"JAIL BAIT" Fashion Show

Edward D. Wood, Jr. produced and directed the low-budget "Jail Bait" in 1954, a '30s-style gangster film with a twist ending a la The Twilight Zone. (The misleading title refers to an illegal hand gun.) He also co-wrote the screenplay with writer-producer friend Alex Gordon. It was Gordon who introduced Wood to Bela Lugosi 1952. (Gordon soon went on to help create American International Pictures.) Lugosi was cast as the father of the lead character, but dropped out due to illness.

Steve Reeves, 1947 AAU Mr. America, 1948 Mr. World, and the first NABBA Mr. Universe in 1950, was cast in "Jail Bait" as a cop. This is one of the few opportunities to hear Reeves' voice as most of his later films were dubbed.

I have seen this film several times and the one thought that runs through my mind is Mr. Wood had to personally pick out and most likely wear, each and every piece of womens clothing in this film. It is believed that Wood's mother, Lillian, always wanted a girl and would sometimes, until he was about 12 years old, dress her son in skirts and dresses. For the rest of his life, Wood was a heterosexual transvestite.

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• Ed
• Wood
• high
• fashion
• 1950s

[zuebee]

There are two different versions of the movie: one with a striptease sequence, and the other with a blackface minstrel comedy routine. The version with the striptease sequence is often released on video editions as the "director's cut."

[apehodet]

Ed Wood is the best worst director ever! When it comes to clothes, though, he probably didn't follow his regular "it's the big picture" philosophy...

[pwarkentin2pc]

Ed Wood definitely had a clothes fetish. The assicaitions between Wood, Reeves, and Lugosi certainly highlights the odd nature of Hollywood and its people which echoes to this day.