Teenage Rebel (1956)

Nancy Fallon gets custody of her teenage daughter Dodie back from her ex-husband when she remarries but she must win her love.

Director:

Edmund Goulding

Writers:

Charles Brackett, Edmund Goulding

Stars:

Ginger Rogers, Michael Rennie, Mildred Natwick

Nominated for 2 Oscars.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Ginger Rogers	...	Nancy Fallon
Michael Rennie	...	Jay Fallon
Mildred Natwick	...	Grace Hewitt
Rusty Swope	...	Larry Fallon
Lili Gentle	...	Gloria
Louise Beavers	...	Willamay
Irene Hervey	...	Helen Sheldon McGowan
John Stephenson	...	Eric McGowan
Betty Lou Keim	...	Dorothy 'Dodie' McGowan
Warren Berlinger	...	Dick Hewitt
Diane Jergens	...	Jane Hewitt

Storyline

A sometimes sappy, yet effective melodrama about a woman who tries to make amends with her teenage daughter that she gave up at the end of an unhappy marriage. When Nancy Fallon's daughter, Dorothy, is sent to live with her and her new family after years of separation, the struggle to maintain some semblance of family quickly deteriorates. (Nancy's ex-husband was able to persuade the courts to let him keep the girl because the mother was seen as unfit.) Now Dorothy's father has an interest other than his daughter and to appease his new interest, he asks Nancy to take and raise their daughter. This begins a tumultuous time in Dorothy's life as well as her mothers.

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Plot Keywords:

teenage girl | teenager | stepfather | rebelliousness | mother daughter relationship | 

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Taglines:

A grown-up picture for grown-up emotions!

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 November 1956 (USA)

Also Known As:

Adolescencia rebelde

Filming Locations:

20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min 90 min (FMC Library Print)

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.55:1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The first black and white film in CinemaScope.

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Quotes

Nancy Fallon: No one is ever quite the way we want them to be - no one.Most of all, we ourselves are not. But you can't go on resenting people. The mother you wanted... you will have to be yourself for your children."

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Connections

Referenced in Mischief (1985)

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Soundtracks

Dodie
Lyrics by Ralph Freed
Music by Edmund Goulding
Performed by The Hi Fi's

User Reviews

A really nice old B&W film about family relations.

"Teenage Rebel", released in 1956, was one of Ginger Rogers' last feature films, made when she was 45. It featured a couple of "future stars" (opening credits) Betty Lou Keim, as estranged daughter "Dodie" and Warren Berlinger as the nice kid "Dick" next door. As an interesting sideline, Betty Lou Keim only made 4 more movies over the next 3 years, then married Warren Berlinger in 1959, quit showbusiness, and has 4 children.

Dodie, 15, had been estranged from her mother for 8 years since her parents' divorce. Because her mother was the one who apparently had an "adulterous' relationship with the man she then married, Dodie's father was awarded custody. Since they traveled extensively, and had a home in NY, she had never been able to spend the court-ordered 3 weeks annually with her mother. At the age of 15, she was sent to her mother in California so that her father could secretly get married. It was obvious that she was unhappy being in California, resented her mother, resented her stepfather, and was generally angry with the world.

The movie is about Dodie's growth as a young adult, learning to fit in with normal teenagers, and learning how to accept her mother's love that she had rejected for so long. The story is done very well, and thgis movie is a good representation of 1950s B&W movies. I rate it a solid 7 of 10.