Das nackte Gesicht

A teenage James MacArthur stars in this film dealing with the age old theme of listen to your children as well as try to believe them.

From an affluent Beverly Hill home, MacArthur finds himself being harassed in a movie theater after a patron complained about his putting his legs on a chair. The problem is that there were plenty of people saw the harassment by the manager of the theater but no one was asked to say anything. This is a definite problem in the screen writing.

I had actually forgotten that James Daly was an actor. I remember him in television commercials. As his wife, Kim Hunter looks like she is annoyed with the whole plot. We suddenly find out that she has been contemplating leaving Daly for 5 years. What's stopping you lady, your life of luxury?

While John Frankenheimer always dealt with social problems, this one is cliché ridden.

Acting kudos goes to James Gregory as a hard-nosed police officer who adds to the problem by giving MacArthur a bad time. I think this picture was a cheap stunt to continue the theme of "Rebel Without A Cause." That Sal Mineo masterpiece also deals with wayward youth and a loss of interaction between parent and child. "Young Stranger" is adequate but certainly not in the league of "Rebel."

Whit Bissell is effective as the theater owner who is fed up with the behavior of all teenage movie-goers and wants to use MacArthur as an example. Usually a cowardly co-star in grade B films of the 1950s, Bissell shows his adeptness of really being a weakling.

With regard to Gregory, Frankenheimer would get a brilliant performance out of him in 1962's "The Manchurian Candidate." Remember him as the moronic senator married to Angela Lansbury?

Rebel Without a Cause was an interesting film, even with the histrionics of James Dean, an actor that was decent, but not as good as James McArthur, in my opinion. The storyline and direction of this film is also superior to the overrated Rebel Without a Cause. It is a true coming of age film about a young man in a slightly dysfunctional family (mostly the father), who has trouble getting anyone to believe the actual events of a minor incident. It is a very interesting perspective of this time period in American history. The father-son relationship is at the crux of the film, and I was very sensitive to that issue, as I am close to my son, Joe. A good study in growing pains of a teenager.

Clean-cut but wisecracking teenage boy in Beverly Hills causes a minor stir in a movie theater, scuffles with a too-strict staff and ends up punching the manager in the face! Somewhat mechanical yet heartfelt melodrama, a thinly-disguised plea for the misunderstood teen, does manage to touch on some interesting child-parent issues. Filmed in just 25 days by debuting director John Frankenheimer (who practically disowned the thing later on), it's an occasionally effective second-feature written by Robert Dozier, who adapted his own TV play "Deal a Blow". James MacArthur is green but compelling in the lead, James Daly and Kim Hunter excellent as his parents. Relatively minor, but the straightforward handling and still-relatable angst result in several fine sequences and a moving finale. **1/2 from ****

This eloquent, simple film makes a remarkably clear statement about a teenager and his father. A theatrical release, the director, John Frankenheimer, learned his craft in the early, challenging days of live television in New York City. Indeed, he directed the teleplay on which the film is based, "Deal a Blow," on the CBS drama series "Climax." "Young Stranger" represents his Hollywood debut. After a hiatus of four years, during which he would do more television, he returned to direct "The Young Savages" with Burt Lancaster and, a year after that, "All Fall Down" with Warren Beatty and Angela Lansbury.

The casting is competent with James Daly and Kim Hunter (particularly good) playing the parents of the title character performed by James MacArthur (his first theatrical film) who played the same role in the television version which was his first appearance on the small screen. Look for James Gregory and Whit Bissell in supporting roles.

A teenage boy estranged from his wealthy father gets into trouble with the law.

Earnest little teen-age drama. I'm not surprised the movie came from a TV play since the production resembles a Playhouse 90 drama from TV's so-called Golden Age. MacArthur performs wonderfully as the alienated son of a wealthy self-centered dad (Daly). This was the kid's first acting outing and he mostly low-keys it, showing the repression he suffers because of an overly cocksure dad.

Of course, the concern with "juvenile delinquency" dates the show to the 1950's, conjuring up images of a James Dean, a temptation MacArthur wisely avoids. Nonetheless, as in Dean's Rebel Without a Cause (1955), the boy's problems boil down to a dysfunctional dad—too weak in Dean's case, too strong in MacArthur's. Hal's (MacArthur) refusal to come up with an easy apology because he knows he's right about the punch-out in the theater, shows strong character that dad fails to consider. I too, thought why not apologize even if it betrays the facts since that would end the problem with the law. But Hal stays true to the facts because he knows he's right. All in all, it's a good dramatic crux.

The movie's perfectly cast, though I have to say the excellent actress Kim Hunter is largely wasted in a role a hundred lesser performers could have handled. Newcomer Frankenheimer directs with a sure and knowing hand that foreshadows his outstanding Hollywood career-- The Manchurian Candidate (1962) and Seconds (1966), among others.

No, there're no fast car races, or sexy teen girls, standard features of teen movies of the day. In fact, the only action is the set-to in the theater and the lawnmower hijinks. Nevertheless, the movie remains a compelling little human interest drama that manages to survive the decades, thanks mainly to MacArthur.