'Girl On a Chain Gang' BD and DVD: Hazzard County Burning

The Film Detective separate Blu-ray and DVD releases of the pristinely restored black-and-white 1966 "hickplotation" film "Girl On a Chain Gang" (1966) provides a good chance to see a "Night of the Living Dead" style take on the murder case on which the 1988 film "Mississippi Burning" is based. TCM host and co-host (with her charming young son) of the Detective series of classic films for kids Jen Churchill coins the descriptive phrase and offers great pairings for "Girl" in her insightful audio commentary. The Ballhoo Motion Pictures documentary "It's All in the Title: Exploiting Jerry Gross" provides additional entertaining and educational tidbits about the film and the titular softcore producer. Learning about the casting call (and probable casting couch) descriptions alone is worth watching this short. The campy fun of this one includes shooting it on Long Island, all of the hicks playing their roles as if they are in an Edward Albee film adaptation of "The Andy Griffith Show," and the local good-time girl being a perfect morality tale. Modern macro and micro events make the release of this film sadly timely. It seems that claims of police brutality agaainst black people and efforts to suppress voting by that demographic make headlines at least once a month. A personal experience supports the theme of "Girl" that police misconduct is not limited to black people; the larger problem is resentment against those whom the arrested development boys-in-blue consider the enemy. The sad mesasage, which "Girl" conveys, is that it CAN happen here. Your not-so-humble, white, middle-aged 5'8, 150 pound reviewer who always dresses nicely was subject to the almost full force of a small-town law enforcement group in June 2020; continued fear of being dragged out of my home on completely false charges is behind not revealing more details. I had made a rare Covid-era venture to a grouping of outlet malls two hours from my home. My first stop was at a store that plays a large role in these events. I had filed a corporate complaint as to the horrific service, which included the clerks literally pushing me out of the way and refusing to help me get items from a top shelf, several months before. On arriving in June, I merely looked in the store window and saw that it was closed. I had a nice conversation with a mall maintenance worker, who saw me from the mooment that I approached the store until I walked away. On walking back 15 minutes later, I saw a police car in front of the store and figured that there had been evidence of a break in; I also thought the store would open 15 minutes later. I sat on a bench near the store, and a second police car soon raced around a corner and parked near me. The cop who got out REFUSED to accept my story that I had not pounded on the store door or yelled at the employees. He also REFUSED to try to find the maintenance guy to whom I had spoken. Two more police cars soon arrived to surround me. This resulted in four police cars in this community of 10,700 residents responding to an offense that was no worse than essentially being a "college boy." I never acted assertively or got off the bench. A friend with whom I discussed this commented that this alone made a good case for defunding the police. Doubling down involved the cops lying about the presence of video cameras that would have shown that I only looked in the window. The bigger picture (pun intended) is that I supposedly was so stupid that I created mayhem, left my car parked near the store, saw a police car when I returned 15 minutes later, and then sat on a bench by the store to make a telephone call. The police chief merely stated that his officers "misinterpreted the information" and stated that my being a "frustrated customer" months earlier justifed the abuse and the related no-trespss order. I knew that the cops would avoid any liablity for the incident and that filing a complaint would only brighten the target on my back. Our fictional story begins with titular future damsel-in-distress Jean and fellow freedom riders Ted, who is white, and Audie, who is black, driving through (presumably) deep south Carson's Landing while on a voter registration campaign. This predictably leads to red-neck deputy, whom the casting call refers to as a Barney Fife type, pulling the group over on a trumped up speeding charges. This just as expectedly leads to an arrest and a visit with textbook red-neck Sheriff Sonny Lew, who is more Buford T. Justice than Andy Taylor. Sonny Lew ratchets up the terror by relentlessly trying to find offenses that will justify locking up his latest prey. Right-minded viewers will delight as each failed effort further frustrates this psychopath with a badge. The mnost memorable line in this scene is Ted telling his friends that these corrupt cops staying within the law provides some protection. Our gang is set free only to make the rookie mistake of not getting out of Dodge. Ala your not-so-humble reviewer returning to the scene of the "crime," Jean and the boys stop at the local dive only to have a local succumb to the pressure of Sonny Lew to make a completely false claim. This empowers Sonny Lew to lock up the intellectuals before his blatantly kangaroo court convenes in the morning. This unfortunate incarceration leads to a night of terror for our literal innocents. The psychological warfare and physical attacks will make all Yankees want to avoid driving through small southern towns. A real-life perspective this time is that many residents of Savannah remain angry about Sherman burning that city. All of this leads to the climax to which the title of "Girl" refers. This is reminiscent of the classic "Charlie's Angels" episode "Girls in Chains" that finds that trio purposefully becoming the guests of a Bible Belt state. This portion of "Girl" also has a line that not only is the best on of that film but earns a place on the list of best film lines ever. Ala Scarlett O'Hara declaring that she never will go hungry again, Jean assertts that she will continue her hard labor before she will give into the lust of her jailor. Although "Girl" provides a typical quasi-Hollywood ending for this type of film, personal experience shows that the survivors of the events of "Girl" and their real-life counter-parts will never fully heal from their experiences. All of this warrants following the advice of Churchill to make yourself a 60s-era cocktail and watch this micro-budget grindhouse cult classic at the witching hour.