13 Frightened Girls (1963)

While attending a school for diplomats' daughters, the teen-aged daughter of the American ambassador uses her access to various embassies to engage in espionage.

Director:

William Castle

Writers:

Otis L. Guernsey Jr. (story), Robert Dillon (screenplay)

Stars:

Murray Hamilton, Joyce Taylor, Hugh Marlowe

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Murray Hamilton	...	Wally Sanders
Joyce Taylor	...	Soldier
Hugh Marlowe	...	John Hull
Khigh Dhiegh	...	Kang
Charlie Briggs	...	Mike the Chauffeur
Norma Varden	...	Miss Pittford
Garth Benton	...	Peter Van Hagen
María Cristina Servera	...	Argentina
Janet Mary Prance	...	Australia
Penny Anne Mills	...	Canada
Alexandra Bastedo	...	Alex - England (as Alexandra Lendon Bastedo)
Ariane Glaser	...	France
Ilona Schütze	...	Ilona - Germany
Anna Baj	...	Italy
Aiko Sakamoto	...	Japan

Storyline

Thirteen girls in a Swiss boarding school, particularly one Candace Hull ("Kitten", "Candy"), stir up trouble on their vacation as they mess with the diplomatic affairs of their elders and get into serious trouble when a Russian spy is discovered murdered.

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Plot Keywords:

psychotronic film | embassy | espionage | murder | spy | 

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Taglines:

13 TERRIFIED TEENAGERS ON THE RUN! (original print ad - all caps)

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Thriller

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Certificate:

Approved

Did You Know?

Trivia

Most of the "Teenage Diplomats" use their own names as the character names. The exceptions are the pivotal roles played by Kathy Dunn (Candy Hull the American), Lynne Sue Moon (Mai Ling the Chinese), and Gina Trikonis (Natasha the Russian).

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Goofs

Kathy uses her friendship with the 13 girls of the boarding school to infiltrate herself in the Embassies. None of the 13 girls is from Spain, but in one scene Kathy enters in the Spanish Embassy to do one of her missions.

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Connections

References Homicidal (1961)

User Reviews

The Odd Man Out in the William Castle Box Set

At a European school for diplomats daughters, Candice Hull (Kathy Dunn) is the American among a wide assortment of nationalities (more than thirteen, none of whom are frightened, despite the title). To help her friend keep his job as a spy, she secretly begins feeding him intelligence.

I have this film as part of thew William Castle Collection, a series of his 1960s horror films. "13 Frightened Girls" is not horror, has no real stars to speak of, and as already mentioned does not have thirteen frightened girls. What it does have is a very juvenile approach to Cold War espionage.

From the beginning, there's commie humor - with the Russia and China girls calling each other "comrades". And we find out that Red China apparently kills people and hides bodies in the embassy's kitchen, with no consequences. In fact, despite all the threats, death and illegal action, no one ever seems to hold anyone at fault. In a sense, it turns espionage into a kind of joke -- the threat of death is played down, even after a foreign spy is murdered. Candy never fully realizes what danger she is in, even when it's really obvious.

There's other oddities. There's an old man seduced by 16-year old Candy, though she ultimately fails. And the film has colors "like a Fauvist threw up all over the place", in the words of another reviewer. I wouldn't have made that connection, but sure enough... Henri Matisse could very well have painted the film cels.

The rumor is that Castle launched a worldwide hunt for the prettiest girls from 13 different countries to cast in the film. Oddly, none of them, even star Kathy Dunn, went on to do anything in the movie business. I'm not sure what this says about the film... how does everyone get overlooked? Anyway, the film is interesting. Not Castle's best work, probably not his worst. But if you want to see something outside the realm of PG-rated horror from Castle, this is the one you want. Geared more towards young adults, but enjoyable for anyone who wants to see a very unique perspective on Cold War spying.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

July 1963 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Candy Web

Filming Locations:

Big Bear Lake, Big Bear Valley, San Bernardino National Forest, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

William Castle Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1