''Untamed Youth'' is a 1957 American

teen film Teen film is a film genre targeted at teenagers, preteens, or young adults by the plot being based on their special interests, such as coming of age, attempting to fit in, bullying, peer pressure, first love, teen rebellion, conflict with paren ...

directed by

Howard W. Koch Howard Winchel Koch (April 11, 1916 – February 16, 2001) was an American producer and director of film and television. Life and career Koch was born in New York City, the son of Beatrice (Winchel) and William Jacob Koch. His family was Jewish. ...

, written by John C. Higgins and Stephen Longstreet, and starring

Mamie Van Doren Mamie Van Doren (born Joan Lucille Olander; February 6, 1931) is an American actress, singer, and sex symbol. She is perhaps best known for the rock 'n' roll, juvenile delinquency exploitation film ''Untamed Youth'' (1957). Early life Van Do ...

and

Lori Nelson Dixie Kay Nelson (August 15, 1933August 23, 2020), known professionally as Lori Nelson, was an American actress and model mostly active in the 1950s and early 1960s. She had roles in the TV series ''How to Marry a Millionaire'' and the films ''Re ...

as two starstruck sisters who are sentenced to farm labor.

Plot

Sisters Penny and Jane Lowe are arrested for hitchhiking and skinny-dipping and are sentenced to work on a rural Texas farm for a corrupt agricultural magnate named Russ Tropp. The judge, who sentenced the sisters to the farm, is dating Tropp and is unaware of the treatment of the prisoners; her son is hired to work at the farm and uncovers that a scam had been going on. Through dating the judge, Tropp ensures that all delinquents and rule breakers are ordered to work off their sentence at his farm, therefore giving him a stable amount of cheap labor and allowing him to undercut all competition he faces. The judge's son falls in love with Jane, while Penny, who performs four songs in the film, dreams of making it big in show business. One of the girls, named Baby, at one point falls ill, leaving the judge's son to hijack one of Tropp's cars to rush her to a hospital for treatment. Baby dies from internal hemorrhaging caused by a miscarriage.

Cast

as Penny Lowe *

as Jane Lowe * John Russell as Russ Tropp * Don Burnett as Bob Steele * Glenn Dixon as Jack Landis *

Lurene Tuttle Lurene Tuttle (August 29, 1907 – May 28, 1986) was an American actress and acting coach, who made the transition from vaudeville to radio, and later films and television. Her most enduring impact was as one of network radio's more versatile a ...

as Judge Cecilia Steele Tropp *

Eddie Cochran Ray Edward Cochran (; October 3, 1938 – April 17, 1960) was an American rock and roll musician. Cochran's songs, such as "Twenty Flight Rock", "Summertime Blues", " C'mon Everybody" and " Somethin' Else", captured teenage frustration and desire ...

as Bong *

Yvonne Fedderson Yvonne is a female given name. It is the feminine form of Yvon (given name), Yvon, which is derived from the French language, French name Yves (given name), Yves and Yvette. It is from the French word ''iv'', meaning "yew" (or tree). Since yew wo ...

as Baby *

Jeanne Carmen Jeanne Laverne Carmen (August 4, 1930 – December 20, 2007) was an American model, actress and trick-shot golfer. Early life and career Carmen was born in Paragould, Arkansas. As a child, she picked cotton before running away from home at ...

as Lillibet *

Robert Foulk Robert C. Foulk (May 5, 1908 – February 25, 1989) was an American television and film character actor who portrayed Sheriff H. Miller in the CBS series '' Lassie'' from 1958 to 1962. Early years Foulk attended the University of Pennsylva ...

as Sheriff Mitch Bowers * Wayne Taylor as Duke * Jered Barclay as Ralph * Valerie Reynolds as Arkie * Lucita as Margaritia * Matt Malinowski as Hair

Reception

According to a reviewer for the ''New York Times'' who saw the movie's premiere in 1957, ''Untamed Youth'' sought to "portray sisters who run afoul of the law and are sent to a prison farm populated almost entirely by rock 'n' roll addicts...Call it a fate almost worse than death." Decades later, the film was featured on an early episode of ''

Mystery Science Theater 3000 ''Mystery Science Theater 3000'' (abbreviated as ''MST3K'') is an American science fiction comedy film review television series created by Joel Hodgson. The show premiered on KTMA-TV (now WUCW) in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on November 24, 1988. ...

,'' and an updated livestream version in 2021 during Joel Hodgson’s Make More MST3K campaign on Kickstarter featuring 4 generations of Tom Servo performers.

Mystery Science Theater 3000

*
Episode guide: 112- Untamed Youth

References

External links

* * * * 1957 films 1950s musical drama films American black-and-white films American musical drama films 1950s exploitation films Films directed by Howard W. Koch Films set in Texas Films shot in California 1950s prison films Films scored by Les Baxter 1957 drama films 1950s English-language films 1950s American films {{musical-drama-film-stub