"Maybe most parents these days don't understand their children but they try." "The problems of youth confront the world today." "What is this younger generation coming to?" "You young people sure make it hard on your parents these days." "One generation has always blamed the other."
The above quotes from the 1944 flick Youth Aflame remind me of the saying, "The more things change, the more they stay the same." People are always apt to to think "these days" are the most stressful and bizarre in history just as today's young people are always the most rebellious in history.
Of course, there are changes that are real and I was reminded of that as well when characters in the film spout lines like "Police work is a man's job" and "Guns aren't for girls."
Youth Aflame begins with teenager Katy White (Joy Reese) lying in a hospital bed, clearly distraught and perhaps at death's door. After making the observation that begins this review, she tells most of the film's story in flashback. She is the good girl of the family, concerned about her rebellious sister Laura (Kay Morley) who is hanging out with an adult man named Al Simpson (Michael Owen) who is more than a bit anti-social. Expecting to marry Al, Laura steals a gun from her widowed Dad (Ed Cassidy) to give to Al. The no-good Al and crime partner Harry Ketchall (Edwin Brian) want the firearm for their nefarious doings but I'm getting a bit ahead of the story.
Katy hangs around with the more acceptable fellow teenager Frank Monahan (Warren Bur). The two plan to marry when they graduate high school.
Police officer Amy Clark (Mary Arden) shows up at the White home because she is concerned about Laura, Katy, and their fellow schoolmates. Together with the teens, a plan is made to keep them off the mean streets and out of trouble by forming a "Jive Club" at which the kids can socialize in a wholesome manner, imbibing milk and punch as well as dancing.
Some of the best parts of this black and white film are those of music and dancing. Performers Sheila Roberts and Johnny Duncan enthusiastically jitterbug at the Jive Club. Lindsay Bourquin, Laverne Thompson, and Betty Phares perform a wonderfully acrobatic dance at an adult nightclub. Karl Kiffe shows his masterful skill at the drums in a truly exciting Jive Club performance. Kiffe is worth mentioning because he was a teenager – 19 – when playing a teenager! By contrast, Rod Rogers was no less than 32 when playing the teen-aged Lester. Burr was a young adult – 21 – when playing high school student Frank. Although dates of birth were not given for the other major stars in this show in the Internet Movie Database, I believe it is safe to guess those playing the high school kids were in their twenties.
The Jive Club is a rousing success. But Al Simpson sees it as a threat so he and Laura spike the punch with booze. Then Al makes an anonymous call to the cops to tell of the under-aged drinking at the supposedly wholesome Jive Club. This leads at least one teen girl, Peggy Baker (Julie Duncan) to get punished in a nasty way by her mother which leads the youngster close to suicide.
Katy and Laura end up in a bedroom cat-fight, both in their pajamas, when each defends her respective boyfriend. While the cat-fight was probably meant to sexually appeal to the male audience members, a far more devastating event takes place when Laura realizes that Al is not the marrying sort.
Since I enjoyed the film, I looked up info on its major stars and found there was not much. They seemed to drop out from view after making this film or a few others.
Youth Aflame is not a masterpiece. However, the cheaply made film is well worth its rather brief viewing time of only one minute over the hour. The events move at a quick clip and the acting is more than acceptable. Like other juvenile delinquent films from past eras, it can function as a reminder of certain basic truths: yesterday's rebellious teen is today's old codger. After all, the people who played the teen characters in this film, young adults at the time, are likely to be dead of old-age related illnesses today.
Although if Warren Burr, Kay Morley, Joy Reese, Sheila Roberts, and/or Julie Duncan happen to be alive, I'd like to thank them for playing their roles well in this film.
