Search - Classic Teenage Rebels on DVD

Hot Rod Girls and High School Caesars:

Barry Goub!er | New Orleans, LA | 07/24/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This is an impressive collection of public domain 50s movies that fall into the Juvenile Delinquent genre: that is, low-budget drive-in pictures exploiting the post-Rock 'n' Roll teenage culture of the time. I love this stuff, so I was happy to pick up this 3-DVD package for a cheap price.
One complaint: 2 of the movies don't belong on this collection at all. JAIL BAIT is Ed Wood's early 50s attempt at Film Noir, and has about as much to do with this genre as Gone With The Wind. THE GIRL IN LOVER'S LANE is more of a traditional melodrama, and also really doesn't belong here. St. Clair should have gone with movies that better fit the collection's theme, or shortened the running-time and lowered the price.
All in all, though, it's worth picking up if you're a fan of all things "J.D." related...let's hope there's more budget movie boxes with this theme coming out!
"

Adolescent cheese, circa 1960

Annie Van Auken | Planet Earth | 11/11/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Extras on CLASSIC TEENAGE REBELS: Disc One-- poster gallery; Disc Two-- Arch Hall bio; Disc Three-- Movie Trailers.

SYNOPSES--

CHOPPERS-- Teen gang steals cars and sells parts to a corrupt junkyard operator.

DATE BAIT-- Girl's dad disapproves of her new boyfriend, as does her "ex"-- a nutcase with a gangster brother.

HIGH SCHOOL BIG SHOT-- Bully's GF gets an 'F' on a term paper written for her by a class genius who's not smart enough to realize he's being guilt manipulated when she later enlists his aid in a $1,000,000 drug deal.

HIGH SCHOOL CAESAR-- Thug wants to be elected class president so he can steal more of his fellow students' cash.

HOT ROD GIRL-- A race car Jeff built may be responsible for his brother's death, so he wants to quit the hot rod scene.

JAIL BAIT-- Typical Ed Wood flick about a crook who forces his friend's dad to operate on his face so cops won't recognize him.

REBEL SET-- Coffee house owner disguises three beatniks as cops so they can rob an armored car.

T-BIRD GANG-- High schooler joins a teen mob so he can avenge his father's murder.

WILD GUITAR-- Small town boy goes to Hollywood in search of fame but falls in with the wrong crowd.

WILD RIDE-- Young race car driver parties when away from the track and gets into big trouble after kidnapping a friend's girl.


ST. CLAIR DVD multi-packs are reasonably priced, and offer fine quality video/audio transfers of unrestored public domain material. Discs are single-side recorded, plastic storage cases fairly sturdy, movie liner notes appear on box's back cover and most DVDs include bonus items.

Their DRIVE-IN CLASSICS box set would be a good companion to this collection.


Parenthetical numbers preceding titles are 1 to 10 viewer poll ratings found at a film resource website.

(4.3) The Choppers (1961) - Arch Hall Jr./Marianne Gaba/Robert Paget/Tom Brown/Bruno VeSota
(5.5) Date Bait (1960) - Gary Clarke/Marlo Ryan/Dick Gering/Carol Dawne/Jon Lindon
(1.7) High School Big Shot (1959) - Tom Pitttman/Virginia Aldridge/Howard Veit/Stanley Adams/Peter Leeds
(4.5) High School Caesar (1960) - John Ashley/Gary Vinson/Steve Stevens/Lowell Brown/Judy Nugent
(5.6) Hot Rod Girl (1956) - Lori Nelson/Chuck Connors/John Smith/Frank Gorshin/Dabbs Greer
(2.4) Jail Bait (1954) - Lyle Talbot/Delores Fuller/Herbert Rawlinson/Steve Reeves/Clancy Malone
(2.1) The Rebel Set (1959) - Gregg Palmer/Kathleen Crowley/Edward Platt/Ned Glass/I. Stanford Jolley
(5.2) T-Bird Gang (1959) - John Brinkley/Ed Nelson/Tony Miller/Pat George/Vic Tayback
(4.4) The Wild Ride (1960) - Jack Nicholson/Georgianna Carter/Robert Bean/Carol Bigby
(2.4) Wild Guitar (1962) - Arch Hall Jr./Nancy Czar/Arch Hall Sr./Ray Dennis Steckler/Marie Denn"