''Platinum High School'' is a 1960 American

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Ca ...

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

romance film Romance films or movies involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typically their journey ...

directed by Charles Haas and starring Mickey Rooney, Terry Moore and

Dan Duryea Dan Duryea ( , January 23, 1907 – June 7, 1968) was an American actor in film, stage, and television. Known for portraying a vast range of character roles as a villain, he nonetheless had a long career in a wide variety of leading and second ...

. It was based on the 1960 novel of the same name by

Irving Shulman Irving Shulman (May 21, 1913 – March 23, 1995) was an American author and screenwriter whose works were adapted into movies. His books included ''The Amboy Dukes,'' ''Cry Tough,'' ''The Square Trap,'' and ''Platinum High School'', all of which ...

Plot

Sailing to a coastal

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

island, Steven Conway sets out to find out what caused the mysterious death of his son. Denied food and lodging at his first two stops, Conway goes to a remote and elite military school on Sabre Island. The school is run by Major Redfern Kelly, whose secretary Jennifer Evans wonders why it took Conway four months to come inquire about his son. Conway explains that he had been in Pakistan the past few months on a business project and only recently found out that the boy's mother, now deceased, had sent him to this exclusive academy with the $10,000 tuition. He asks to see his son's records and to speak to a student, Crip Hastings, who might have witnessed the boy's death. Jennifer is having an affair with the married Kelly and warns the major not to let Conway speak to the Hastings boy. Three cadets begin to harass Conway, attempting to provoke him into a fight. They taunt Crip as well, warning him to say nothing. Conway learns that his son was accidentally killed by the cadets in a brutal initiation rite. On the boat home, Jennifer pretends to help, but has arranged an ambush. It backfires as she falls into shark-infested waters while Conway sets the boat ablaze with Kelly aboard. He makes his way back to shore safely when Joe Nibley shoots at the sharks in the water.

Cast

* Mickey Rooney as Steven Conway * Terry Moore as Jennifer Evens *

as Maj. Redfern Kelly * Conway Twitty as Billy Jack Barnes *

Warren Berlinger Warren Berlinger (August 31, 1937 – December 2, 2020) was an American character actor, with Broadway runs, movie and television credits, and much work in commercials. Early life Warren Berlinger was born in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, ...

as 'Crip' Hastings *

Yvette Mimieux Yvette Carmen Mimieux (January 8, 1942 – January 18, 2022) was an American film and television actress. Her breakout role was in '' The Time Machine'' (1960). She was nominated for three Golden Globe Awards during her acting career. Early li ...

as Lorinda Nibley * Jimmy Boyd as Bud Starkweather *

Richard Jaeckel Richard Hanley Jaeckel (October 10, 1926 – June 14, 1997) was an American actor of film and television. Jaeckel became a well-known character actor in his career, which spanned six decades. He received a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nominatio ...

as Hack Marlow *

Elisha Cook Jr. Elisha Vanslyck Cook Jr. (December 26, 1903 – May 18, 1995) was an American character actor famed for his work in films noir. According to Bill Georgaris of TSPDT: They Shoot Pictures, Don't They, Cook appeared in a total of 21 film ...

as Harry Nesbit * Jack Carr as Joe Nibley * Christopher Dark as Vince Perley * Harold Lloyd Jr. as Charlie-Boy Cable

Production

The film was the last made in a six-film deal between producer

Albert Zugsmith Albert Zugsmith (April 24, 1910 – October 26, 1993) was an American film producer, film director and screenwriter who specialized in low-budget exploitation films through the 1950s and 1960s. With a background in music promotion (Ted Weems, P ...

and

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...

Reception

According to MGM records the film earned $175,000 in the US and Canada and $150,000 elsewhere, making a loss to the studio of $270,000.

References

External links