Wild Youth

The most startling thing about Schreyer's drugs-on-the-run piece is the brazen 'lifting' of Elmer Bernstein's striking Frankie Machine title music, almost unchanged from 'The Man With The Golden Arm', as well as a recognisable chunk of Herrman's 'Vertigo' music .. such borrowings give this film a suggestion of artistry which it completely fails to justify.

In fact it is all very humdrum stuff, neither too wild or much naked either, come to that (and the 'youths' are getting on a bit as well). The most recognisable face in this rather tedious piece is Robert Hutton, who plays the unperturbable and cop. Of course it is he who buys the Mexican dolls into which the heroin is secreted, and then transported across the border, so poetic justice demands that it is he who has to find it again. Hutton was better used in such cult films as 'The Slime People' (1962), 'Colossus of New York' (1958) and a handful of others. Here he just looks vaguely engaged.

As Switch the knife happy thug on the run from the Honor Farm,(in a film in which, oddly, knives are the weapon of choice - even when a gun is around) Rowland is serviceable enough, although he could have made his performance more menacing. As it is, Switch veers uncertainly between aggression, indecisiveness and whining.

The best scene? Madge's swaying vision as her withdrawl sets in, done to Herrmann-'inspired' music. But even she's seen better days in William Castle's great 'House on Haunted Hill' (1958) or Hill's crazy 'Spider Baby' (1964).

A film mostly of interest for completists or those fanatical about this part of exploitation history.

I'm sure any number of prurient drive-in viewers had their appetites whetted by the title of Naked Youth, probably renamed such so a few more cars would get into the parking spaces. A little stimulus before getting down to business in the back seat. If that was the case they were disappointed because Wild Youth or Naked Youth hasn't even a hint of nudity.

What this film is about is a trio youths Robert Arthur and Steve Rowland who busted out of an honor farm and Jan Brooks the girl who helped them running into a hardened killer and dope peddler Robert Hutton and his strung out girlfriend Carol Ohmart. Hutton robbed and killed a drug mule in Mexico took his supply of heroin and smuggled it back across the border before the cops on both sides caught on.

Arthur and Brooks are basically decent kids, but Rowland is a punk and learns too late he's playing way out of his league.

Wild/Naked Youth was shot on a chump change budget in the Southwest and no one covered themselves in any glory here.

2 guys in Mexican juvie run away with help of a very fickle girl. While at the same time some guy buy's heroin at a bull fighting stadium somewhere in Mexico. After safely crossing the border back to the U.S. the guy with the heroin and his girl (a heroin addict) pass some hitch-hikers. They give them a lift, these hitch-hikers happen to be the 2 guys that ran away from juvie and the fickle girl. Now when you put juvenile delinquents, drugs, and a fiending addict in a car what do you get? You'll have to find out what happens from there. It's an OK movie, nothing great. It was pretty raunchy for it's time, but that's not saying much for today. No blood, no realistic deaths, no showing of actual drug use, no nudity, no sexual anything but the fickle girl kissing everyone. The only person in the movie I recognized was Carol Ohmart, from House on Haunted Hill and Spider Baby. She plays a somewhat believable heroin addict. It was an all right movie and completely worth the 2 bucks my boyfriend paid for it.

Thus, you can turn off your television right now.

Steve Rowland (as "Switch") and Robert Arthur (as "Frankie") play a couple of 30-year-old juvenile delinquents who escape from the "State Honor Farm." They are helped by Frankie's underage girlfriend Jan Brooks (as "Statutory"). Meanwhile, in Juarez, drug agent Robert Hutton is tracking down a heroin dealer, played by John Goddard. Hutton bumps into Carol Ohmart, who is buying a doll. Guess what she plans on stashing inside the doll.

In short order, the delinquents' car breaks down, and they hitch a ride with Goddard and Ohmart. The delinquents are trying to get to Mexico; the other pair is trying to get to Dallas. After awhile, I lost track of where anyone was going, but I did conclude the film was going into the toilet.

Eventually, the overage kids commandeer the car and take the doll, unaware of what's inside it. They disable the car and walk off, which makes no sense, but hey, if it made sense, I wouldn't be writing about it. Ohmart is now dying for a fix, but the couple has more pressing issues, like finding the nearest comfort station. They find a gas station, and Goddard steals the owner's car after knifing him. While all this is going on, Hutton is wandering aimlessly around the scenery trying to catch a break.

The juveniles hole up in an abandoned house, which, oddly, is well-furnished. After Switch attempts to deflower Donna and Frankie slugs him, they discover the doll is loaded with horse. Somehow, Goddard and Ohmart manage to find them, and the cross-country tour continues. By this time, viewers are car sick. Finally, and not a moment of these 70 excruciating minutes too soon, we see the climax at some stockyards (yes, cows, hay, all sorts of stuff). Some bullets fly, a knife is inserted, and everyone leaves the theater demanding a refund.

Ohmart, who was extremely sexy as Vincent Price's wife in "House on Haunted Hill," does a pretty good job as the heroin addict. She should have gotten better parts in her career. She was alluring, with a sultry voice, and could act. Hutton is bland as ever. How he managed to get work for several decades is beyond me. Goddard is okay as the drug dealer scumbag. Rowland, with his curly-top hairdo, looks like the poor man's Sonny Corleone. Arthur brings nothing to the table. When he hears Brooks screaming, he hesitates as he decides whether to drop the firewood he's holding. Ladies, this guy is a real keeper. Brooks is not attractive, has no discernible talent, and her character is poorly written. When we first see her, she acts like she is the town mattress; in short order she becomes the innocent chick.

The music score may be the most bizarre thing about this film. Composer Dick LaSalle seems to be using motifs from "The Man with the Golden Arm," "Vertigo," and a Courageous Cat cartoon. The IMDb credits list Steve Rowland as singing the title song. But there is no title song, unless I missed it while I was shooting up.

The pace and directness of the film is immediately off-putting, while the sequencing leaves a bit to be desired. The ham-handed musical cue at Donna's introduction is frankly terrible, and Richard LaSalle's music generally often wavers on the point of tawdry exaggeration. Similarly, I can't decide if the work put into details like hair, makeup, and costume design is just right, or much too over the top. So it is with too many aspects, also including performances, slight visual effects, dialogue, scene writing, and direction: Is 'Naked youth,' also known as 'Wild youth,' too much? Too little? Just enough? Why, maybe it's all three, at one point or another; I can't really tell.

I like the concept, and the narrative is strong in the broad strokes. There are great possibilities here, including in the character writing. The chief cast looks the part; I can't determine if the uncertainty I feel about their acting owes more to a lack of skill or experience, or unfortunate guidance from director John F. Schreyer. Whatever the combination of factors that limited the film's success, the picture is less than riveting as a result - and a little sleep-inducing, if I'm being honest. Some scenes are done pretty well, including the climax, yet even at its best the lack of refinement in all elements dampens the impact.

There's just not much more to say; for better or for worse, the movie doesn't inspire loquacity. I don't think it's outright bad. I rather want to like it more than I do; as one may say of a ramshackle home, "it has good bones." But it's more than a little rough around the edges, and even a little more care in the writing and direction would have gone a long way. 'Naked youth' could have been a cut above similar fare of the 50s and 60s; instead it fits right in with its contemporaries, all but average in sum. It's a fair watch if you chance upon it, but temper your expectations if you do.