The Young Stranger (1957)

When a 16-year-old, neglected by his movie producer father, gets in trouble, his father doesn't believe his claim of self-defense.

Director:

John Frankenheimer

Writer:

Robert Dozier

Stars:

James MacArthur, Kim Hunter, James Daly

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
James MacArthur	...	Hal Ditmar
Kim Hunter	...	Helen Ditmar
James Daly	...	Tom Ditmar
James Gregory	...	Police Sgt. Shipley
Whit Bissell	...	Grubbs
Jeffrey Silver	...	Jerry Doyle (as Jeff Silver)
Jack Mullaney	...	Confused Boy
Tom Pittman	...	Lynn Spears
Charles Davis	...	Detective
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Gary Vinson	...	Boy in Courtroom (scenes deleted)

Storyline

Sixteen year old high school student Hal Ditmar is the son of wealthy Tom and Helen Ditmar of Beverly Hills, Tom a famous movie producer. Although Tom is there in certain respects in Hal's life, such as being a physical presence at the family dinner table and providing Hal the creature comforts, he is not there emotionally for him in his focus on work. In his alienation, Hal displays his rebellion in certain ways, he acting out especially being belligerent toward strangers where the consequences would be minor and short lived. Hal, however, is truthful. Hal's rude behavior is the impetus for a minor altercation which, with actions on all sides, escalates to a point where he is charged with assault. Although Hal eventually admits his initial action may have started everything, he contends that the assault was all in self defense. With the purported victim, Grubbs, standing by the charge, Sgt. Shipley, the police detective in charge of the police's juvenile division believes Hal is just...

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 February 1957 (USA)

Also Known As:

Das nackte Gesicht

Filming Locations:

Bruin Theatre, Westwood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$350,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Stuart Miller Productions,RKO Radio Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

84 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

First feature film directed by John Frankenheimer. He had worked in television prior to this.

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Goofs

After Harold gets up to leave after asking his father to borrow the car, the shadow of the boom mic can be seen moving in and out of frame in the upper left hand corner of the screen.

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Quotes

[first lines]
[at school, Hal and Jerry are walking toward Hal's car]
Hal Ditmar: [to two female students walking together] Wanna ride?
Female Student: [looking at Hal's jalopy as the girls walk away] In that?

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Crazy Credits

opening title card "James MacArthur as The Young Stranger"

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Connections

References Dragnet (1951)

User Reviews

Great right out of the gate

The world is going to miss John Frankenheimer. This was his first feature film and it was four years before he directed his second, but don't let that dissuade you from seeking it out. Frankenheimer's direction is assured, and he gets some compelling performances out of his cast.

Someone else has already pointed them out, but I also want to talk up James Gregory and Whit Bissell in two key supporting roles. Both would work for Frankenheimer again -- Gregory most notably as the bumbling senator in "The Manchurian Candidate" -- and they do good work for him here.

If the whole thing seems too simple in the end, that's merely because Frankenheimer and writer Robert Dozier chose to tell a simple story, and they do it well. Keep a lookout for it -- Turner Classic Movies just might show it again.