The Delinquents (1957)

User Rating:

5.5/10   

Director:

Robert Altman

Writer:

Robert Altman (writer)

Release Date:

1 March 1957 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

The Hoods Of Tomorrow! The Gun-Molls Of The Future!

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Juvenile Delinquent

Cast

Tom Laughlin	...	Scotty White
Peter Miller	...	Bill Charters aka Cholly
Richard Bakalyan	...	Eddy
Rosemary Howard	...	Janice Wilson
Helen Hawley	...	Florence White
Leonard Belove	...	Charles White
Lotus Corelli	...	Mrs. Wilson
James Lantz	...	Mr. Wilson
Christine Altman	...	Sissy White
George Kuhn	...	Jay
Pat Stedman	...	Meg
Norman Zands	...	Chizzy
James Leria	...	Steve
Jet Pinkston	...	Molly
Kermit Echols	...	Bartender

Runtime:

72 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Kansas City, Missouri, USA

Company:

Imperial Productions Inc. (III)

Trivia:

In August 1957, this film was being being shown on a double bill with Night Passage (1957) starring James Stewart and Audie Murphy.

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...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Directors: The Films of Robert Altman (#2.9)" (2001)

Soundtrack:

The Dirty Rock Boogie

A semi-docu-drama on how adults felt about 50s teenagers

I enjoyed this vintage film because it shows 50s era kids as perceived by adults of the day. It opens with dialogue from an announcer explaining about the plight of todays teenagers, then the story begins showing kids in real life then as they deal with problems about going steady and socializing. Unlike most teen films of the 50s, they apparently used real police officers in the movie as they are credited for this during the film credits. I must, however, criticize the music the teens are playing at their party. It is definitely pre-rock n roll type music when, in reality, they would have been dancing to Elvis, Fats, and many other 1956 era artists. Of course, adults of the day were just learning about the teenage music of choice then.