High School Confidential

Overview

Complete with a performance by Jerry Lee Lewis over its opening credits, Jack Arnold's High School Confidential stars Russ Tamblyn as Tony, a troubled street kid sent to live with his hot-to-trot aunt (Mamie Van Doren). After enrolling in school, he quickly becomes wrapped up in the local drug scene, culminating in a surprise ending. Also titled Young Hellions.

Product Details

Release Date:	08/26/2014
UPC:	0887090079709
Original Release:	1958
Rating:	NR
Source:	Olive
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[B&W]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Mono]
Language:	English
Time:	1:26:00
Sales rank:	20,358

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Russ Tamblyn	Tony Baker
Jan Sterling	Arlene Williams
John Drew Barrymore	J.I. Coleridge
Jackie Coogan	Mr. A
Mamie Van Doren	Gwen Dulaine
Diane Jergens	Joan Staples
Jerry Lee Lewis	Himself
Ray Anthony	Bix
Charles Chaplin Jr.	Quinn
Burt Douglas	Jukey Judlow
Michael Landon	Steve Bentley
Jody Fair	Doris
Phillipa Fallon	Poetess
Robin Raymond	Kitty
James Todd	Jack Staples
Lyle Talbot	William Remington Kane
William Wellman Jr.	Wheeler-Dealer
Joe Foster	Henchman
Diana Darrin	Gloria
Carl Thayler	Petey
Irwin Berke	Morino
Kim Chance	Waitress
Della Malzahn	Woman at Race
Gil Perkins	Police Sergeant
Ernst Von Theumer	Actor
Pierre Watkin	David Wingate

Technical Credits

Jack Arnold	Director
Albert Zugsmith	Producer

Editorial Reviews

The 1950s focused considerable attention on "the youth problem" (i.e., middle-class kids, bored with their lives, who turned to various forms of "delinquency," including drug use). High School Confidential was one of many teen exploitation pics of the period that supposedly dealt "seriously" with the issue, but really existed just to make a quick return on a low investment. Seen today, many of these films are tremendously entertaining -- the kind of film one laughs at rather than with. Confidential is definitely in this category, a pretty bad movie that is so deliciously dated that it's fun. The dialogue is classic '50s teen lingo as filtered through a Hollywood screenwriter's sensibility -- "I'm looking to graze on grass" and "Why don't we cut out, go to your pad, and live it up?" And John Drew Barrymore's totally hep retelling of the Christopher Columbus story has to be heard to be believed. Under the circumstances, the cast acquits itself rather admirably. Russ Tamblyn brings real commitment to his role and delivers the ludicrous dialogue as if it made sense, and Mamie van Doren is a perfect hoot as his sex-obsessed aunt. The "cool" soundtrack, including contributions by Jerry Lee Lewis, is a definite plus. Tamblyn would have much better luck with West Side Story a few years later.