High School Big Shot

My favorite riff from High School Big Shots airing on the best show ever. While being aired on MST3K is a sure sign of being a clunker this film actually has a bit to offer and the story has been regurgitated countless times in bigger budget modern day action pictures, Dead Presidents and Revevoir Dogs (which is itself a shot by shot rip off of a Hong Kong action picture) to name a couple. Not to say H.S.B.S was any sort of originator but it's certainly watchable without the zingers flying from Mike and the Bots. This thing oozes cheese but it also maintains a nice grit. Poor Marv gets screwed out of a sure college scholarship after being duped by some bimbo, dad's a suicidal drunk, the big heist is an obvious debacle waiting to happen and when it does unravel people die. Like I said , High School Big Shot wasn't an originator but it has it's imitators and thats something you can't say for many MSTied movies.

I saw the MST3K version of this film and it is a bad movie - but its not nearly as bad as its low IMDB rating (currently 1.8 out of 10). At least the movie has a few production values and it apparently had a competent editor (unlike the movies that truly are awful). The primary problem with this movie is that it had no appealing characters whatsoever. The main character, Marv, is so pathetically morose, that he practically asks for all the bad stuff that happens to him. And he isn't very smart either, or he would have figured out to stay away from the conniving girl Betty. And even more pathetic than Marv is his father, who is nothing but a drunken loser. The highlight of the film is the heist sequence at the end but even that is so weakly executed, any excitement it might have added to the film is completely missing. At least this movie made for a very funny MST3K episode, as Mike and the 'Bots do a great job making fun of it.

This movie essentially begins with a high school student named "Marvin 'Marv' Grant" (Tom Pittman) having to take care of his alcoholic father known simply as "Mr. Grant" (Malcolm Atterbury) because he cannot hold a steady job. As a result, he barely makes ends meet by working the nightshift at a warehouse operated by some rather seedy businessmen. To his credit, his manages to keep his grades up and even has hopes of getting a scholarship to a nearby college upon graduation. Recognizing this, the prettiest girl at the high school "Betty Alexander" (Virginia Aldridge) pretends to be attracted to him in order to have him write an important term paper which will allow her to graduate. Needless to say, her current boyfriend "Vince Rumbo" (Howard Veit) doesn't particular like it when he sees the two of them together, but he calms down when she explains what is really going on. Unfortunately, while Betty might be able to fool Marv, her luck runs out when the English teacher easily recognizes the fraud she has committed and flunks her on the spot. Naturally, no longer having any use for him, Betty immediately breaks things off with Marv and goes back to Vince. For his part, Marv misreads the situation and thinks that he can make things up to her if he suddenly acquires a lot of money. To that effect, after he overhears his boss talking about putting $1 million in the office safe, he comes up with a plan to steal it that very night. What he doesn't count on, however, is Betty telling Vince about his plans. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this was a very basic, low budget, grade-B movie which suffered from a weak script and somewhat moralistic overtones. Admittedly, I liked the performance of Virginia Aldridge who seemed quite convincing in her role. Even so, the scenes didn't seem to mesh together very well which gave the film a rather choppy feel to it. Likewise, the rather abrupt ending didn't help either. Be that as it may, while I don't consider this to be a bad movie necessarily, the flaws just mentioned were much too apparent and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly below average.

While I, like my fellow commentators, enjoyed the MST3K send-up of this flick, I also agree with them that "High School Big Shot" definitely had some redeeming values.

The biggest value: the acting. For such a low-budget movie, the actors did a very good job. Tom Pittman pulled off the difficult task of making the audience sympathize with Marvin Grant, but not excuse his behavior. As his world goes to hell, destroyed by petty greed (both his own and others), the pain is evident on his face. His father, played by Malcolm Atterbury, comes off as a mainly honest, good guy who's made a few mistakes that have continually haunted him. As Betty Alexander, Virginia Aldridge plays the perfect conniving ice queen, and Howard Veit breathes convincing life into brainless jock Vince Rumbo (now THERE'S a name!).

But the true standouts are Stanley Adams and Louis Quinn as Harry March and Samuel Tallman, respectively. Although they have limited screentime, they effortlessly make you believe that here are lawbreakers with honor. As Harry says, "I am a thief, not a crook." You know that if you hire these two as part of your caper, they won't doublecross you and will stay with you until the bitter end. To once again quote Harry, they are the "last of the gentlemen;" criminals with hearts of slightly tarnished gold. Adams and Quinn truly shine in the roles.

The writing and directing by Joel M. Rapp is serviceable, and Carlo Lodato's editing works fine. Gerald Fried contributes a very nice score to this picture.

Overall, I'd have to recommend checking out this picture, whether the original or the MSTreatment.

I'd never heard of actor Pittman, but it turns out he was quite a talented, though ill-fated, young guy. Here he goes from painfully shy to confidently assertive in abrupt, but convincing, fashion. I just wish he and the rest of the cast were better served by the script that loses its way about halfway through.

Almost matching Pittman in the talent department is actress Aldridge. Her teenage vixen is enough to send Joan Crawford into fits of jealousy. Betty (Aldridge) is so good at using her wiles to manipulate the hapless Marv (Pittman) in the first part that I thought the movie would be exceptional for a drive-in cheapie.

Had the screenplay stayed at this sensitive level, namely the ordinary-looking Marv yearning for self-respect amid sneering peers, the potential for something sublime was great. However the script veers off into a sudden and wildly implausible tangent of Marv leading a gang of criminals on a million-dollar heist, ending in as phony a shoot-out as I've seen. Too bad, because the rest of the cast, with the exception of an awkward Veit (Vince), is also unusually good for a cheap production.

In my little book, this was a missed opportunity, a teenage film that could have distinguished itself from the many other drive-in specials of the time. Nonetheless, I now know who Tom Pittman is, and in spades.