''Teenage Rebel'' is a 1956 American

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by

Edmund Goulding Edmund Goulding (20 March 1891 – 24 December 1959) was a British screenwriter and film director. As an actor early in his career he was one of the 'Ghosts' in the 1922 silent film '' Three Live Ghosts'' alongside Norman Kerry and Cyril Chadwic ...

and starring

Ginger Rogers Ginger Rogers (born Virginia Katherine McMath; July 16, 1911 – April 25, 1995) was an American actress, dancer and singer during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood. She won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her starri ...

Michael Rennie Michael Rennie (born Eric Alexander Rennie; 25 August 1909 – 10 June 1971) was a British film, television and stage actor, who had leading roles in a number of Hollywood films, including his portrayal of the space visitor Klaatu in the ...

and

Mildred Natwick Mildred Natwick (June 19, 1905 – October 25, 1994) was an American actress. She won a Primetime Emmy Award and was nominated for an Academy Award and two Tony Awards. Early life Natwick was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the daughter of Mildre ...

. It was nominated for two

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence in ...

; Best Costume Design and

Best Art Direction The Academy Award for Best Production Design recognizes achievement for art direction in film. The category's original name was Best Art Direction, but was changed to its current name in 2012 for the 85th Academy Awards. This change resulted fro ...

( Lyle R. Wheeler,

Jack Martin Smith Jack Martin Smith (January 2, 1911 - November 7, 1993) was a highly successful Hollywood art director with over 130 films to his credit and nine Academy Award nominations which ultimately yielded three Oscars. Career MGM He made his debut in 193 ...

, Walter M. Scott, and Stuart A. Reiss). The film was an adaptation of the play ''A Roomful of Roses'' by Edith Sommer, with

Betty Lou Keim Betty Lou Keim (September 27, 1938 – January 27, 2010) was an American stage, film, and television actress. Early life and career Keim was born in Malden, Massachusetts, as the daughter of a choreographer and a dancer, and she grew up in New Y ...

and

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, ...

reprising their Broadway roles. ''Teenage Rebel'' was the first black-and-white

CinemaScope CinemaScope is an anamorphic format, anamorphic lens series used, from 1953 to 1967, and less often later, for shooting widescreen films that, crucially, could be screened in theatres using existing equipment, albeit with a lens adapter. Its cr ...

film.

Plot

Nancy Fallon (

) is a divorcee who has trouble communicating with her 15-year-old daughter Dodie (

). Left in the custody of her father (

), Dodie feels as though her mother has deserted her.

Cast

as Nancy Fallon *

as Jay Fallon *

as Grace Hewitt * Rusty Swope as Larry Fallon * Lili Gentle as Gloria, teenager at the races *

Louise Beavers Louise Beavers (March 8, 1900 – October 26, 1962) was an American film and television actress who appeared in dozens of films and two hit television shows from the 1920s to 1960. She played a prominent role in advancing the lives of black Am ...

as Willamay, Fallon's Maid *

Irene Hervey Irene Hervey (born Beulah Irene Herwick; July 11, 1909December 20, 1998) was an American film, stage, and television actress who appeared in over fifty films and numerous television series spanning her five-decade career. A native of Los Angeles ...

as Helen Sheldon McGowan * John Stephenson as Eric McGowan, Dodie's Dad *

as Dorothy 'Dodie' McGowan *

as Dick Hewitt *

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 ...

as Jane Hewitt

Original play

The film was based on a play, ''A Roomful of Roses'', written by Edith Sommer. It was bought for production in 1954 bu Guthrie McClintock and Stanley Gilkek. In June 1955 Patricia Neal agreed to star. The play premiered on October 17. ''The New York Times'' said the acting was "winning" and it was "written with humanity".

Linda Darnell Linda Darnell (born Monetta Eloyse Darnell; October 16, 1923 – April 10, 1965) was an American actress. Darnell progressed from modelling as a child to acting in theatre and film. At the encouragement of her mother, she made her first film in ...

later made her stage debut in a production of the play in Phoenix Arizona.

Production

Film rights were purchased by 20th Century Fox before the play was even produced. In May 1955

Darryl F. Zanuck Darryl Francis Zanuck (; September 5, 1902December 22, 1979) was an American film producer and studio executive; he earlier contributed stories for films starting in the silent era. Best known as a co-founder of 20th Century Fox, he played a ...

assigned the play to

Sam Engel Samuel Gamliel Engel (December 29, 1904 – April 7, 1984) was a screenwriter and film producer from the 1930s until the 1960s. He wrote and produced such films as ''My Darling Clementine'' (1946), '' Sitting Pretty'' (1948), ''The Frogmen ...

to produce. According to writer

Walter Reisch Walter Reisch (May 23, 1903 – March 28, 1983) was an Austrian-born director and screenwriter. He also wrote lyrics to several songs featured in his films, one popular title is "Flieger, grüß mir die Sonne". He was married to the dancer and ...

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...

had a commitment with

and bought the play as a vehicle for her. Rogers' casting was announced in May 1956. Reisch later said it was one of his favorite films, saying "It was a beautiful idea: a girl, the daughter of a woman who had meanwhile remarried, comes to the house to meet her new family. dmundGoulding directed it. We only used the nucleus, the germ of the play, and made a lovely picture, a big success. But it was in black-and-white CinemaScope; again we couldn't get the color camera." The film was known as ''Our Teenage Daughter'' and ''Dodie'' before Fox settled on ''Teenage Rebel''. In June 1956 Betty Lou Kenim was cast in her stage role. Filming started in June 1956. The movie was the only film being shot on the Fox lot.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Teenage Rebel 1956 films 1956 drama films 1950s teen drama films 1950s English-language films American teen drama films American black-and-white films American films based on plays Films directed by Edmund Goulding Films produced by Charles Brackett Films with screenplays by Charles Brackett Films scored by Leigh Harline 20th Century Fox films CinemaScope films 1950s American films English-language teen drama films