''Teenage Doll'' is a 1957 film noir directed by

Roger Corman Roger William Corman (born April 5, 1926) is an American film director, producer, and actor. He has been called "The Pope of Pop Cinema" and is known as a trailblazer in the world of independent film. Many of Corman's films are based on works t ...

, starring June Kenney and John Brinkley. It was financed by Lawrence Woolner, who had previously made ''Swamp Women'' with Corman. One writer called it Corman's "most impressive teen flick".

Plot

The Black Widows, a teenage girl gang, find one of their number killed; they suspect Barbara, sometime girlfriend of Eddie Rand, the leader of rival gang the Vandals. As the gangs prepare for a rumble, we glimpse the members' home lives, exaggerating every type of family dysfunction. The leader of the Black Widows is Hel (Helen) who decides to offer Rand money to turn Barbara over to them. The gang need to raise money. Squirrel/Eva, takes money from the cash register of her parents' restaurant. Lorrie takes money sent by her father to support her impoverished younger sister. May gets money off her older sister, Janet, who is dating her boss. Hel finds her father cheating on her mother. Barbara is the daughter of a policeman but doesn't tell her father what happened. Detective Dunston starts an investigation into the girl's death. The Black Widows gather money then go looking for Barbara. She escapes to the Vandals' clubhouse. Rand agrees to help her. The Vandals prepare for battle so the Black Widows call in their male gang, the Tarantulas. The rumble begins, and Barbara escapes as the police arrive. Bett and Squirrel decide to leave the gang.

Cast

* June Kenney as Barbara Bonney *

Fay Spain Lona Fay Spain (October 6, 1932 – May 8, 1983) was an American actress in motion pictures and television. Early years Born in Phoenix, Arizona, Fay Spain was the younger of two daughters born to Robert C. Spain and Arminta Frances "Mick ...

as Helen * John Brinkley as Eddie Rand * Colette Jackson as May * Barbara Wilson as Betty Herne *Ziva Rodan as Squirrel, also known as Eva *Sandy Smith as Lorrie *

Barboura Morris Barboura Morris (born Barboura O'Neill; October 22, 1932 – October 23, 1975) was an American actress and writer. She is most remembered for her roles in American International Pictures productions. Early years Morris was born Barboura ...

as Janet *Richard Devon as Det. Dunston *Jay Sayer as Wally *Richard Cutting as Phil Kern *Dorothy Neumann as Estelle Bonney *

Ed Nelson Edwin Stafford Nelson (December 21, 1928 – August 9, 2014) was an American actor, best known for his role as Dr. Michael Rossi in the television series '' Peyton Place''. Nelson appeared in episodes of many TV programs, more than 50 mov ...

as Police Officer 'Dutch' / Blind Man * Bruno VeSota as Témoin *

Abby Dalton Gladys Marlene Wasden (August 15, 1932 – November 23, 2020), known professionally as Abby Dalton, was an American actress, known for her television roles on the sitcoms ''Hennesey'' (1959–1962) and '' The Joey Bishop Show'' (1962– ...

(uncredited)

Production

Roger Corman made the film for syndicates of theater owners, the main ones who were the Woolner Brothers, who had financed Corman's ''Swamp Women''.Ed. J. Philip di Franco, ''The Movie World of Roger Corman'', Chelsea House Publishers, 1979 p 84 Charles Griffith was hired to write the script, based on an idea by Bernard Woolner. He said "They wanted a gang picture, as it was the time of the street gangs and juvenile delinquents. I told them I had one called “The Rat Pack” and they said they wanted a girl gang. So I got to work on ''Teenage Doll'', which was

Larry Woolner The Woolner Brothers were an American film releasing company formed in 1955, made up of Lawrence (April 22, 1912 – July 21, 1985), Bernard (June 9, 1910 – February 21, 1977), and David Woolner. History After US Army service in World ...

taking the title of

lia Lia is a feminine given name. In the Spanish-speaking world, it is accented Lía. In America, the name may be a variant of Leah or Lea. Lia may be a diminutive of various names including Julia, Cecilia, Amelia, Talia, Cornelia, Ophelia, Rosal ...

Kazan’s ''

Baby Doll ''Baby Doll'' is a 1956 American dramatic black comedy film directed by Elia Kazan, and starring Carroll Baker, Karl Malden, and Eli Wallach. It was produced by Kazan and Tennessee Williams, and adapted by Williams from his own one-act play ...

956 Year 956 ( CMLVI) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Summer – Emperor Constantine VII appoints Nikephoros Phokas to commander of the ...

But the Johnson Bureau, or the Hays Office – I forget which was in at the time – rejected the story."Aaron W. Graham, 'Little Shop of Genres: An interview with Charles B. Griffith', ''Senses of Cinema'', 15 April, 2005
accessed 25 June 2012 This meant Griffith had to rewrite the script over the weekend:

In the original version, the girls were all stealing weapons or making weapons in order to kill the good girl...I wrote all these jokes in English to be said in Spanish. Roger called up the only Spanish agent around for that and it wound up that they were the best actors in the picture. But they were in the background the entire time! In the foreground, this Mexican girl makes a potato grenade. She sticks a potato peeler in one end for a handle and then a double-edge razor-blade all around the potato so she could just flip the handle and the grenade would hit somebody...Another girl stole her father’s pistol from his holster and, while she’s stealing it from his bed, the phone rings and the father has a conversation on the phone without opening his eyes and hangs up again. But the Hays office made me change these things so that they were stealing these weapons to sell for money to get a lawyer to attack the girls in some legal way. I mean really obnoxious and really stupid. It all had to be redone overnight.

Filming started 28 February 1957. Fay Spain's casting was announced in March. Barbara Wilson was cast after Roger Corman saw her in ''

The Man Who Turned to Stone ''The Man Who Turned to Stone'' (a.k.a. ''The Petrified Man'') is a 1957 American black-and-white horror science fiction film directed by László Kardos and starring Victor Jory, Ann Doran and Charlotte Austin. The screenplay was written by Be ...

''. Barbara would later say that Corman was the most professional and work-oriented director she ever worked with. The person next door to the filming site for exterior scenes turned on her sprinklers hoping to force Corman to pay to turn them off. Her gambit was not successful.

Reception

''Variety'' said the film's "Unremitting and unconvincing downbeat tenor, clumsily executed, deadens b.o. chances for any audience outside of sex-and-sadism fanciers. Characters in Charles B. Griffith screenplay talk a stylized jargon mainly derivative of other pix of this genre; engage In continual brutality and violence; and their motivations, delinquent or otherwise, bears only the, slightest resemblance of those' human beings." Writing in ''DVD Savant'', film critic

Glenn Erickson Glenn Erickson is an American film editor and film critic. A graduate of the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, he started in the film industry in 1975 as an editor of low-budget films and later worked in minor technical crew capacitie ...

described the movie as a "rushed, cheap picture" that "sags under the weight of painfully neutered euphemisms like, "I don't give a flying flip," and "I was weaned on a .38!", and featuring "performances

hat A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...

are downright embarrassing."

References

External links

*
''Teenage Doll''
at

TCMDB Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay-TV network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of A ...