The Diary of a High School Bride

Cute as a button Anita Sands dumps high school beau Chris Robinson to marry law school student Ron Foster. Robinson doesn't take it well. Neither do her parents.

It's not a bad second feature from AIP, which seems to have some opinion that it's not the best idea for boys and girls to drop out of school to get married. Even if it works out, it requires work and maturity, which none of these crazy kids have got. I can't tell whether it's the actors, the script, or directors, but everyone seems a bit shallow and flat here; that may be my age talking. Surely the kids who necked to this in theaters didn't care.

This 1959 was most likely encouraged by all parents as a "must see" who had teenaged children who were a few years still away from full adulthood. In the 1950's and 1960's the man was almost always the bread winner and the woman were stay at home moms. Historically young women were in competition with one another to find that "big catch" of a man so marrying quite young was the norm. It also meant that woman felt their biological clock (and hormones) were most strong at the earliest of age to have babies.

This story pits a seventeen (17) year old teenager named Judy (Anita Sands) with two completely different male suitors. One is a rough and tumble ex boyfriend named Chuck (Chris Robinson), and the other is a more recent suitor an older and mature law student named Steve (Ron Foster).

The message and theme of the film is exposing the potential serious consequences of making rash and impromptu decisions at a very young age. Hormones are running rampant as is the testosterone of the virile young men who live either in the past and/or the present but not considering what the future will hold in store for their abrupt actions sometimes.

Thank goodness the pendulum has swung to the farther right these past seven (7) decades and young adults are waiting longer to tie the proverbial knot. Too bad divorce rates are running around fifty (50) percent today.

I give this crime/drama themed film a 6 out of 10 IMDB rating.

I don't know why, but for some reason "The Diary of a High School Bride" was a title that piqued my curiosity. Unfortunately, the film itself didn't live up to those expectations. I imagined there might be voice-overs of a young high school girl reading from her diary regarding her experiences, memories, feelings, challenges of being, or having been a high school bride. What we're given is something much more straightforward, complete with awkward performances, awkward direction, a weak script, and a story that doesn't really go anywhere and doesn't offer up many genuine insights regarding what it feels like to be a high school bride. Oh sure, there is some information and light shed on this topic, but not as much as it could have. The only interesting thing is the slight bit of suspense towards the very end, which I won't spoil for anyone still interested in checking this film out. Oh, and the painting on the wall referencing another film, "The Screaming Skull", that bit worked well, even if it was only a couple seconds.

Although the makers of "The Diary of a High School Bride" make the film seem like an exploitation film about young brides when it begins, the film is far less than you might expect. Plus, back in 1959, folks getting married at 17 wasn't all that unusual.

The film begins with Steve and Judy having just eloped. She is only 17 and so technically the marriage isn't legal. However, when Judy's parents hear about it, her father (with some objections from the mother) decides that the best thing to do is just accept it. Plus, he figures his daughter will soon come to her senses. However, the big problem with the marriage comes from some punks at Judy's high school (she is a Senior). They think it's funny to harass them and some of their 'pranks' get amazingly dangerous. However, Chuck's actions soon intensify, as he decides he's going to have sex with Judy whether she's willing or not! So, instead of a drama about teen marriages, it's more a film about rape. And, as such, it's actually not bad and responsibly done. Worth a look.

By the way, if you are interested, Judy (Anita Sands) was about 18-19 when she made the film and Steve (Ron Foster) was 28-29. To me, this huge age gap was a lot creepier than having Sands play a 17 year-old.

Sure there are things that could be stronger, and Steve seems a little bit too old and smart to have picked at 17 y.o. high school student of questionable achievement for a wife (although I guess that in itself should give question to his intelligence), but the film does really capture some of the difficulties of new marriage, and there are a couple of decent songs. There are some sensible people in the story, too, especially viewed through a 1950s lens, but I wish there had been more realistic high school girls, both sugary ones and snotty ones, dealing with Judy's changed status. There's also some pretty good tension due to the constant harassment from the skeevy ex-boyfriend Chuck, which was a bit of a surprise. Anyway, while I didn't find it the most entertaining thing in the world, it was an okay piece of film making. It's hard to understand how Chuck's girlfriend puts up with him, though; I would totally dump his trouble-making ass.