Jailbird Rock (1988)

Director:

Phillip Schuman

Writers:

Edward Kovach (screenplay)
Eduard Sarlui (story)
(more)

Genre:

Musical

Tagline:

Prison took away her freedom, but not her dreams.

Plot:

A young dancer protecting her mother from her abusive stepfather is forced to shoot him. She is convicted and sent to prison. The inmates hatch an escape plan, part of which is to put on a musical show to cover the attempted breakout. |

Plot Keywords:

Prison | Women's Prison | Independent Film

Cast

Robin Antin	...	Jessie Harris
Valerie Richards	...	Peggy (as Valerie Gene Richards)
Robin Cleaver	...	Echo
Rhonda Aldrich	...	Max
Jacquelyn Houston	...	Samantha
Annie Livingstone	...	Mouse
Debra Laws	...	Lisa
Erica Jordan	...	Judy
Perry Lang	...	Denny
Ronald Lacey	...	Warden Bauman (as Ron Lacey)
Victoria Lustig	...	Dr. Lunde
María Noel	...	Mary
Sebastián Larreta	...	Lamont
Perla Cristal	...	Jessie's Mother
Theodore McNabney	...	Stepfather (as Ted McNabney)
Maria Carmen	...	Woman in Street
James Murray	...	Denny's Friend
Yolanda Pedroza	...	Max's Friend
Arthur Brown	...	Guard
Mariana Cedon	...	Jailbait
Marina Magali	...	Jailbait
Jessica Schultz	...	Jailbait
Georgina Campiglio	...	Jailbait
Andrea Gribben	...	Jailbait
Jorge Baza de Candia	...	Congressman Knowles (as George Baza)
Francisco Cano	...	Governor (as Frank Cano)
St. Martin School of Dancing	...	Dancers

Directed by
Phillip Schuman

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Edward Kovach		screenplay
Eduard Sarlui		story
Carole Stanley		screenplay

Produced by
J.C. Crespo	....	producer
Stephen Halbert	....	associate producer (as Steve Halbert)
Eduard Sarlui	....	executive producer
Luis A. Sartor	....	assistant producer
Helen Szabo	....	executive producer (as Helen Sarlui)

Cinematography by
Leonardo Rodríguez Solís		(as Leonardo Solis)

Film Editing by
Raja Gosnell		(as Raja R. Gosnell)
Peter Teschner

Production Design by
Gustavo Acosta

Art Direction by
Jorge Marchegiani		(as George Marchegiani)

Costume Design by
Gloria Van Hartenstein

Makeup Department
Alice Adamson	....	makeup artist
Marcelo Padovani	....	hair stylist (as Marcel Padovani)

Production Management
Charles Oliver	....	unit manager
Ricardo Vacas	....	production supervisor (as Richard Vaca)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jorge Gundin	....	first assistant director (as George Gundin)
Claudio Reiter	....	second assistant director (as Claude Reiter)

Art Department
Gustavo Acosta	....	constructor
George Roth	....	props

Sound Department
Roberto Arcangeli	....	sound effects
Christopher Cruise	....	dialogue editor
George Longo	....	boom operator
Daniele Quadroli	....	sound effects
Tracey Smith	....	dialogue editor (as Tracy Smith)
Ernest Vial	....	production sound mixer
Earl Watson	....	sound editor (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Lewis Castle	....	assistant camera
Dom Datri	....	gaffer
Juan José Fabio	....	assistant camera (as John Fabio)
Ever Latour	....	camera operator
Rodolfo Navarro	....	grip (as Rudolph Navarro)
Eric Phillips	....	assistant camera
Alfredo Suárez	....	still photographer

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Mónica Mendoza	....	wardrobe
María Molina	....	wardrobe

Editorial Department
Silvia Colmenero	....	negative cutter
Gillian L. Hutshing	....	assistant editor (as Gillian Hutshing)
Mario Mira	....	negative cutter
Darío Tedesco	....	negative cutter
Paul Watson	....	additional editor
Liberata Zocchi	....	assistant editor

Music Department
George Black	....	composer: song "Over and Out" (song "Gotta Move") (song "Wind on My Wings")
Tommy Dunbar	....	composer: song "Can't Shake the Beat"
Howard Huntsberry	....	composer: song "Over and Out"
Charles A. Judge	....	composer: songs "Can't Shake the Beat" and "Gotta Move" (as Charles Judge)

Other crew
Jon Baba	....	production assistant
Amelia Day	....	production accountant
Melody Doff	....	production assistant
Erica Jordan	....	assistant choreographer
Megan Koplin	....	production assistant
Claudia Lococo	....	production secretary
Debra Magit	....	production executive
Victoria Pearman	....	production executive
Dennon Rawles	....	choreographer
Luis Sartor	....	assistant to producer
Erez Yaoz	....	production assistant

Production Companies

• Continental

Distributors

• Continental Motion Pictures Corporation (1988) (USA) (theatrical)
• Cinéma Plus (????) (Canada) (VHS)
• Trans World Entertainment (TWE) (????) (USA) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Penta Studio  titles and opticals

Also Known As:

Can't Shake the Beat (Australia)
Entre rejas (Argentina)
Prisioneros de la danza (Argentina)
Prison Dancer (Europe: English title)

Runtime:

Canada:93 min | USA:90 min

Country:

Argentina | USA | Panama

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Australia:M | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Buenos Aires, Federal District, Argentina

Company:

Continental

Movie Connections:

References Jailhouse Rock (1957)

Soundtrack:

Over and Out

Flashdance goes to prison.

This women in prison film, clearly sold to SOMEBODY as "Flashdance goes to prison" is a midlly entertaining noodel that takes itself way 'too seriously. It's got the full round of women in prison Usual Suspects, including the nude shower/delousing scene, the body cavity search scene, the knife fight scene, the attempted lesbian rape scene/fight scene, the corrupt prison guard, the evil lesbian bitch prisoner that runs it all, etc., lacking only the jailhouse riot to round out the cliche roster.

Considering how by the numbers the movie is, and how silly the conceit is (dance as rehabilitation for hardcore prisoners) you'd think they'd have had more fun with it, but the movie is played kinda straight, which is its downfall. Plus the acting is generally so bad that the voices all sound dubbed even though they're not.

It's not exploitive enough to be a good exploitation flick, and not enough of anything else to be any other kind of flick. If it's on cable, might be tuning in if you have something else to do in the meantime.