''High School Confidential!'' is a 1958 American

crime drama Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as Drama (film and television), dr ...

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

directed by Jack Arnold, starring

Mamie Van Doren Mamie Van Doren (; born Joan Lucille Olander; February 6, 1931) is an American actress, singer, and model. A Bombshell (slang), blonde bombshell, she is one of the "Three M's" along with Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield, who were friends and ...

Russ Tamblyn Russell Irving Tamblyn (born December 30, 1934), also known as Rusty Tamblyn, is an American film and television actor and dancer. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Tamblyn trained as a gymnast in his youth. He began his career as a child actor ...

, Jan Sterling,

John Drew Barrymore John Drew Barrymore (born John Blyth Barrymore Jr.; June 4, 1932 – November 29, 2004) was an American film actor and member of the Barrymore family of actors, which included his father, John Barrymore, and his father's siblings, Lionel and ...

Jackie Coogan John Leslie Coogan (October 26, 1914 – March 1, 1984) was an American actor and comedian who began his film career as a child actor in silent films. Coogan's role in Charlie Chaplin's film ''The Kid (1921 film), The Kid'' (1921) made him one o ...

Diane Jergens Diane Jergens (born Dianne Irgens; March 31, 1935 – October 9, 2018) was an American film and television actress. Early years Jergens was the daughter of Norman C. Irgens, an alderman in Minneapolis, and his wife. In 1944, at age 8, she aud ...

and

Michael Landon Michael Landon Sr. (born Eugene Maurice Orowitz; October 31, 1936 – July 1, 1991) was an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for his roles as Little Joe Cartwright in ''Bonanza'' (1959–1973), Charles Ingalls in ''Little House on th ...

. The film also features a cameo by

Jerry Lee Lewis Jerry Lee Lewis (September 29, 1935October 28, 2022) was an American pianist, singer, and songwriter. Nicknamed "The Killer", he was described as "rock 'n' roll's first great wild man". A pioneer of rock and roll and rockabilly music, Lewis m ...

who opens the movie singing “Boppin’ at the High School Hop” which Lewis co-wrote with Ron Hargrave. Lewis released the

title track A title track is a song that has the same name as the album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-t ...

as a

Sun Records Sun Records is an American independent record label founded by producer Sam Phillips in Memphis, Tennessee on February 1, 1952. Sun was the first label to record Elvis Presley, Charlie Rich, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Jo ...

45 single which became a Top 40 hit, reaching #21 in the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' charts. The film is listed in

Golden Raspberry Award The Golden Raspberry Awards (also known as the Razzies and Razzie Awards) is a parody award show honoring the worst of cinematic failures. Co-founded by University of California, Los Angeles, UCLA film graduates and film industry veterans John ...

founder John Wilson's book '' The Official Razzie Movie Guide'' as one of The 100 Most Enjoyably Bad Movies Ever Made.

Plot

Mike Wilson, a young police officer, poses as a student under the alias Tony Baker and thus infiltrates a high school in order to investigate a narcotics ring. He lives in an apartment with Gwen Dulaine, a married woman who pretends to be his aunt in public but attempts to seduce him in private. "Tony" flirts with pupil Joan Staples and incurs the wrath of teacher Arlene Williams as he makes acquaintances in school. He discovers that Joan uses

marijuana Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...

and inquires about where she purchases it. He ultimately learns that a mysterious man known only as "Mr. A" is the one who sells drugs to the students, helped by an assistant called Bix. With help from an undercover cop, Quinn, who risks his life to save Mike's, the criminals are apprehended and Joan promises Mike that her drug use is over.

Cast

as Tony Baker/Mike Wilson * Jan Sterling as Arlene Williams *

as J. I. Coleridge *

as Joan Staples *

as Gwen Dulaine *

as Himself *

Ray Anthony Ray Anthony (born Raymond Antonini; January 20, 1922) is an American retired bandleader, trumpeter, songwriter and actor. He is the last living member of the Glenn Miller Orchestra. Biography Anthony was born to an Italian family in Bentleyv ...

as Bix *

as Mr. 'Mr. A' August *

Charles Chaplin Jr. Charles Spencer Chaplin III (May 5, 1925 – March 20, 1968), known professionally as Charles Chaplin Jr., was an American actor. He was the eldest son of Charlie Chaplin and Lita Grey, and is known for appearing in 1950s films such as '' The Be ...

as Quinn *

as Steve Bentley *

Lyle Talbot Lyle Talbot (born Lisle Henderson, also credited Lysle Talbot; February 8, 1902 – March 2, 1996) was an American stage, screen and television actor. His career in films spanned three decades, from 1931 to 1960, and he performed on a wide ...

as William Remington Kane *

Robin Raymond Robin Raymond, sometimes credited as Robyn Raymond (born Rayemon Robin, October 4, 1916 – June 20, 1994 ) was an American film actress. Early life Raymond graduated from Northwestern University with a BA degree and worked as a press a ...

