Jailbird Rock Reviews

After a hiatus in the late 1970s and early 80s, the women-in-prison film made a comeback toward the end of the decade. JAILBIRD ROCK is a better-than-average contribution to the genre, less exploitative than the general run. High school student Antin comes home one day to find her stepfather beating her mother. Antin tries to make him stop and, when he doesn't, shoots him. Sent to prison for a two-year stretch on a manslaughter rap, she immediately runs afoul of Aldrich, the top-dog inmate. When Aldrich starts a fight and tries to kill Antin, all the women involved go to solitary. There Antin is persuaded by the other prisoners, talking through the walls, into helping them put together a variety show. The warden sees an opportunity to pick up some easy publicity through the project, so he allows the show to go on, booking a hall outside the walls. JAILBIRD ROCK rises above the usual with good performances, catchy songs, and some decent dancing. The women-in-prison plot is usually an excuse for endless topless scenes, but this film eschews them, shifting the emphasis of the inevitable lesbianism away from sex and toward the affectionate, even loving relationships among the female inmates. For a genre in which the basic elements haven't changed much in decades, this is progress.