Youth Runs Wild (1944)

User Rating:

4.2/10   

Director:

Mark Robson

Writers:

John Fante (story) and
Herbert Kline (story) ...

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

TIMELY! TRUTHFUL! (original ad under alternate title "Are These Our Children" - all caps)

Plot:

During WWII, adults are either off fighting or busy in the factories, so juvenile delinquency becomes a major problem back home...

Plot Keywords:

Home Front | Child | WWII | Jealousy | Hospital

Cast

Bonita Granville	...	Toddy
Kent Smith	...	Danny Coates
Jean Brooks	...	Mary Hauser Coates
Glen Vernon	...	Frank Hauser (as Glenn Vernon)
Vanessa Brown	...	Sarah Taylor (as Tessa Brind)
Ben Bard	...	Mr. Taylor
Mary Servoss	...	Mrs. Cora Hauser
Arthur Shields	...	Father killed by his son (scenes deleted)
Lawrence Tierney	...	Larry Duncan
Johnny Walsh	...	Herb Vigero
Rod Rodgers	...	Rocky
Elizabeth Russell	...	Mrs. Mabel Taylor

Runtime:

67 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #9767) | USA:TV-PG (TV rating)

Company:

RKO Radio Pictures

Trivia:

Because RKO re-cut Val Lewton's original version and eliminated several scenes, many cast members in studio records/casting call lists did not appear or were not identifiable in the movie. These were (with their character names): Margaret Landry (Hysterical Girl), Joan Blair (Mrs. Loring), Molly Lamont (Mrs. Webster), Dorothy Malone (Girl in Booth), Daun Kennedy (Girl in Booth), Mike Road (Boy with Toddy), Donald Kerr (Member of Horse Act), Les Clark (Member of Horse Act), Gordon Jones (Truck Driver), Harry Harvey (Watchman), Jack Gargan (Man at Shooting Gallery) and Don Dillaway (Drunk). Some other more obscure cast members may also have been cut.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Val Lewton: The Man in the Shadows (2007)

Soundtrack:

Jingle Bells

Ought to have been much better

I was confused early in this movie. The story seemed to jump around. Characters it was assumed we know were unclear. In the movies for which Val Lewton is famous, this would be unthinkable.

The point of view shifts, too. So we find it difficult to care about any of the characters: We don't really know them. They are types: They're cardboard cut-outs.

It's essentially a juvenile delinquent movie. The kids are not that delinquent, though. Neither do they really come across as kids.

Their parents are cold and uncaring. But on the other hand: The war is going on. One mother apparently works in a munitions plant or some other patriotic spot. So we can't fault them totally.

In some ways the biggest kick of the film comes from the casting of one relatively small role: Of all people, Lawrence Tierney plays a basically decent guy. He doesn't want to see the youth start to run wild. That soon changed, in terms of his casting.