The Delinquents (1957)

A frustrated young man, separated from his younger girlfriend, gets involved in a juvenile gang.

Director:

Robert Altman

Writer:

Robert Altman

Stars:

Tom Laughlin, Peter Miller, Richard Bakalyan

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tom Laughlin	...	Scotty
Peter Miller	...	Cholly
Richard Bakalyan	...	Eddy
Rosemary Howard	...	Janice
Helen Hawley	...	Mrs. White
Leonard Belove	...	Mr. White
Lotus Corelli	...	Mrs. Wilson
James Lantz	...	Mr. Wilson
Christine Altman	...	Sissy
George Kuhn	...	Jay
Pat Stedman	...	Meg
Norman Zands	...	Chizzy
James Leria	...	Steve
Jet Pinkston	...	Molly
Kermit Echols	...	Bartender

Storyline

Scotty White (age 19) must stop 'going steady' with Janice Wilson (age 16) when Janice's parents intervene. Frustrated, idle and without Janice's restraining influence, Scotty encounters Cholly and his band of disorganized, fun-loving delinquents. Soon he has Janice (who seems considerably the more mature of the two) mixed up in their doings, which begin to seem less and less like harmless fun...

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Plot Keywords:

juvenile delinquent

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Taglines:

The Kids Who Live Today...As if There's No Tomorrow...

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 March 1957 (USA)

Also Known As:

Os Delinqüentes

Filming Locations:

Kansas City, Missouri, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$65,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$1,000,000 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Imperial Productions Inc. (III)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

72 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Did You Know?

Trivia

Film debut of Richard Bakalyan.

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Quotes

Narrator: The story you are about to see is about violence and immorality - teenage violence and immorality, children trapped in the half-world between adolescence and maturity - their struggle to understand, their need to be understood. Perhaps in its rapid progression into the material world, man has forgotten the spiritual values which are the moral fiber of a great nation: decency, respect, fair play... Perhaps he has forgotten to teach these values to his own; he has forgotten to teach his children ...

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Connections

Referenced in The Directors: The Films of Robert Altman (2001)

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Soundtracks

"The Dirty Rock Boogie"
Written by Bill Nolan and Ronnie Norman
Performed by the Bill Nolan Quintet Minus Two
Sung by Julia Lee

User Reviews

Fall Out From The Bomb

Very seriously dated Prolog and Epilog Eisenhower era nonsense aside, there is some interesting and slick stuff in the middle of this JD (Juvenile Delinquent) Movie. The JD scare of the Fifties turned out to be mostly hype and a misunderstanding and misinterpretation of Progressive Evolution unleashed in the post War Younger Generation by Atomic Radiation (just kidding), but it did manifest itself nonetheless.

It seems the folks who fought and won the War wanted nothing more than to settle down and hatch some young-ins and enjoy the spoils. But they were not prepared for their Kids to spend their newly found pocket money on, God forbid, Monkey Music and Passion Pits (Drive-Ins). They even wanted to "go steady". So there was quite a hoopla about what and who to blame for all this "independent thought and rebellious attitudes". Kids these days.

So there was a lot of Social commentary about Rock n' Roll, Comic Books, and Communists brainwashing these innocents (no one mentioned TV, that was the flickering glue that kept good Folks home with its radiating hypnogogia).

The celebrated Maverick, Robert Altman's first Film, is better than most of its ilk. There are some touches that are remarkable. Some bloodletting and a vicious fist fight in the Kitchen and a forced liquor overdose in the Living Room (contrasting Suburban Sanctuaries). The Movie is more accomplished than other low-budget Teensploitations and is quite compelling at times and is definitely worth a view for its time-stamped allure and for the Rookie Writer/Director.