as Kitty *

Burt Douglas Burt Archibald Douglas (November 21, 1930 – July 1, 2000) was an American film, stage and television actor. Life and career Douglas was born in Denver, Colorado, and graduated from the University of Colorado. When he saw the play ''The Hei ...

as Jukey Judlow Veteran character actor

Charles Halton Charles Halton (March 16, 1876 – April 16, 1959) was an American character actor who appeared in over 180 films. Life and career Halton trained at the New York Academy of Dramatic Arts. He made his Broadway debut in 1901, after which ...

appears uncredited in his last role as Mr. Robinson, the high school principal.

Production

The movie was produced by

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, ...

, the first of a six-picture deal he had signed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. MGM would receive 75% of the profits, Zugmsith 25%. In January 1958, Russ Tamblyn, who had just made the movie

Tom Thumb Tom Thumb is a character of English folklore. ''The History of Tom Thumb'' was published in 1621 and was the first known fairy tale printed in English. Tom is no bigger than his father's thumb, and his adventures include being swallowed by a cow, ...

(1958), was assigned to star. Filming began in February 1958.

George Raft George Raft (né Ranft; September 26, 1901 – November 24, 1980) was an American film actor and dancer identified with portrayals of gangsters in crime melodramas of the 1930s and 1940s. A stylish leading man in dozens of movies, Raft is remembe ...

had been cast in a role in the film but in March 1958, MGM announced

would be playing the part instead. No explanation was given. The film was based on an original script by

Lewis Meltzer Lewis Meltzer (January 28, 1911 – February 23, 1995) was an American screenwriter and brother of actor Sid Melton. He died in 1995. Select filmography * '' Golden Boy'' (1939) * '' Those High Grey Walls'' (1939) * '' The Lady in Question'' ...

and screen story by

Robert Blees Robert Blees (June 9, 1918 Lathrop, Missouri – January 31, 2015) was an American writer and producer of films and television. He died on January 31, 2015. Select filmography * ''The Glass Web'' (1953) * ''Cattle Queen of Montana'' (1954) * '' ...

. and according to critic Dana M. Reemes “utterly preposterous from beginning to end.” ''High School Confidential!'' was conceived by Zugsmith, Meltzer and Blees and as a teenage exploitation film with an anti-marijuana message. Director Jack Arnold recalls an exchanges with producer Zugsmith regarding the film’s style and theme:

Box office

According to MGM records the film earned $1,290,000 in the US and Canada Please note figures are for US and Canada only and are domestic rentals accruing to distributors as opposed to theatre gross and $625,000 elsewhere, resulting in a profit of $578,000. However, the follow-up films Zugsmith made for MGM, including '' The Beat Generation'' and ''

Platinum High School ''Platinum High School'' is a 1960 American crime drama romance film directed by Charles Haas and starring Mickey Rooney, Terry Moore and Dan Duryea. It was based on the 1960 novel of the same name by Irving Shulman. Plot Sailing to a coastal ...

'', lost money.

In popular culture

This film is sampled on White Zombie's album '' La Sexorcisto: Devil Music, Vol. 1'' on four separate occasions: the "Do you want to start a rumble?" conversation, the "Drop it, buster!" line, the "tomorrow's a drag" poem, and the Columbus speech ("the only thing square about this world..."). In the 1980 song " High School Confidential" by the Canadian new wave band Rough Trade (album: ''Avoid Freud''), singer

Carole Pope Carole Ann Pope (born 6 August 1950) is a British-born Canadian rock singer-songwriter, whose provocative blend of hard-edged New wave music, new wave rock with explicit homoerotic and BDSM-themed lyrics made her one of the first openly lesbian ...

refers to the star of this film,

References

Sources

*Reemes, Dana M. 1988. ''Directed by Jack Arnold.''

McFarland & Company McFarland & Company, Inc., is an American independent book publisher based in Jefferson, North Carolina, that specializes in academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tert ...

Jefferson, North Carolina Jefferson is a town in and the county seat of Ashe County, North Carolina, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 1,622. History The North Carolina General Assembly created a special commission in 1799 to found a county seat fo ...

1988.

External links

* * *
Alan Arkush on ''High School Confidential''
at

Trailers from Hell ''Trailers from Hell'' (branded as ''Trailers from Hell!'') is a web series in which filmmakers discuss and promote individual movies through commenting on their trailers. While the series emphasizes horror, science fiction, fantasy, cult, and exp ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:High School Confidential 1958 films 1950s English-language films American black-and-white films CinemaScope films 1958 crime drama films 1950s teen drama films Films directed by Jack Arnold Films scored by Albert Glasser Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films American crime drama films American teen drama films 1950s American films English-language crime drama films