The Jezebels (1975)

Director:

Jack Hill

Writers:

Jack Hill (story)
F.X. Maier (screenplay)

Release Date:

May 1975 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama

Tagline:

They'd Rather Kill Their Man Than Lose Him

Plot:

The "Dagger Debs" are a gang of snarling girls, and Maggie is their newest member. Lace, the ever tooth-gritting leader...

Plot Keywords:

Gang | High School | Drugs | Murder | Eye Patch

Cast

Robbie Lee	...	Lace
Joanne Nail	...	Maggie
Monica Gayle	...	Patch
Asher Brauner	...	Dominic
Chase Newhart	...	Crabs
Marlene Clark	...	Muff
Kitty Bruce	...	Donut
Janice Karman	...	Bunny
Don Stark	...	Hook
Don Marino	...	Guido
Helene Nelson	...	Cherry
Bill Adler	...	Fingers
Paul Lichtman	...	Mr. Clutch
J.S. Johnson	...	Principal Weasel
Kate Murtagh	...	Mom Smackley

Also Known As:

Playgirl Gang (USA) (reissue title)
Switchblade Sisters (USA) (reissue title)

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

West Germany:18 | Australia:R | USA:R | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Company:

Centaur Pictures Inc.

Trivia:

Director Jack Hill, when interviewed at the 1996 re-release of the film, pointed out that it did have some authenticity - he interviewed girl gang members and rewrote the script. "But the idea of doing a realistic movie about street gangs with beautiful blondes in hot pants was preposterous, so we tried to make it a wacky fantasy."

Quotes:

[after Mom Smackley tries to molest her]
Maggie: Get your hands off me, you fat pig dyke!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)

Jack Hill's Chick-Gang Giant!

This lurid and dynamic exploi-flick was a fun hit when it came out (I saw it first-run on "The Deuce", oh happy days...), and its even more fun now, thanks to Quentin Tarantino's lucrative hindsight re-release. From the opening scenes, in which the "Dagger Debs" maul a sleazy Repo Man, we know we're in for some of the nastiest yet charming anarchy we've seen in a long time. Even the opening credits photo-montage manages to capture the desperate squalor of the 70s better than a dozen art films. The cast are all great, just overdrawn enough to illuminate the tawdry settings and lurid dialog. Director Hill handles tawdry settings, lurid dialog and overwrought actors better than anyone I know, creating edgy and engaging melodrama where others would fashion mere campy havoc. Kind of a feminist update on AIP's golden 1960 chestnut HIGH SCHOOL CAESAR, SS also reminds me of other chick-gang classics like GIRL GANG, THE VIOLENT YEARS and TEENAGE DOLL. This flick is full of surprises; just when you think its getting predictable, there's a shocking, bloody machine-gun massacre in a roller-skating rink. This is one of those great low-budget films of the era in which

lack of funds actually seems to enhance the gritty, forlorn

atmosphere of the proceedings, and the film thus works both as high

drama and archeological time capsule. Another winner for Hill.