El joven extraño

What often threatens to turn into a soppy and soft-headed drama about misunderstood middle-class youth ends up a surprisingly shaded and subdued movie by John Frankenheimer (his first, though he had started in television, directing among other things an earlier version of this script).

We are still in those semi-mythic ‘50s when teenagers drove jalopies and jeans were still dungarees. James MacArthur (adoptive son of playwright Charles and actress Helen Hayes, and later to enter pop culture as Hawaii 5-0's Danno) gets involved in a minor incident in a movie theater which escalates to his throwing a punch at the manager (Whit Bissell) and being booked down at the police station. His dad (James Daly), a big-shot movie producer gets the call, doesn't listen to his son's version of the story, and pulls strings to get him off.

But MacArthur keeps carrying a chip on his shoulder, which even his sympathetic mom (Kim Hunter) can't knock off. Things worsen in the Coldwater Canyon homestead until MacArthur, trying to vindicate himself, stages a reprise of the original incident....

The movie doesn't quite avoid the attitudes – and cliches – of its time, but presents them with considerable nuance: Every character gets an honorable hearing; every point of view has its merits (and reactions to the movie will depend on what viewers bring to it). There are flaws (the word `crummy,' a standard rebellious euphemism of the era, is used about 30 times too often) but they're outweighed by strengths. The movie benefits from a strong cast (most notable among them the excellent character actor James Gregory, as a police detective) and a resolutely non-exploitative way of telling its story. From a vantage point in the new millennium, the hot water MacArthur finds himself in may seem a little tepid, but The Young Stranger remains honest and honorable.

... because by 1955 RKO was a sinking ship and Howard Hughes was tired of the play toy he had broken. He ended up selling to General Tire and Rubber who, opposite of Hughes, completely neglected it. They simply did not care that their product was a laughingstock because they were planning to use it as a tax write-off, which was very important in the days of 90% taxation.

But this film is pretty good. You have John Frankenheimer in his directorial debut, James MacArthur in the lead in only his third film appearance as the "young stranger", with veteran Kim Hunter as his mother. Character actors Whit Bissel and James Gregory turn in fine supporting performances.

Although this film is allegedly about juvenile delinquency, it isn't really. James MacArthur plays Hal Ditmar, the 16-year-old only child of movie producer Tom Ditmar and his wife Helen. Today such a teen would be completely isolated from all normal problems and normal people but, in the high taxation days of the 1950s, his family lives well enough and has a big house and a maid, but Hal goes to public high school, drives a beater of a car, and is friends with the most middling of middle class kids.

Hal goes to the movies one night with his best friend. A guy and his date sit down in the row in front of him. When Hal puts his feet up on the seat in front of him and next to the guy with the date, words are exchanged. The guy gets the theater manager who ejects Hal and his friend from the theater, but not before he demands that they go to his office for a reason he won't disclose. When Hal tries to leave the theater, the manager grabs him and Hal defends himself by punching the manager.

Of course, this is not the story the theater manager tells the police. He said he was assaulted without cause. So Hal is arrested after - 1. Exchanging words with an obnoxious fellow patron. 2. Being accused of delinquency by the manager in retaliation for all of the actual delinquents the manager never managed to catch 3. Being detained for no particular reason. 4. Defending himself when grabbed. The police and Hal's father believe the manager and won't even let Hal say what really happened. Complications ensue.

This is a really good examination of the price of post war success often being borne by the children of said post war successes who don't take time to get to know their own kids. In this case the wife feels left out too as success can be a demanding mistress. I'd recommend this entertaining yet rather obscure film.

When the story begins, Hal (James MacArthur) and his friend are at a movie theater and Hal is behaving a bit like a jerk with the man sitting in front of him. He SHOULD have taken his feet off the chair and that would have been the end of it. However, Hal wouldn't back down and the man goes to get the manager. At this point, Hal backs off and tries to just leave the theater to diffuse the situation. But the theater owner has an usher grab him and drag him back into the theater and, not surprisingly, a scuffle breaks out. Hal slugs the manager, as he was trying to get away. Soon, he's arrested and the police and the boy's father both refuse to listen to him and hear his side of the story.

Following this incident, Hal is very mouthy and angry. Much of it you can understand--his father, in particular, would not listen nor support him at all. And, in addition, it seems that Dad's way of handling things is to lecture and then bail his son out of trouble...but the boy is longing for a real connection with the man. At the same time, it becomes obvious that the father has also alienated his wife, as he is very closed emotionally with her as well. It becomes obvious that Hal and the family could use some therapy...not the police.

This is a really exceptional family drama. The characters and dialog seem very real and the story is very moving. Well worth your time.

A teenage James MacArthur stars in this film dealing with the age old theme of listen to your children as well as try to believe them.

From an affluent Beverly Hill home, MacArthur finds himself being harassed in a movie theater after a patron complained about his putting his legs on a chair. The problem is that there were plenty of people saw the harassment by the manager of the theater but no one was asked to say anything. This is a definite problem in the screen writing.

I had actually forgotten that James Daly was an actor. I remember him in television commercials. As his wife, Kim Hunter looks like she is annoyed with the whole plot. We suddenly find out that she has been contemplating leaving Daly for 5 years. What's stopping you lady, your life of luxury?

While John Frankenheimer always dealt with social problems, this one is cliché ridden.

Acting kudos goes to James Gregory as a hard-nosed police officer who adds to the problem by giving MacArthur a bad time. I think this picture was a cheap stunt to continue the theme of "Rebel Without A Cause." That Sal Mineo masterpiece also deals with wayward youth and a loss of interaction between parent and child. "Young Stranger" is adequate but certainly not in the league of "Rebel."

Whit Bissell is effective as the theater owner who is fed up with the behavior of all teenage movie-goers and wants to use MacArthur as an example. Usually a cowardly co-star in grade B films of the 1950s, Bissell shows his adeptness of really being a weakling.

With regard to Gregory, Frankenheimer would get a brilliant performance out of him in 1962's "The Manchurian Candidate." Remember him as the moronic senator married to Angela Lansbury?

This eloquent, simple film makes a remarkably clear statement about a teenager and his father. A theatrical release, the director, John Frankenheimer, learned his craft in the early, challenging days of live television in New York City. Indeed, he directed the teleplay on which the film is based, "Deal a Blow," on the CBS drama series "Climax." "Young Stranger" represents his Hollywood debut. After a hiatus of four years, during which he would do more television, he returned to direct "The Young Savages" with Burt Lancaster and, a year after that, "All Fall Down" with Warren Beatty and Angela Lansbury.

The casting is competent with James Daly and Kim Hunter (particularly good) playing the parents of the title character performed by James MacArthur (his first theatrical film) who played the same role in the television version which was his first appearance on the small screen. Look for James Gregory and Whit Bissell in supporting roles.