MovieChat Forums > The Giant Gila Monster Discussion > Did Old Man Harris Break Out Of Jail?

Did Old Man Harris Break Out Of Jail?

posted 18 years ago by Attillio
2 replies | jump to latest

On the same night as that fateful sock-hop at the barn, Sheriff Jeff had (earlier in the evening) locked-up Old Man Harris in the town jail for driving under the influence.

Yet, later that very same night, as we saw Chase, Lisa, Gordon and the rest of the gang at the sock-hop, we also saw Old Man Harris, schmoozing with the adult lady chaperones there in the barn and downing "sodee-pop." Did Mr. Harris somehow escape from Sheriff Jeff's jail? And why didn't Sheriff Jeff immediately arrest Mr. Harris, when the Sheriff and the town millionaire walked into the barn to arrest Chase (for supposedly "interfering" with the crime scene evidence at the millionaire's son's car wreck out on the dried-out river bed)?

Sheriff Jeff surely would have caught even MORE "Ned" from the grumpy millionaire for that jailhouse snafu, imo.

[–] mstomaso 18 years ago

It's an old western cliche concerning drunks. Check it out on the Andy Griffith Show some time. He didn't escape, he was let go after he 'slept it off'. There was no arrest - he was just told to o to the "drunk tank". Not much science behind that, but that's why we have cliches, isn't it?

Whoever tells the best story wins ~John Quincy Adams

[–] Attillio 18 years ago

That IS a great point about routinely letting the town drunk just "sleep-it-off" in the jail.

By the way, the jail in Mayberry, N.C. (where Sheriff Andy Taylor used to let local town drunk Otis "sleep-it-off" quite frequently) looked like the enormous and modern precinct house in "NYPD Blue," in comparison to Sheriff Jeff's rather small and dilapidated-looking town jail in "The Giant Gila Monster."

"Chase Winstead will absolutely wow the judges on 'American Idol' with his heartfelt rendition of 'The Mushroom Song'!" - Old Man Harris