''Junior Prom'' is a 1946 American musical comedy, directed by

Arthur Dreifuss Arthur Dreifuss (sometimes credited as Dreyfuss; March 25, 1908 – December 31, 1993)Sam Katzman Sam Katzman (July 7, 1901 – August 4, 1973) was an American film producer and director. Katzman produced low-budget genre films, including serials, which had disproportionately high returns for the studios and his financial backers. Ea ...

and Maurice Duke. It was released by

Monogram Pictures Monogram Pictures Corporation was an American film studio that produced mostly low-budget films between 1931 and 1953, when the firm completed a transition to the name Allied Artists Pictures Corporation. Monogram was among the smaller studios i ...

. It is the first of

The Teen Agers The Teen Agers is a series of seven coming-of-age musical comedy-drama films made by Monogram Pictures from 1946 to 1948. A follow-up to the East Side Kids, the series stars Freddie Stewart and June Preisser. The films were initially produced by S ...

series of movies. In 2018, the film was released on streaming download with a humorous audio commentary by

Mary Jo Pehl Mary Jo Pehl (; born February 27, 1960 in Circle Pines, Minnesota) is an American writer, actress, and comedian. She is best known for her various roles on the television series ''Mystery Science Theater 3000''. ''Mystery Science Theater 3000'' ...

and

Bridget Nelson Bridget Jones Nelson ( Jones; born September 24, 1964), also credited as simply Bridget Jones or Bridget Nelson, is an American screenwriter and actor for '' Mystery Science Theater 3000''. She worked as a contributing writer for the show befor ...

RiffTrax RiffTrax is an American company that produces scripted humorous commentary tracks which are synced to mostly public domain feature films, education shorts, and television episodes. With the talents of former ''Mystery Science Theater 3000'' (''M ...

Harry Gibson Harry "The Hipster" Gibson (June 27, 1915 – May 3, 1991), born Harry Raab, was an American jazz pianist, singer, and songwriter. He played New York style stride piano and boogie woogie while singing in a wild, unrestrained style. His music car ...

sings '' Keep The Beat'' backed by

Abe Lyman Abe Lyman (August 4, 1897 – October 23, 1957) was a popular bandleader from the 1920s to the 1940s. He made recordings, appeared in films and provided the music for numerous radio shows, including ''Your Hit Parade''. His name at birth was Abra ...

and his Orchestra

Plot summary

Musical teacher Miss Hinklefink receives criticism from her student Lee Watson at Whitney High School, because of the poor plot of famous operas. Later during the lecture, when Miss Hinklefink is away for a few minutes, the students learn about meter from Harry "The Hipster" by listening to swing. When Lee as so often is in the principal's office, a local businessman enters the room and offers to pay for the football team's new uniforms if his son, Jimmy Forrest, is elected as student body president. The principal, Townley, rejects the offer. However, when Jimmy's opponent in the election, Freddie Trimball, hears of Mr Forrest's generous offer, he drops out of the race. Things get more complicated when Jimmy asks Freddie's girlfriend, Dodie Rogers, to go to the prom with him. She rejects him, even though he tells her he's going to be elected student body president for certain. When Freddie hears of this he is mad with anger, and decides to run against Jimmy anyway. Lee agrees to be his campaign manager, and Dodie and her sister Addie agree to help as well. Controversy ensues, when Jimmy's campaign manager, Roy Dunn, courts Dodie's other sister Betty, and Dodie thinks she has crossed over to the enemy. Betty claims that Freddie won't be able to be president and head of the school show during the year. The sisters start feuding, and their quarrel affects the rest of the family. Their visiting wealthy uncle Daniel notices. The campaigning gets tougher too, and Jimmy gains a lot of popularity from Betty's great speeches on his behalf. Freddie finally decides to use his show talent to help him win, and Betty is bought back on the right side with a new sweater. Freddie and his pals start singing to the other students to get votes. The winner in the election is to be disclosed on the day of the prom. Betty is without a date since she changed sides during the campaigning, and Roy is still angry with her. During prom, Betty and Roy still appear together and her two sisters feel much less guilty. The sisters all become friends again and Freddie wins the election. Uncle Daniel is happy for the sisters and decide to give the family a deed to a new house. Mr Forrest changes his mind and decides to give the football team its uniforms even though Jimmy didn't win. In the end, Jimmy and Freddie make a truce.

Cast

* Freddie Stewart as Freddie Trimball *

June Preisser June Preisser (June 26, 1918 – September 19, 1984) was an American actress, popular in musical films during the late 1930s and through the 1940s, many of which capitalized on her skills as an acrobat. Life and career Born June 26, 1918 in ...

as Dodie Rogers *

Judy Clark Judy Clark (June 9, 1921 – December 27, 2002) was an American film and television actress and singer. Clark adopted a brash and energetic singing style, similar to that of musical-comedy star Betty Hutton (with trade critics almost alw ...

as Addie Rogers *

Noel Neill Noel Darleen Neill (November 25, 1920 – July 3, 2016) was an American actress. She played Lois Lane in the film serials ''Superman'' (1948) and ''Atom Man vs. Superman'' (1950), as well as the 1950s television series '' Adventures of Superman' ...

as Betty Rogers *

Jackie Moran Jackie Moran (January 26, 1923 – September 20, 1990) was an American movie actor who, between 1936 and 1946, appeared in over thirty films, primarily in teenage roles. Early life and Hollywood career A native of Mattoon, Illinois, Jo ...

as Jimmy Forrest *

Frankie Darro Frankie Darro (born Frank Johnson, Jr.; December 22, 1917 – December 25, 1976) was an American actor and later in his career a stuntman. He began his career as a child actor in silent films, progressed to lead roles and co-starring roles ...

as Roy Donne * Warren Mills as Lee Watson * Murray Davis as Tiny *

Mira McKinney Mira McKinney (October 23, 1892 – May 2, 1978) was an American actress. She appeared in the films ''The Case of the Stuttering Bishop'', ''Blazing Sixes'', '' Young Fugitives'', '' The Road to Reno'', '' Garden of the Moon'', ''Prairie Moon'' ...

as Mrs. Rogers *

Belle Mitchell Belle Mitchell (September 24, 1889 – February 12, 1979) was an American stage and film actress. She appeared in more than 100 films between 1915 and 1978. She was born in Croswell, Michigan and died in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles. Partia ...

as Miss Hinklefink *

Milton Kibbee Milton Kibbee (January 27, 1896 – April 17, 1970) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 360 films between 1933 and 1953. He was the brother of actor Guy Kibbee and his daughter was actress Lois Kibbee. He died in Simi Valle ...

as Principal Townley *

Sam Flint Sam Flint (born Samuel A. Ethridge; October 19, 1882 – October 17, 1980) was an American actor. Flint appeared in more than 230 films, often as a "judge, lawyer, military officer, senator, sheriff, chief of police, or doctor." Flint was ...

as Mr. Forrest * Charles Evans as Uncle Daniel * Hank Henry as Tony * Julia McMillan as "Texas" *

and his orchestra *

himself

External links

*
''Junior Prom''
at

Turner Classic Movies Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie channel, movie-oriented pay television, pay-TV television network, network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasti ...

Review of film
at ''Variety''

References

{{Sam Katzman 1946 films 1946 musical comedy films 1940s teen films American black-and-white films American musical comedy films Films directed by Arthur Dreifuss Monogram Pictures films 1940s English-language films 1940s American films