Because They're Young

Delectable creampuff Tuesday Weld is at her absolute yummiest in this compelling teen angst drama set in a high school brimming with raging hormones and gleaming switchblades. Directed by Paul Wendkos in noirish, shadow-strewn black & white, this one has some real edge to it.

It also has much to satisfy connoisseurs of psychotronic oddities, what with mild-mannered Dick Clark as a tough talking teacher (and former gridiron star, no less), Stephen Talbot, aka Gilbert Bates of LEAVE IT TO BEAVER fame, as his tow-headed nephew, Michael Callan -- the original Riff in West Side Story -- sneering up a storm as the school's premiere bad boy, and a goofy guest appearance by James Darren, who warbles the title song at a high school prom as swaying couples swoon at his feet.

Best of all, it offers vintage Tuesday, age sixteen-and-a-half, pouting provocatively, cooing adorably and engaging in steamy horizontal make-out sessions -- the stuff that Nabokovian dreams are made of.

At the time this movie came out, the generation emerging from the late Fifty's into the early Sixty's, didn't have any desires different than the previous generation. Since the turn of the 19th century parents became more and more lax or permissive you might say (for whatever reasons). The main difference, to me, was the way in which those teens behaved & expressed themselves. More and more, kids wanted to have fun but found that "Fun", doing different things. My formative years experienced dire warnings of "bad associations, trouble making rebels, leather jacket kids were no good, combing your hair with in a jelly roll style was for delinquents and so on." So I tended to be careful but respectful of others. "Because They're Young" was a successful attempt to capture the "atmosphere" the "Ambiance" of the era. Being Hollywood, over dramatization was and is not uncommon. Yet the sense of being "young" (after all these years) isn't a lost cause. It will always be very much alive and well. All it will ever really need is for older folks to empathize, sympathize and not forget that "Because They're Young" was them too, once upon a time.

On his first teaching assignment, Dick Clark has a problem: He cares too much. That's not what we want, says his stern principle. Just teach your classes and send all the discipline problems to me. Not surprisingly, Clark can't stay uninvolved. Who would want it any other way?

Clark is no seasoned pro in this film, but he's basically playing himself, or his public image, anyway, and he can do that well enough. He's there to try to straighten out all types of kids including the insecure newcomer (Warren Berlinger) and the incipient juvenile delinquent (Michael Callen.) This movie doesn't have anything close to the grit of 'Blackboard Jungle' or the lurid laughability of 'High School Confidential' but a big fan of the movies will likely find it worth the time. Admirers of Tuesday Weld will want to check her out, too. Victoria Shaw plays a school secretary who serves as a love interest for Clark.

Because They're Young marked Dick Clark's dramatic big screen debut and while it didn't electrify the cinema world, he doesn't turn in a bad screen performance as the high school history teacher involved with his kids and with school secretary Victoria Shaw.

The plot of the film centers around a high school triangle with jock Warren Berlinger, cheerleader Tuesday Weld, and troubled youth and James Dean knockoff Michael Callan. Hints of the less than Ozzie and Harriet background of the three of them can be seen it brief vignettes of their troubled homes.

Clark's also having issues with principal William Genge who wants him to stick to teaching and leave the social work alone. Before Joe Clark was ever heard of, this principal has a once strike and you're out policy in the school. Dick Clark takes more of the Father Flannagan approach.

Two of the supporting cast, Doug McClure and Roberta Shore, would later be together on The Virginian television series. But that wouldn't be for another five years.

Look for a good performance also by Rudy Bond who's got a Fagin like role as the leader and fence of a juvenile heist gang in which Callan is a member.

Music by Duane Eddy, James Darren, and Bobby Rydell place the film firmly in 1960, the year of its release. The first two make guest appearances at a school dance. I know we didn't have names of that caliber at anything my high school ever ran back in those days.

It's not a bad film given the obviously low budget for it. It does have some nice noir touches and sincere performances by its cast.

I'm not sure what the producers were aiming for here. On the face of it, it would seem a Dick Clark showcase, taking his TV fame and segueing to movies. But the cast is much too large and the storyline too sprawling to showcase one individual. As a dedicated teacher, Clark keeps his TV role as shepherd of struggling teens, and despite his thoroughly white-bread presence, does pretty well in the acting department. Anyway, as a teen angst film, the film's okay; as a juvenile delinquency movie, it lacks bite until the end; as a R&R showcase (Duane Eddy, et.al.), it's lame and tame with only two bland selections. What it does have that's noteworthy is the gay context surrounding the older man, Chris. It's subtle, but pretty daring for 1960 and especially for a film introducing Clark. (Thanks reviewer fordraff for your extended discussion.) Taken as a whole, however, the movie's too sprawling with too many sub-texts to achieve anything like focused impact. And except for cult figure Tuesday Weld, the array of featured youngsters has largely faded into obscurity. But not Clark, who went on to a stellar TV and producing career.