Unwed Mother

Robert Vaughn has gotten Norma Moore in trouble. And it's not just the euphemistic trouble that the movie's title indicates. He's gotten her to drain her savings account and help him rob a movie theater. She agrees to go back to her frozen-faced mother, Claire Carlton, as part of her parole. Vaughn agrees to marry her as part of his, but he's such an utter rotter that she says no. But what is she going to do about the baby?

It's directed by Walter Doniger, who would late direct more than 170 episodes of Peyton Place, and you can see why they chose him to direct this. It's not just soap, it's girl-gone-bad soap, about as far as you could go at Allied Artist in the waning days of the Production Code.

The film begins with a nice girl moving to town and getting a job in a department store. Soon she meets a smooth playboy-type (Robert Vaughn) and it's obvious to every viewer that his an insincere jerk. However, the girl (Norma Moore) is not only naive but a bit dumb and she eventually falls for his routine. Over time, he bleeds her of money and pretends to love her while he chases other women at the same time.

Eventually, the lady proves she's actually a lot dumber than we'd first suspected. Not only does she reject her mother's advice to leave the jerk, but gets pulled into a robbery with him! When they are arrested, the real shocker is revealed...she is pregnant. Now the once nice girl is expecting a baby AND on probation! What will she do with no place to go and no way to provide for the little tyke? Will she have an abortion, put it up for adoption or keep it herself? the entire second half of the film has to do with this dilemma--and is the stronger half of the film.

While this is NOT a great film, it is certainly interesting. I think it's biggest shortcoming is that Robert Vaughn's character is so transparent and slimy that you really are forced to see Moore as less a victim and more a complete idiot. Had they made her a tad less dumb, I think the film might have been easier to believe.

By the way, while it's NOT a perfect parallel, the film did remind me a lot of the film "Room at the Top"---which also featured an incredibly amoral man sleeping and scheming his way ahead in life. This is a much better film and well worth seeing. "Unwed Mother", on the other hand, is only okay...and certainly not one to rush out to see.

I had no idea what to expect when I started watching Unwed Mother, but after having seen it I guess it couldn't have gone any other way. Robert Vaughn gives a good performance as the sleazy, manipulative boyfriend and all of the scenes he is on are interesting. Norma Moore is another story. I've never seen her in anything else before but at least in this picture she is the weak link and offers the viewer a very bland and uninteresting performance. That's a shame because i think this film could have been elevated if a stronger actress had played this part. Despite some shortcomings Unwed Mother was still kind of a fun watch.

Unwed Mother (1958)

** (out of 4)

Another "warning/message" film telling girls to not have sex until marriage. A young, sweet girl from the country (Norma Moore) moves to L.A. with her mother and meets a young man (Robert Vaughn) who she thinks is just perfect. That is until she gets pregnant and he's on his way to jail. Here's another warning film that is somewhat well made but it's so over-dramatic that you can't help but laugh when the film tries to be serious. Moore gives a pretty bland performance, which doesn't help matters but vaughn comes out pretty good and he's certainly the main reason to watch this film. There's plenty of campy dialogue and situations that keep the film moving but in the end there's nothing too special here.