Filles délinquantes

Before getting into a car with Edd "Kookie" Byrnes, ask if it's stolen. Before getting into your bed, check to make sure Yvette Vickers has not placed a snake in it. Before turning your back on Sally Kellerman, make sure she is not holding a baseball bat. Before getting beaten up by everyone for squealing, ask if you're going to get beat up whether you squeal or not. (If the answer is yes, you may as well squeal.) Before signing on to do this picture, fire your agent.

Gloria Castillo plays the title character, a nice girl living with her beyotch of an aunt and step-uncle, played creepily by Jack Kruschen (the uncle, not the aunt). Castillo goes out for a drive with her friends, unaware that the driver (Byrnes) is a thief, a scumbag, a cad, and future sidekick of Efrem Zimbalist Jr. And Roger Smith. After Byrnes tosses Luana Anders and Castillo's date out of the car, he proceeds to mow down a pedestrian. He heads for the hills, leaving Castillo holding the bag.

Speaking of bags (in particular, old ones), Castillo is sent off to the Hastings School for Girls, run by some of the oldest and/or chubbiest dames you will ever see. The school's head is played by Helen Wallace, and the "matron" is played by Dorothy Crehan. I have no idea if Crehan is related to the character actor Joseph Crehan - then again, Dorothy Crehan may be Joseph Crehan in drag.

Castillo more or less manages to fit in. Meanwhile, the new teacher, played by Ross Ford, who is also a practicing psychologist, has some difficulty adjusting to the school. Let's see - a school full of girls (well, there are about ten anyway, including one who looks like Jane Powell) and one man - what could possibly go wrong here? He asks his class to name the decisive battle of the Civil War. "Bunker Hill," is the snide reply. Close. At least they have the country correct. This would earn an A+ in today's classroom.

After Castillo and another girl are caught smooching with a couple of locals in a barn, Ford suggests that the school sponsor a dance, so everything will be out in the open. This is not one of Ford's better ideas. Meanwhile, back at 77 Sunset Strip, Byrnes, who wants to make sure Castillo keeps her trap shut, gets one of his bimbos (a woman listed in the credits as "Blonde") to drop a dime on Anders. Anders winds up at the school and blames Castillo for turning her in. This development suddenly makes the film interesting, even though it's almost over. Castillo is put in solitary after stabbing Kellerman on the arm with scissors. Anders manages to sneak a call out to Byrnes, saying Castillo is ready to spill everything. Byrnes heads for the school, determined to shut Castillo up for good.

The supporting cast is interesting, I must admit. Besides Kellerman (who towers over everyone) and Anders in their film debuts, we get to see perennial town tramp Yvette Vickers without much makeup, and veteran Thomas Jackson (the guy who gunned down Little Caesar ) in a bit part as a judge. The Statue of Liberty appears unbilled. And if you've been dying to see Jack Kruschen in an undershirt and suspenders, your wish has come true.

Reform School Girl (1957)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

A good but troubled girl gets into a car with a psycho who runs over a man, killing him. The girl refuses to give the psycho's name so she's sent to reform school where she gets into more trouble but thankfully there's a teacher there who wants to help her. There were countless juvenile films released during the 1950s due to the success of Rebel Without a Cause and this one here was one of the more popular ones but it hasn't aged too well. The film is stupid, pointless and rather boring from start to finish, although the film does contain a few campy moments. The performances are all rather bad but this adds a little charm to the film.

A little word in advance: since this producer sadly passed away in 2001, several of his film received a re-release on DVD under the group name `The Samuel Z. Arkoff Library'. Which is actually a good thing because otherwise, many of his productions would be lost and undiscovered forever. The largest part of his film is extremely low-budget horror (The Undead, The war of the colossal beast, Voodoo Women…) and at first sight, this Reform School Girl seems to be a misfit in that collection. Nonetheless, it's a film definitely worth checking out.

Reform School Girl is a raw and intense social drama, which portrays the lesser attractive aspects of humanity. Some of the main topics of the film include betrayal, egocentrism, blackmail, abuse, jealousy and juvenile violence. It's about a young girl who's sent to a reform-institution after being involved in a car accident. The guy she was with threatened to kill her if she would tell his name to the police. Therefore, her lips are sealed and she brought to a closed institution. Yet, even there she has to face that the ‘code' doesn't allow her to speak freely. Disappointed by the whole world, Donna turns into an anti-social and hostile girl who has to rediscover her trust in mankind. Even though the film obviously suffers from a lack of budget and professionalism, it still manages to touch you and leave a huge impression behind. The script contains a few illogical elements (like the uncle who's scared to death because of a phone call by a youngster) but overall, it's fascinating and a much bigger triumph than most overbudgetted drama's that are only out to bring tears to eyes of the viewer by using cheap sentiment and morality lessons. The ‘message' in Reform School Girl is kept limited and the entire atmosphere is strictly dramatic. The acting is surprisingly good considering most cast members are young and inexperienced actresses. Certainly a film worth a look whenever you have the chance of seeing it. It was re-made for the TV-screen in 1994 by Jonathan Kaplan starring Matt ‘Friends' LeBlanc, among other familiar faces.

What I love about these teen movies from the 1950s: It doesn't matter how much of a cad you are ... or how much of a criminal you are .. or how poor you are ... or that you're out stealing a car ... or that you are armed with a knife on a murderous mission of vengeance ... or that you're still in high school. ... None of that has to stop you from dressing smartly in a neat sport coat and tie.

This movie is not fine cinema, but it's a fun watch, and does tug at the heart strings.

My one suggestion for the folks who run the reform school: Give the male teacher an office with an interior window.

This film makes be want to travel back in time and see if people in the '50s really dressed that nicely and spent that much of their household income on suit jackets. Or maybe I'll watch this again with my mom and dad and ask them.

I expected a really bad film. The cheesy photograph in the cover of the DVD package didn't announce any great findings. Obviously, the film is low-budget, but this time it didn't equal with terribly bad.

I liked the script. The film had good rhythm, the characters were either extremely good or bad, the action was interesting, there were touches at the psychology of the girls... Many scenes take place at the reform school, but Donna's flat, the courtroom, the flat of Vince's girlfriend, there is even a very short scene at the workplace of the aunt's boyfriend... make it more varied for my taste. I also liked outdoors scenes: the run-over, Vince asking for directions when he's after Jack... I liked them because I don't usually appreciate films which look like theatre plays and all the action happens in just one location.

It's an interesting and probably an underestimated film, which in fact I liked. I didn't know the director, the script-writer, the main actress (Gloria del Castillo, which sadly didn't have much success in Hollywood), but some other actresses would become well-known with time, Luana Anders and especially Sally Kellerman. Maybe they are not at their best here, because they were just beginning their careers, and they'd become much better but everybody has to begin somewhere, and this was a flick to be proud of.