Search - High School Big Shot on DVD

As depressing a film as you're likely to find

Daniel Jolley | Shelby, North Carolina USA | 03/15/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Some really depressing films came out of the 1950s, but few are as grim as 1959's High School Big Shot. As in most of these old juvenile delinquency films, the high school student at the center of things appears to be at least thirty-five years old. Marvin Grant (Tom Pittman) is a smart kid, the only student who not only understands but actually likes Shakespeare. Like most class nerds, though, Marv is a pretty lonely fellow - which makes him easy pickings for a pretty little vixen like Betty Alexander. She drops her greaser boyfriend Vince and suddenly makes nice-nice with Marv, but the poor dope is too much of a loser to see that she only wants him for his term paper prowess. You can't really blame Marv for getting all lost in Betty's eyes, though; it's not like he has anything else in life to live for. His father is a drunk who can't hold down a steady job, and naturally he is dirt poor. Even when he actually gets a date with Betty, he has to split his six dollars with his worthless pop. As you might expect, things don't work out in the end for Marv and Betty. Marv finally figures out what he should have known all along - the only way for him to attract any member of the female species is to have plenty of money, and even then, it's far from a sure thing. Of course, the only way a loser like Marv is going to get rich is by stealing someone else's money, and he just happens to learn about a drug deal going down that will put one million smackers right at his disposal - all he has to do is find himself a safecracker and just take it all.

There is to be no happy ending for Marv, though, as everything goes wrong. Despite all this, the movie really isn't half bad. You never feel too badly for anyone, including Marv, because not a single character is remotely likable. You hate to see a reasonably smart guy destroy his life because of a girl who is obviously using him, but - given Marv's future prospects - it's probably best that he crash and burn at a young age rather than merely living out a long life of quiet desperation. I'm not sure there is a real point to the movie - unless it's to show that life isn't worth a cold can of beans as long as you're poor - but High School Big Shot may actually make you feel better about yourself. Most likely, no matter how big a loser you are, you're better off than Marv."