The Cool and the Crazy

If you can overlook the over-hyped 'marijuana is a killer' message of this film, you're in for a treat. Scott Marlowe is the new kid in town, pushing 'M' to the local delinquents (who otherwise seem to like getting smashed on booze, funnily enough). It's the role of his career, even though he seems to be trying to channel the spirit of Marlon Brando. The Kansas City locations add the extra grit the film needs, and there's a super slimy turn by Marvyn J. Rosen as the big wheel of the narcotics business. Rosen never had another role, so presumably he was a KC local, and he makes the most of it. I remember watching this movie on TV back in the 70s and being impressed, and seeing it recently for the first time in 25 years rekindled my fond feelings for this nice example of indie filmmaking.

This has to be one of the worst movies ever. The actors that were,supposedly teenagers, had to be going on thirty, if not older. Never considered Scott Marlowe that good an actor. He was really over the top in this. Talk about ham, if that was method acting, he definitely missed a few classes. The guy Jackie was pitiful, a regular wimp. First he starts out being big and bad like his lump of a friend cookie. I don't know what kind of weed they were smoking, it made them claw at their throats. Come on be serious, saying they feel like they're dying. If anything this would make some dummies try it, just to see if it could make them, feel like that. 😂

One puff of pot and you're hooked for life and on your way to the hard stuff and a life of crime. That's the over-the-top message that makes this teen flick a 50's version of the notorious Reefer Madness of the 30's. Too bad, because the movie has some good points if you can get past dewy-eyed Scott Marlowe working hard at an antic version of James Dean or a 30-year old Dick Jones playing a teenager with thinning hair.

There are of course the usual juvenile delinquents of the 50's youth era otherwise known as the Silent Generation, riding around in their hotrods, hanging around drive-ins, and talking back to the teacher-- sort of the norm for the cool crowd of the time. Then again, maybe not so much for Kansas City, where, if I recall correctly, at least one cast member was hauled in for sporting a banned haircut called a "ducktail". Anyway, this is the sort of thing many wanna-be teens of the time aspired to.

Two points almost redeem this exploitation cheapie. First, filming on location in Kansas City gives the background an unusually gritty and realistic appearance. Director Witney makes good use of this in his staging, especially the night scene with the carpet of downtown lights stretched out below the carousing youths. Second is the showcase provided for teen super-star Richard Bakalyan (Jackie) who manages to give the show some depth of character. For a lesson in acting, contrast his natural style with that of the heavily mannered Marlowe-- Dean may have been a master of the latter, but with Marlowe, the antics become plain annoying.

Anyway, the movie remains an interesting capsule of the time. Younger viewers can begin to understand the youth rebellion of the 60's in this movie's twisted portrayal of pot smoking, a hype that millions of youngsters were only too eager to disprove 10 years later. Had the film-makers really wanted to perform a public service, they could have inserted something about the effects of smoking of any kind, especially cigarettes so popular among teens of that day. Watch Marlowe who lights up like a smokestack. He also died relatively young. But, guess how many tickets that message would have sold.

This juvenile delinquent movie is definitely a cut above similar films of the era I've seen, thanks to a good script and a strong lead performance by Scott Marlowe. Marlowe had the looks and charisma to be a major star, but never get a chance at a breakout role in a big Hollywood movie. (He did at least have a long career as a supporting player.) When I say it's a good script, perhaps I should qualify that to say except for the ridiculously overblown responses to smoking pot by the "teenagers," who freak out as if they were on a bad acid trip. There's also a romantic subplot with second lead Richard Bakalyan and nice girl Gigi Perrau that goes nowhere and keeps Marlowe off the screen for long stretches. When Marlowe's not on the screen the movie suffers. Also, typical of many of these movies, several of the alleged high school students look like they're pushing 30. But the movie rolls along along at a brisk pace, has some good action sequences, and Marlowe delivers the '50s existential alienation in spades. (Per the title, he's both cool and crazy.)

One added bonus for jazz fans is the unnamed combo we see playing at a local club. The band really cooks. Too bad there's no credit for them. (Kansas City once had a very active jazz scene). As others have commented, the Kansas City locations gave the movie some grit and authenticity, when compared to the vanilla suburban Southern California setting of most '50s teen movies. (The Wikipedia article on the movie has some interesting info on the producer, a Kansas City theater chain owner who wanted to carve a niche for himself in the teen exploitation market. He had earlier hired KC local Robert Altman to make another juvenile delinquent movie).

First off the movie is very dated and fairly stupid('58) but that didn't stop me from watching it.

The Star Scott Marlow (Bennie) is off his ass!! Kept me watching until the very end..(which is crazy if you think of the time VS now. His acting for the time is completely original.

In the 50's film acting wasn't the way to go (or even really discovered yet) it was all stage acting, voice projection, big movements (more is more VS film now where Less is more) but Scott was acting like he was Vince Vaughn in Swingers, craaaaazy slick, believable and because it's in black and white you can't get over how modern his sarcasm and jokes are! As an actor i was blown away at how Scotts performance would still impress viewers well into 2007.