High School Confidential (1958)

[Ascotrudgeracer]

It's on in the morning real soon...YOU have to check when; after all, this IS the information age!

 

But how can anyone NOT like it?

 

*Mamie Van Doren(!), Russ Tamblyn, Jackie Coogan...more...AND HEROIN and the dreaded MARIJUANA!*

 

All this at an LA high school (think they used Marshall High).

[DougieB]

Mamie could really make or break a movie, couldn't she? And so courageous to be dealing with all those hot-button issues. Unfortunately, even a decade later, things hadn't improved in our high schools, judging from "MaryJane", with Fabian as the teacher accused of peddling dope to, among others, Patty MacCormack (sp?) Turns out the real guilty party is selling the product in question out of an ice cream truck down by the public park, where YOUNGSTERS gather. Is no child safe?

[HollywoodGolightly]

> {quote:title=DougieB wrote:}{quote}

> Mamie could really make or break a movie, couldn't she? And so courageous to be dealing with all those hot-button issues.

 

You don't think it was a bit exploitative, though?

[DougieB]

Totally. The fun of these movies is that they get so caught up in sensationalizing the issues that reality gets put on the back burner. Mamie was smart enough to see a niche career in this field and went for it. Her presence practically guaranteed an over-the-top good time, bless her.

P.S. And let's give Mamie credit for range: In "Girl's Town" she went from total bad girl to reformed model teen under the guidance of the sisters at the Girls' Reformatory, no small feat for any actress. I think that was the year that Susan Hayward won for "I Want To Live!", so Mamie was robbed.

 

Edited by: DougieB on Nov 1, 2009 10:54 AM