San Quentin, my ass. The escape is from the laxest-run prison farm in the history of movies, and no major obstacles present themselves as two of our protagonists steal a plane (!) and another cuts a fence. Nor do the police and authorities seem to exert much effective effort once they are out. It should all be funny, but instead it is rather flat.

The lead performance by minor pop singer Johnny Desmond is genuinely terrible to the extent that it is actually difficult to watch. The other actors are professional, including the always enjoyable Merry Anders, but Desmond with his facial tics hogs the thing.

Very tiny compensations to be found in some nice Los Angeles location footage, and in the spare and interesting score by guitarist Laurindo Almeida, which deserved a better film.