Jackson County Jail (1976)

Director:

Michael Miller

Writer:

Donald Stewart (writer)

Release Date:

April 1976 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

The cops are there to protect her... but who will protect her from the cops?

Plot:

This is a powerful drama about a young woman who stumbles into a nightmare land of hijacking and humiliation...

Plot Keywords:

Wrongful Arrest | Breasts | Topless | Rape | Nudity

Cast

Yvette Mimieux	...	Dinah Hunter
Tommy Lee Jones	...	Coley Blake
Lisa Copeland	...	Girl in Commercial
Cliff Emmich	...	Mr. Bigelow (as Clifford Emmich)
Michael Ashe	...	Mr. Cooper
Edward Marshall	...	Mr. Blight
Howard Hesseman	...	David
Marciee Drake	...	Candy (David's Girlfriend)
Nan Martin	...	Allison
Betty Thomas	...	Waitress
Ken Lawrence	...	Paulie (Trucker at Counter)
Arthur Wong	...	Cook
Marcie Barkin	...	Girl in Restaurant (as Marci Barkin)
Nancy Lee Noble	...	Lola (as Nancy Noble)
Robert Carradine	...	Bobby Ray

Also Known As:

The Innocent Victim (USA) (video title)

Runtime:

USA:89 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Ryder Sound Services)

Certification:

Iceland:16 | France:-16 | New Zealand:R18 | West Germany:18 (nf) | Finland:(Banned) | Finland:K-16 (re-rating) | Sweden:15 | USA:R

Company:

New World Pictures

Trivia:

Selected by Quentin Tarantino for the First Quentin Tarantino Film Fest in Austin, Texas, 1996.

Quotes:

Dinah Hunter: They're gonna kill you!
Coley Blake: That don't matter. I was born dead.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Outside Chance (1978) (TV)

Tommy Lee Jones steals the show.

Poor Dinah Hunter (Yvette Mimieux): through no fault of her own, she ends up incarcerated while driving from Los Angeles to New York. Her first night, the guard on duty forces himself on her and she accidentally kills him in self-defense. With the assistance of modern outlaw Coley Blake (Tommy Lee Jones), she breaks out of jail and spends the rest of the picture on the lam.

To be honest, for a B movie described as a "chase picture", I was expecting more actual chases throughout, but it's a fine little film just the same. With its gritty and raw feel, but ultimately feminist point of view, it has a fair bit going for it. The unexpectedly poignant interchanges between Dinah and Coley provide the film with a solid anchor; both Mimieux and Jones deliver superb performances. Jones in particular, in his very first substantial film role, ignites the screen as a weary, cynical, born criminal (I have to like his line "I was born dead").

The two stars are ably supported by Robert Carradine as a seemingly benign hitchhiker who reveals his true colors later, Howard Hesseman as Dinahs' unfaithful husband, Severn Darden as the local sheriff, and Mary Woronov as a loyal friend of Coleys'.

Nicely directed by Michael Miller (who remade this for TV just two years later as 'Outside Chance') and written by Donald Stewart, the film itself does have a downbeat, cynical, fatalistic vibe, and really comes to life for a stirring, breathless conclusion.

Flavorful music by Loren Newkirk also really hits the spot; the film does slow down ever so slightly at some points, but successfully maintains a sense of urgency, as the cops are never really far behind.

It's a fine example of down South drive-in 1970's fare, thoughtful, interesting, and just plain fun.

7/10