High School Caesar

I often get a kick out of juvenile delinquent movies from the 1950 to early 1960s since they more often than not come across as campy by today's standards. "High School Caesar" was one movie I wanted to see for a long time but could not locate. I finally found and watched it today, and I have to admit I was kind of let down. Certainly, there are campy elements, like the actors portraying teens who are clearly too old for their roles, and the movie laying the blame for the title figure's actions completely on the shoulders of his absent parents. But for the most part, the movie moves at a kind of slow pace and seems padded even at seventy minutes long. Too bad, because the premise of the movie was promising; had the movie been treated with more competence or had gone down a more exploitive route, we might have had something here.

Girls in flared skirts, high school hops, big-finned cars and road races, so what else can geezer refugees from the 50's ask for. Okay, maybe the jd's don't look so tough throwing their weight around, but this is a middle-west, middle-class town, not Big City. Seems teen Ashley runs his classmates like a minor Al Capone. He's got his gang he keeps in line with threats and payoffs. Money comes in from test copies for sale, fees paid to the hops, and other services and shakedowns. Note that there's no mention of drugs or even alcohol among the teens, likely a Production Code result. Trouble is our teen Caesar's dedicated to a gold coin Dad gave him, and that leaves an ironical trail.

It's a well-crafted drive-in flick, but nothing memorable. Fortunately, Ashley mimics a high school hoodlum as well any Hollywood pretty boy could. For action, there's some knuckle bashing and pushing around. Too bad, however, the hop dancing is so modest- no swirling skirts or flashing legs, darn it. Then there're some not very convincing road races, maybe because of careless editing. Surprisingly, filming was done on location in Missouri; too bad we don't see more of the local neighborhoods. That would be an interesting non-Hollywood glimpse.

(In passing-- I just finished actor Steve Stevens' reminiscence on his acting years. In the movie he plays Cricket, Ashley's compliant go-fer. In the book, Stevens surprisingly describes having been a part-time go-fer for notorious LA gangster Mickey Cohen! Which I guess proves that old adage about truth being stranger than fiction.)

Anyway, the movie's a decent time-passer for 50's geezers like me, and maybe even those younger folks interested in seeing power plays among the well-scrubbed.

John Ashland is "Matt", big man on high school campus. of course, he was 26 at the time. and the sound is TERRIBLE! so much echo in the microphones. so cheesy. Matt runs everything in this school, but it seems like much ado about nothing. Kind of feels like a john waters film, without the humor. played so straight, its painful. avoid this one. not worth the time. Written and directed by O'Dale Ireland... is that his real name? he only made a couple films. not much on him anywhere. Produced by marathon pictures, which made four more after this. Showing on "Film Detective" channel.

High School Caesar (1960)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

A bully fixes a vote so that he can be elected Class President where he then plans on stealing even more money from students. Here's another drive-in era teen flick that tries to tell a message but even at just over 60-minutes this thing drags along. No camp value whatsoever and not bad enough to get any laughs. Just plain dull.

High School Big Shot (1959)

** (out of 4)

Drive-in era drama about a nerdy teen who gets his shot at the big time when he hears about a million dollar drop off. If you're a fan of these teenage "B" films of the 50s then this here is certainly one of the better ones but we're certainly a long way off from Rebel Without a Cause. The film runs out of steam around the fifty minute mark but the bad acting leads to some nice laughs.

Date Bait (1960)

* (out of 4)

Romeo and Juliet type story of a rich girl who falls for a poor kid. Her father is against them dating as is her ex-boyfriend who just happens to be crazy and has a gangster for an older brother. Bad acting, bad direction and a bad script make for a pretty bad film that feels five times longer than it actually is. The title song is a real hoot however.

Usually a big fan of these teenage 50s era flicks, I was not thrilled with this one. It shows the usual 20 something "teenagers" but no one much else is seen in the entire movie. For example, in one scene a phone call is made to the police for help by the owner of the local hangout, but no cops are ever shown in the entire picture. The only good point was the use of real rock n roll music instead of the usual jazz or swing sound which are often heard(incorrectly)as teen dance music of the day.