The Beatniks

1958
1h 18m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

A young singer's chance at fame is threatened by his hoodlum pals.A young singer's chance at fame is threatened by his hoodlum pals.A young singer's chance at fame is threatened by his hoodlum pals.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

2.6/10

1.2K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Top cast14

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Tony Travis

Eddy Crane

Karen Kadler

Iris

Peter Breck

Bob Mooney

Joyce Terry

Helen Tracy

Bob Wells

Chuck

Sam Edwards

Charles Delaney

Harry Bayliss

Stanley Farrar

Morrissey
(as Stan Farrar)

Claude Stroud

Hotel Manager

Martha Wentworth

Nadine

Frank Worth

Bartender

Robert Paquin

Hotel Detective
(as Bob Paquin)

Eddie Brandt

Pianist
(uncredited)

Paul Frees

Various Voices
(voice)
(uncredited)

Director
- Paul Frees
Writer
- Paul Frees
All cast & crew
Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
Featured by Mystery Science Theater 3000 - Season 5, episode 15 - Aired 11/25/92.

Goofs
During Eddie's recording session, his song is recorded on tape and directly to a master disc. After tape recording was introduced in the late 1940s, record companies stopped recording directly to master discs.

Quotes
[the nebbish hotel manager, complaining about the gang's behavior, gets mocked for his trouble]
The Hotel Manager: Whyyyy, you young hoodlums, I'll call the police!
Bob 'Moon' Mooney: You say one word to anyone and I'm gonna *moon* you.
The Hotel Manager: You're gonna what?
Bob 'Moon' Mooney: MOON YOU!

Connections
Featured in Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Beatniks (1992)

Memo to Paul Frees: stick to voice work

I watched this movie because of my interest in voice actor Paul Frees, who wrote and directed "The Beatniks." He also wrote the lyrics to all the songs in the picture, with music by Eddie Brandt (who had worked with Spike Jones). In the Frees biography, his ex-wife (who stars in it) warns readers NOT to bother watching it because it's AWFUL. She claims that Frees knew nothing about directing, and that the photography and sound were also terrible. And she was right: this movie is a stinker, loaded with clichés about teenage troublemakers and also the entertainment industry of the 50s. It never really getting off the ground, leaving in the "deep Frees."