Main Cast: Jerry Lee Lewis, Russ Tamblyn, Jan Sterling, John Drew Barrymore, Mamie van Doren, Diane Jergens, Ray Anthony, Jackie Coogan, Michael Landon
Release Year: 1958
Country: US
Run Time: 85 minutes
Plot
Producer Albert Zugsmith serves up another all-star exposé with High School Confidential. Delivering a superb performance under the circumstances, Russ Tamblyn heads the cast as "typical" high schooler Tony Baker. Usually seen in the company of his voluptuous "aunt" Gwen Dulaine (the truly impressive Mamie Van Doren), Tony convinces one and all that he's looking for kicks of the controlled-substance kind. In truth, however, our hero is really an undercover narcotics agent named Mike Wilson, bound and determined to smash the operation of drug lord Mr. A. (Jackie Coogan). The once-in-a-lifetime cast includes such worthies as John Drew Barrymore (Drew Barrymore's daddy), Ray Anthony (then married to Mamie Van Doren), Charles Chaplin Jr., Michael Landon, and Jerry Lee Lewis as "himself." This updated Reefer Madness is not to be missed! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
The 1950s focused considerable attention on "the youth problem" (i.e., middle-class kids, bored with their lives, who turned to various forms of "delinquency," including drug use). High School Confidential was one of many teen exploitation pics of the period that supposedly dealt "seriously" with the issue, but really existed just to make a quick return on a low investment. Seen today, many of these films are tremendously entertaining -- the kind of film one laughs at rather than with. Confidential is definitely in this category, a pretty bad movie that is so deliciously dated that it's fun. The dialogue is classic '50s teen lingo as filtered through a Hollywood screenwriter's sensibility -- "I'm looking to graze on grass" and "Why don't we cut out, go to your pad, and live it up?" And John Drew Barrymore's totally hep retelling of the Christopher Columbus story has to be heard to be believed. Under the circumstances, the cast acquits itself rather admirably. Russ Tamblyn brings real commitment to his role and delivers the ludicrous dialogue as if it made sense, and Mamie van Doren is a perfect hoot as his sex-obsessed aunt. The "cool" soundtrack, including contributions by Jerry Lee Lewis, is a definite plus. Tamblyn would have much better luck with West Side Story a few years later. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
