The Cry Baby Killer (1958)

Nicholson makes his film debut as a juvenile delinquent, who panics when he thinks he's committed murder.

Director:

Jus Addiss

Writers:

Leo Gordon (screenplay), Leo Gordon (story),

Stars:

Harry Lauter, Jack Nicholson, Carolyn Mitchell

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Harry Lauter	...	Police Lt. Porter
Jack Nicholson	...	Jimmy Wallace
Carolyn Mitchell	...	Carole Fields
Brett Halsey	...	Manny Cole
Lynn Cartwright	...	Julie
Ralph Reed	...	Joey
John Shay	...	Police Officer Gannon
Barbara Knudson	...	Mrs. Maxton
William A. Forester	...	Carl Maxton
John Weed	...	Police Sgt. Reed
Frank Richards	...	Pete Gambelli
Bill Erwin	...	Mr. Wallace
James Fillmore	...	Al
Smoki Whitfield	...	Sam (as Jordan 'Smoki' Whitfield)
Ed Nelson	...	Rick Connor

Storyline

17-year-old Jimmy Walker is brutally beaten by Manny Cole and two of his teen-age punk friends, Joey and Al, because Manny wants to move in on Jimmy's girl, Carole Fields. Later, Jimmy shows up at the hangout of the teenage crowd to take Carole away, and challenges Manny to a fight. Manny's two buddies move in with brass knuckles, and one of them pulls a pistol, which falls to the ground in the scuffle. Jimmy picks it up and shoots Manny and Al. A police officer orders Jimmy to surrender, but he panics, thinking he killed the pair, and dives into a small storeroom, and holds Sam and Mrs. Maxton and her small infant baby hostages. Police Lieutenant Porter and others plead with Jimmy to surrender and release the hostages, but the terrified Jimmy threatens Sam and Mrs. Maxton with death if they break out. A large crowd gathers and almost breaks through the police lines to storm the storeroom. Porter decides to use tear gas, with a rescue unit standing by to help Mrs. Maxton and her baby....

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Plot Keywords:

police | panic | surrender | hostage | murder | 

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Taglines:

YESTERDAY a Teenage Rebel... TODAY a mad-dog slayer!

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 August 1958 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ena pistoli, ena fili, mia dolofonia

Company Credits

Production Co:

Allied Artists Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

70 min 75 min (director's cut)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This was Jack Nicholson's film debut.

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Connections

Featured in E! True Hollywood Story: Jack Nicholson (2005)

User Reviews

Great Camp

Cry Baby Killer, The (1958)

*** (out of 4)

This is somewhat of a Holy Grail for me because I've been dying to see this flick since I became a fan of Jack Nicholson back in the late 80s. I've been pretty lucky to know people who own rare movies but not a single one ever had this film and in fact, I never he knew anyone who had actually seen it. In the film Nicholson (in his debut) plays a hot headed teen who is upset when the town's tough guy steals his girl. After being jumped, Nicholson gets ahold of a gun, kills the tough guy and then takes another man, a woman and her baby hostage. A tough as nails cop (Harry Lauter) tries to talk him out as the television station and onlookers gather outside. This moral/teenage flick is in the same vein as Rebel Without a Cause but it stands out due in large part to being Nicholson's debut. I wouldn't say he gives a good performance as he goes way too over the top in a few scenes but you can see certain trademarks that'll show up in some of his classic performances. The scenes with him screaming at the crying baby get some unintentional laughs as does a few other scenes but this just adds to the cult appeal. Since this film is on DVD now I'm sure it will become a cult classic of the Drive-In teenage films. Producer Roger Corman and screenwriter Leo Gordon have cameos.