent story-line. The direction however is all down to Wood. Set in California, every scene is shot at night, the perpetual darkness giving the film an otherworldly ambiance that is something of a signature of the cult director. The original script sees a gangster in the main role, while in the film it is a youth offender who gets in with the wrong crowd but soon has delusions of grandeur. The film begins with Don Gregor (Clancy Malone) being bailed out of prison for carrying an illegal handgun by his worried sister Marilyn (Dolores Fuller). Don ignores his sisters concern and flees their home full of drink and with another gun he had stashed away. Marilyn then discusses Don with their father, successful plastic surgeon Dr Boris Gregor (Herbert Rawlinson in his swansong performance – he died the day after shooting wrapped and clearly had breathing difficulties throughout the film) and suggests that her brother is somehow involved with the notorious gangster Vic Brady (Timothy Farrell). Dr Gregor however is well aware of the situation and is not worried, suggesting that it will all blow over and that Don's current behavior is a result of the premature death of Mrs. Gregor and his own upbringing having had the unintentional effect of spoiling the boy – he will soon grow out of it. However, that night Don and Vic rob a theatre and when things go wrong they are forced to kill two innocents. Don can’t handle what he’s done and flees to his father who tells him to give himself up, which he agrees to but not right away. His father helps him escape, only for him to be killed by Vic who learns of his intension to surrender. Vic then tricks Dr Gregor and Marilyn (who is a nurse) into coming to his house, telling them that he has Don hostage and that only they can make a deal that will have him free him. Once there, Vic blackmails the doctor into performing plastic surgery on his face in order to change his appearance and therefore aloud the police. The doctor, who has guessed that his son is dead by this point, goes ahead with the operation. Weeks later when the police catch up with Vic they order him to undo his bandages, which he does with confidence. However, in a delightfully morbid twist, the doctor has modeled Vic’s new face on his own son’s – Don being the one at this point who is suspected of committing the murders. The doctor then admits to the police that he is his own son and Vic is shot down as he tries to escape. It’s a pretty dark and wonderfully macabre twist. I only wish that Vic had gone to prison, as having to spend the rest of his life as someone else would have been a far more disturbing concept. The score is also a bit strange to be honest, the use of flamenco guitar and piano music is clearly meant to add to the otherworldliness but it becomes something of a distraction and it couldn’t suit the story less. There is also the unfortunate inclusion of Cotton Watts performing in blackface which was outdated then but as the film was primarily released in areas of the deep south where blackface still held nostalgic appeal, it was deemed appropriate. To be honest Ed Wood was taken advantage by producers Joy Newton Houck Sr. and J. Francis White who owned Howco and a chain of movie theatres in the south. They gave him a bigger budget than he was used to but he wasn’t allowed any demands on the film’s box office earnings and couldn’t make certain decisions. The film has many themes that Wood and other crime-thriller film makers explored at the time. It’s not one of the best of the era but I would argue that it has one of the greatest endings of the time and genre. It’s certainly one of Wood’s best and most overlooked films.