''Gator Bait'' (U.K. title: ''Swamp Bait'') is a 1973 film written, produced, and directed by

Beverly Sebastian Beverly Sebastian and Ferd Sebastian are American film directors, producers and writers, whose independent films in the 1970s and 1980s were predominantly exploitation pictures similar to the work of Roger Corman and other directors in the 1 ...

and Ferd Sebastian. The film starred former

Playboy ''Playboy'' (stylized in all caps) is an American men's Lifestyle journalism, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, available both online and in print. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, funded in part by a $ ...

Playmate of the Year This is a list of models who were chosen as a Playboy Playmate of the Year for the American edition of ''Playboy'' magazine. List of Playmates of the Year *1953: Marilyn Monroe *1954: *1955: *1956: *1957: Lisa Winters *1958: *1959: *1960: ...

Claudia Jennings Mary Eileen Chesterton (December 20, 1949 – October 3, 1979), known professionally as Claudia Jennings, was an American actress and model. Jennings was ''Playboy'' magazine's Playmate of the Month for November 1969, later becoming Playmate of ...

. It was followed by the sequel '' 'Gator Bait II: Cajun Justice''.

Plot

The film follows a

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poacher Poaching is the illegal hunting or capturing of wild animals, usually associated with land use rights. Poaching was once performed by impoverished peasants for subsistence purposes and to supplement meager diets. It was set against the hunti ...

named Desiree Thibodeau who lives deep in the

swampland A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...

. Ben Bracken and

Deputy Deputy or depute may refer to: * Steward (office) * Khalifa, an Arabic title that can signify "deputy" * Deputy (legislator), a legislator in many countries and regions, including: ** A member of a Chamber of Deputies, for example in Italy, Spain, ...

Billy Boy find Desiree trapping alligators and chase her, looking to rape her. Desiree outsmarts the two men. During the chase, however, Billy Boy accidentally shoots Ben. Billy Boy tells his father, Sheriff Joe Bob Thomas, that Desiree was the shooter. Sheriff Thomas and his son join a search party who is also looking for Desiree and attack her family. Desiree exacts her revenge against the attackers.

Cast

Character actor Bill Thurman is best known for his work with writer-director

Larry Buchanan Larry Buchanan (January 31, 1923 − December 2, 2004), born Marcus Larry Seale Jr., was a film director, producer and writer, who proclaimed himself a " schlockmeister". Many of his extremely low-budget films have landed on "worst movie" lists or ...

on films such as ''Zontar, the Thing from Venus'' (1966) and ''Curse of the Swamp Creature'' (1966). He appeared in the major studio, mainstream films ''The Last Picture Show'' (1971) for

Peter Bogdanovich Peter Bogdanovich (July 30, 1939 – January 6, 2022) was an American director, writer, actor, producer, critic, and film historian. He started out his career as a young actor studying under Stella Adler before working as a film critic for ''Fi ...

, and ''The Sugarland Express'' (1974) for Steven Speilberg, that director's first theatrical feature. Sam Gilman, a close friend of Marlon Brando, appeared alongside the actor in the Brando vehicle, ''One Eyed Jacks'' (1961).

Production

Ferd Sebastian said the film was written as a vehicle for Claudia Jennings, with whom they had worked on ''The Single Girls''. "She wanted to do a film with not a lot of dialog, so ''Gator Bait'' was it," said Sebastian. "As I really like to work with the Cajun people. We all piled into our motorhome and left LA... We were headed for the swamps, Myself, Bev, Claudia, our two boys a dog and a pregnant cat. It was by far the most fun shoot I have ever been on." According to a contemporary article, the Sebastians wrote the film for Jennings but she was unavailable for filming. They shot the movie for a week on location trying to find another actress, but then Jennings became available. "I would never have been satisfied with anyone else," said Beverly Sebastian. The film was shot over three months mostly in

Uncertain, Texas Uncertain is a city in Harrison County, Texas, Harrison County, Texas, United States. According to the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, the city population was 94, down from 150 at the 2000 census. In 2020 United States census, 2020, it had ...

, near

Caddo Lake Caddo Lake () is a lake and bayou (wetland) on the border between Texas and Louisiana, in northern Harrison County and southern Marion County in Texas and western Caddo Parish in Louisiana. The lake is named after the Caddoans or Caddo, ...

and off the bayous at Red River between Shreveport and Natichotes. "We were down there with all the floods and had our locations wiped out every day," said Jennings.

Reception

The film made its world debut at the Rose Garden Drive In in Tyler. According to a co producer on the film "Within a couple of weeks, we made a half million dollars on it. After 18 months, we made $15 million." "We know our audience," said Ferd. "Our movies have a plot that goes A-B-C. Nothing complicated just a lot of action and a story I can understand, that you can understand and that the guy who dropped out of school in the ninth grade can get something out of."

References

External links