Sunday, March 1, 2015

HIGH SCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL: COOL DADDIO



As time passes it’s always interesting to go back and take a look at movies made that discussed topics that seem out of date to us now. As the years go by attitudes and norms change, some for the better and some not. In any event it’s a nice thing that we have these movies on hand to show us the way culture changes over the years. But as depicted in movies those things we feared once now seem quaint. Such is the case with this film.

Russ Tamblyn plays Tony Baker, the new kid in town with a delinquent past. He may have been the tough kid in his old school but here he has to establish his credentials or be one of the squares. In an attempt to move up the ladder he does everything he can to make sure they know he fits in, from mouthing off to the teacher to buying pot from the weedheads.

Tony also has some interesting love life problems in the movie as well. His aunt tries to seduce him time and time again. His teacher wants to save him from a life of crime but at the same time its apparent that she’s interested in him as well (could this be where the seduction of students began all those years ago?) and girlfriend of the head teen dealer seems interested in him as well. While he takes time to flirt with the latter two he has bigger plans in store. Tony wants to meet the main man, the supplier of the pot, so that he can start his own steady stream of income. Toss in some drag racing and you have a sure fire drive in hit here.

The amusing thing about the film is the depiction of drug addiction. As with most scare films of the time the dependence on marijuana is over the top at best and no more factually depicted than it was with the chain smoking piano playing madman from REEFER MADNESS. The movie tries to be a depiction of how good kids can go bad when influenced by drugs and while there is truth in that it also isn’t near as bad as depicted.

The production values of the movie are solid but low budget at best. The club the kids hang out in seems small and is run by an adult played by Jackie Coogan (TV’s Uncle Fester) who no teen would think of as cool or with it. The sets used for Tony’s home with his aunt and uncle seem less than those seen in TV series at the time. But the movie isn’t so much about those locations of scenery and more about the troubled teens on display. A twist near the end doesn’t make this Shakespeare but it does make the movie a bit of fun to watch if for no other reason than for nostalgia’s sake. Olive Films has done a nice job of the transfer here providing a good edition of the film for collectors of the genre.

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