Ernest Goes to Jail

Ernest Goes to Jail

Ernest Goes to Jail is a 1990 American comedy film directed by John R. Cherry III and starring Jim Varney. It is the fourth film to feature the character Ernest P. Worrell. It was shot in Nashville and Tennessee State Penitentiary. This is the second most successful of the Ernest films, behind Ernest Saves Christmas. It was in third place during its opening weekend, earning $6,143,372. Total gross was $25,029,569.

Genre: Comedy, Crime, Family
Director(s): John R. Cherry III
Production: Touchstone Pictures
 
IMDB:
5.4
Rotten Tomatoes:
13%
PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Year:
1990
81
5,865 Views

Auntie Nelda:
The way they run this institution is an outrage, for a poor, tired, old lonely woman like me. Her only son, a felon, though not a terribly successful one. Young man? Young man?

[The gate guard comes out]

Auntie Nelda:
Young man, would you please open that gate? I left my car running outside.

Gate Guard:
Ma'am, you tell me how you got through this gate? The visitors exit on the other side of the prison.

Auntie Nelda:
I brought him up as best I could, but sometimes a bad seed falls from even the most fragile flower.

Gate Guard:
Ma'am, you're not going through this gate.

Auntie Nelda:
Is this the way you treat your mother? Is this the kind of abuse that poor woman must endure?

Gate Guard:
Well, I guess that my mother is a little bit mad at...

Auntie Nelda:
Mmm-hmm! You ought to be in the slammer with the rest of these misfits. If you had any remorse at all for the horror you push your own mother through, you'd open that gate. I have a car overheating as we speak.

[Ernest (as Auntie Nelda) makes a snooty expression at the gate guard]

Gate Guard:
Okay, okay.

[Picks up phone]

Gate Guard:
All right! Let's open the east gate.

[Hangs up phone]

Gate Guard:
There! Now you satisfied?

Auntie Nelda:
I'll tell your mother how her son has improved despite his shaded and somewhat checkered past.

[Prison balls tied to a chain fall out of Ernest's disguise]

Auntie Nelda:
[Lying about the prison balls] The doctor told me I'd only have to wear these until after the surgery.

[Guard nods sarcastically and takes Ernest away]

[Note:
One person mentioned isn't a separate character; instead, it's a role played by a character. "Auntie Nelda" refers to Ernest dressed up as an elderly woman to try and fool the gate guard.]

[Ernest and the crew he's with are being forced to go into a jail cell, and Ernest is mistaking the prison he's in for his jury "accommodations"]

Ernest P. Worrell:
We're sequestered. And on top of that we can't even leave! Oh, this is great. This is just great.

[The prison guard comes up from behind him and grabs him by his collar]

Ernest P. Worrell:
I hope you've got a good story to tell my boss! After all, I do have a living to earn.

Prison guard:
[crossly] Now look, Nash...

Ernest P. Worrell:
My name is Worrell. Ernest P. Worrell.

Prison guard:
Oh, Mr. Funny-Man, huh? Yeah, Mr. Funny-Man. You'll think funny when you're tapping to the tune of 2-20, son!

[Throws him into his cell]

Ernest P. Worrell:
[Remarking to his cell-mates] That is the rudest bailiff I have ever seen in my life. [Lyle throws Ernest against the bars of the cell] Wait a minute. [bangs his head against the bars and recognizes Lyle] You're that guy! [yells to the guard] Bailiff! Bailiff! [to Lyle] You're in big trouble now, pal. Bailiff!

Prison guard:
[approaches Ernest's cell] What is it, Nash?

Ernest P. Worrell:
You see that guy?

Prison guard:
Yeah, so?

Ernest P. Worrell:
No, I mean look... look at him. [bangs the guard's head against the bars] Come closer. Look. You see that guy? He's not on the jury. This man is a prisoner!

Prison guard:
Ugh! I oughta throw you in the hole for that, Nash!

Ernest P. Worrell:
The hole?

Prison guard:
Yeah, the hole! [walks off]

Ernest P. Worrell:
The hole like... like in solitary, the hole? Like, in real prison? Like in real, really, really, really, really real prison? The hoose-gow, the slammer, the joint, Alcatraz, San Quentin, Sing Sing... Oh no, I'm in... I'm in... JAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIL!!!!

Prison guard:
(laughs sternly)


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