THE LADY IN RED (1979)

Farm girl Polly Franklin (Pamela Sue Martin) escapes her stifling home and cruel, Bible-belting father for Chicago in the Thirties. She slaves in a sweatshop, then as a taxi dancer, then in a brothel, does a stint in jail, and ends up as John Dillinger's girlfriend. This ultra-B movie was directed by Lewis Teague, but it's a Corman production from start to finish--deliriously and unashamedly trashy and lurid, and often funny, pushing the limits of ca.1979 nudity, f-bombs and general mayhem. The jail scenes are over the top, even by the generally sadistic treatment of women's prisons in earlier movies. But, it's never obnoxious because Corman spent money on this production, and got excellent performances from Martin, spunky and resilient; Louise Fletcher as Anna Sage, who betrayed Dillinger; and Nancy Parsons, who plays the cruel but somehow entertaining Tiny Alice, prison matron, with verve and conviction (to say nothing of self-parody--you'll howl). This movie is good, dirty fun.