Generación de rebeldes

The Beat Generation (1959)

** (out of 4)

It's not often where I come across a movie and I'm not certain if I should call it a masterpiece for what it is or call it one of the worst films ever made. The story has a woman-hating detective (Steve Cochran) trying to track down a serial rapist (Ray Danton). A twist in the story is that the rapist raped the detective's wife who is now pregnant. THE BEAT GENERATION starts off fairly decent as it tackled some issues that weren't normally talked about in 1959 but then it just keeps getting weirder and weirder and in the end we're left with a complete mess of a film but at the same time it's an original mess. For the life of me I couldn't help but feel that this 95-minute movie was over three hours because of its slow pace and the fact that so much is going on. Not only do you have the investigation into the rape but you also follow the rapist and his friend (Jim Mitchum) as they try to plan more attacks, which leads to the friend falling for one of the attempted victims (Mamie Van Doren)!!! Even stranger is a subplot dealing with the raped wife who now wants to have an abortion. Throw in the detective/husband who is rather obsessive and hates women just like the rapist! Oh yeah, there's also the entire stuff dealing with the "beat generation," which includes an ending with a hootenanny. The rape scenes are handled with some class as we never really see anything but we do here the women scream in terror. The ending, which I won't spoil, is just downright crazy as none of it makes too much sense but then again, nothing that comes before it does either. The cast features a pretty good performance by Cochran and Fay Spain as his wife. Jackie Coogan appears as his partner and we get small performances from Louis Armstrong, Vampira, Max Rosenbloom, Ray Anthony and Cathy Crosby. And yes, Jim Mitchum is the son of screen legend Robert Mitchum. Believe it or not, Mamie Van Doren is actually given a real role here and she too turns in a good performance. THE BEAT GENERATION is a complete mess of a film but at the same time it's very original and somewhat daring for its time.

Like a few others have already stated in these user comments, it's kind of surprising that the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio of 1959 would get involved in a movie with a number of trashy elements. The movie has a number of flaws as well. The musical numbers seem out of place for a serious story, and there is also comedy relief that seems out of place. The movie is stretched out to the breaking point when a more compact telling was obviously needed. And the character of the rapist isn't really explored that well.

Still, there are some interesting things to be found here. The movie explores some topics like rape and abortion with effectiveness that even more than 50 years later still seems a little daring. Also, Ray Danton, despite a weakly written character, acts in a really slimy way that makes him an effective villain. While this material isn't enough to make the movie worth searching for, if it happens to come on your TV, people interested in 50s movie exploitation that was done while still hampered by a production code may find the movie of some interest.

I watched this movie with some hesitation, because it really received awful reviews; however, because I like Ray Danton and Steve Cochran, I decided to give it a chance. Ray Danton and Steve Cochran both gave very good performances, as did Mamie Van Doren, Fay Spain, Jackie Coogan, and Jim Mitchum, and the plot, though trashy, was interesting, and as pointed out by Martin Teller, this movie was weirdly compelling, mainly due, I think, to Ray Danton's very menacing and interesting performance as a killer, and Steve Cochran's performance as a complex cop. I am, therefore, recommending this movie, but only if you like any of the actors in it, since they all gave good performances, and, I think, one can bear with the worst movie if one is a fan of an actor!

Clean-cut young man (in jackets and skinny ties) hangs out with the beatnik kids and plays the bongos, but really gets off on beating and sexually assaulting vulnerable housewives. Standard police thriller jazzed up with slang; it uses the beatnik milieu only as ruse, it's main aim being a marriage in crisis (the rapist targets a police detective's wife, and two months later she's pregnant but doesn't know who the father is). Low-budget potboiler from MGM was probably a second-biller, though it has gleaming black-and-white cinematography from Walter Castle and some good performances. Steve Cochran is perfectly cast as the detective with the hysterical wife, Ray Danton is way-gone-cool as the scuba-diving psychopath (his M.O. is to call on women pretending he owes their husbands money) and Mamie Van Doren is terrific as a soon-to-be divorcée who wouldn't mind being man-handled. Co-written by Richard Matheson (!) and Lewis Meltzer, the action gets too crazy, dig, near the finish, but for the most part it's a rough little jewel, dad. ** from ****

On one level this movie is sort of pop psychology trying to make a subtle distinction between the slippery slope of ordinary misogyny (non- violent here) and serial rapist (extreme brutality of course). The contrast between two men with these hang-ups in relation to women seems an odd basis for a film script, but then this whole movie is pretty odd.

The attempt at a psychological overall theme fails to rise above mere exploitation in this 1959 b-movie time capsule complete with Mamie Van Doren at her bleach blondest and flirtatious best. Also you have some beatniks who say "lets have a hootenanny". And dig these cats as they really do have a hootenanny. Its a crazy beat event as self-absorbed oddball characters endeavor to find nihilistic and existential new ways to waste their time and practice the fine art of hanging out. Watchable chaos ensues as a campy b-movie police manhunt goes on literally in its midst. This is 1959 b-movie heaven, complete with Louis Armstrong and an inexplicable role for Cathy Crosby that is so out of place it actually adds more camp to the camp.

Fay Spain carries the acting load as she did in numerous movie roles and countless fine and noticeable performances in TV dramas. She was a true acting talent. Steve Cochran, once one of those incredibly beautiful male actors who populated 1940's and 50's movies, is clearly aging here and gives a sort of disinterested, hangdog performance that is not among his best. Ray Danton, another movie stud of the era, is convincing as the psycho, but unfortunately is only allowed to perform at a strictly b-movie level.

Fay Spain is the real deal. Aside from her this is just a fast-paced psychological mumbo jumbo of a b-movie that is priceless as a time capsule of the age.