Teenage Rebel

From a fairly successful Broadway drama, TEENAGE REBEL has been given, as everyone agrees, an absolutely terrible title. Our teenager, Betty Lou Keim, is not particularly rebellious, only suffering from the emotional baggage of her parents' divorce. As the story goes, her mother (Ginger Rogers) had left her father for another man (Michael Rennie) some eight years previously. Apparently embittered, the father had kept Keim completely away from Rogers by living with his daughter in Europe all that time, but he had now returned to the States to remarry and wanted some privacy for his honeymoon, thus had finally shipped the girl back to Rogers. Daughter Keim remains in the dark about all of this and is angry with her mother for leaving her when she was seven, for never seeing her since (not the mother's fault), and other than general feelings of abandonment is also suffering the pangs of loneliness, having lived too peripatetic a life in Europe to establish any roots there. The movie is mostly about Keim and Rogers breaking through these emotional barriers to re-establish a loving relationship.

In a relatively small role, Rennie was good as the understanding husband, Ginger for the most part was fine as the loving mother, but I found Keim too declamatory for film acting, not entirely her fault as the dialogue seemed clumsy from time to time (Ginger also fell into this declamatory trap occasionally). Keim had originated the role on stage where such acting is far more effective.

All in all, TEENAGE REBEL is an average to slightly above average movie.

And I must take special note of Ginger Rogers' physical appearance, positively stunning for a woman of 45. I don't believe that she'd looked that good in nearly a decade. It's a pity that her great film career was practically at its end.

A very insightful character study. This movie carries excellent credentials: Charles Brackett as one of the screenwriters and Edmond Goulding as director. (Goulding fares less well as writer of the pre-Elvis title song, which dates the movie more than anything else in it but can be skipped over.) Ginger looks great -- better than she did in some other movies from the 1950s. She sports some revealing clothes, such as a tennis outfit reminiscent of the clothes worn by Lana Turner in her best outing, "The postman Always Rings Twice." And her acting is good, as is everyone else's.

A very insightful character study. This movie carries excellent credentials: Charles Brackett as one of the screenwriters and Edmond Goulding as director. (Goulding fares less well as writer of the pre-Elvis title song, which dates the movie more than anything else in it but can be skipped over.) Ginger looks great -- better than she did in some other movies from the 1950s. She sports some revealing clothes, such as a tennis outfit reminiscent of the clothes worn by Lana Turner in her best outing, "The postman Always Rings Twice." And her acting is good, as is everyone else's.

The actress who plays her daughter and the actor plying the neighbor enticed to pay attention to her are fine. And Mildred Natwick, as the boy's mother, is as always excellent.

Her character is not so much a rebel, like Brando and Dean and Mineo from this decade, as a sad child of divorce.

The air of hauteur and aloofness she puts on is very plausible in the portrayal of an insecure teenager.

Rogers's and second husband Michael Rennie little boy is quite a character. He seems a fugitive from some other movie, though he is excellent and works well here. He is more eccentric than little John Henry as played by Brandon De Wilde in the classic "Member of the Wedding." And, though an observation, that is also very high praise.

"Teenage Rebel", released in 1956, was one of Ginger Rogers' last feature films, made when she was 45. It featured a couple of "future stars" (opening credits) Betty Lou Keim, as estranged daughter "Dodie" and Warren Berlinger as the nice kid "Dick" next door. As an interesting sideline, Betty Lou Keim only made 4 more movies over the next 3 years, then married Warren Berlinger in 1959, quit showbusiness, and has 4 children.

Dodie, 15, had been estranged from her mother for 8 years since her parents' divorce. Because her mother was the one who apparently had an "adulterous' relationship with the man she then married, Dodie's father was awarded custody. Since they traveled extensively, and had a home in NY, she had never been able to spend the court-ordered 3 weeks annually with her mother. At the age of 15, she was sent to her mother in California so that her father could secretly get married. It was obvious that she was unhappy being in California, resented her mother, resented her stepfather, and was generally angry with the world.

The movie is about Dodie's growth as a young adult, learning to fit in with normal teenagers, and learning how to accept her mother's love that she had rejected for so long. The story is done very well, and thgis movie is a good representation of 1950s B&W movies. I rate it a solid 7 of 10.

This film is a cut above most 50s teenage movies which deal with music and fun times like "Rock, Rock, Rock" and others. Then there are the ones dealing with a serious plot with little teenage fun times shown. Unlike these, "Teenage Rebel" has the best of both in one film. The kids have loads of fun here. They clown at the malt shop, go to a drag race and enjoy a real fun party with plenty of music and dancing. Yet, at the same time, a serious drama is going on where a resentful girl learns a valuable lesson about the value of her mothers unconditional love for her. This is very intense drama combined with the fun.

This is a very good film about family problems. However, too often I wanted to yell at my TV telling the mother (Ginger Rogers) how to handle her nasty daughter, Dodie! This isn't so much a complaint but shows that I was involved with this film.

When the movie begins, you learn that Nancy Fallon (Rogers) was divorced eight years ago. It seemed that she wanted out of this loveless marriage and her rich ex-husband took their 7 year-old to Europe to prevent them seeing each other. Now, unexpectedly, they get word that this 15 year-old is coming for a visit...which is strange considering the father's actions.

When Dodie (Betty Lou Keim) arrives, she's cold and haughty---which isn't a bit surprise considering that her father has been filling her mind with hatred towards her mother. But the daughter's nastiness extends to EVERYONE--her step-brother, her step-father and even the neighbors. The situation seems intolerable...but they are stuck with each other. It seems that Dodie's father has dumped her on the ex- because he's getting remarried and wants time alone with his new wife! How is this mess ever going to get worked out successfully?!

The film has a very interesting plot and you feel for the mother and everyone else around her. My only complaint is the step-brother-- what an annoying little brat! Well worth seeing and engaging.

By the way, the IMDb trivia for this one is really, really interesting. It seems that Dodie was in love with Dick in the film...and a few years later, these same actors actually married, raised a family and were apparently very happy together. That's sweet.