You know that a movie is in serious trouble when it shuns dialogue entirely and relies strictly on narration. Writer & director Bamlet Lawrence Price Jr.'s "One Way Ticket to Hell," is a stark-looking, black & white, pseudo-documentary about the evils of substance abuse. This film depicts the deleterious effects of marihuana, heroin, and prescription sleep aids, namely Seconal, on a juvenile delinquent, Cassandra Leigh (Barbara Marks), who charts her descent into addiction when she chooses to hang out with the cleanest looking gang of teenagers that you've ever seen on motorcycles. Indeed, the top cop on the case, City Detective Lieutenant David Jason (Robert A. Sherry) of the Narcotics Bureau, attributes motorcycles as the key factor that lead to Cassandra's heroin addiction. After he establishes Cassandra's horrendous problem, writer & director Price relates the remainder of this yarn in flashback, and then comes full circle back at the end. The story of Cassandra's addiction is pretty compelling stuff and the twists & turns are amazingly credible. There is nothing contrived about her story, but Price's approach is contrived itself and undermines the narrative.
Basically, Price links Cassandra's history of narcotic abuse with her callous, irresponsible parents. Everything goes wrong in Cassandra's life. Her mother keeps getting divorces and the stepfathers in Cassandra's life alienate her. Mom tried to keep her daughter on a tight leash, Cassandra cannot tolerate this tyrannical rule and she hits the road to ruin with a motorcycle gang. Initially, Cassandra refuses to puff pot with her biking buddies. Later, when she realizes that they won't trust her, she capitulates and starts puffing.
"Teenage Devil Dolls" appropriates the standard-issue anti-narcotics propaganda that categorizes marihuana as the gateway drug that leads to harder stuff, namely heroin. Since her mother neglected to establish a stable home life, Cassandra searches happiness on her own and fails miserably. Later, she makes the mistake of marrying a nice guy, Johnny Adams (Robert Norman), who doesn't use narcotics, but he is a complete imbecile in every sense of the word. When the boredom of domesticityshe cannot handle hanging out the laundry to dry--drives Cassandra around the bend, she starts forging prescriptions for Seconal. Johnny's solution to Cassandra's problem is getting her a pet pooch to keep the poor girl occupied while he is at work. The real problem is that Cassandra's addiction prevents her from having the emotional maturity to be a responsible wife.
Cassandra's condition worsens. Greater evils crop up. Not only does Cassandra have to contend with the drug dealers, but she also is her own worst enemy because she gets high on their supply. The dealers tolerate this for only so long and then when Cassandra finds herself back in police custody, she is sent to inadequate facilities to keep her under lock and key. Eventually, the press launches a crusade on drugs and the cops start rounding up and arresting drug dealers and this makes the predicament of the junkies all the more damaging. Several scenes show these unfortunate junkies suffering from narcotic withdrawal. Eventually, Cassandra hooks up with Martinez. Martinez steals a car and plans to sell it in Mexico for heroin and he takes Cassandra with him. In one of the more interesting moments of the film, the authorities thwart them during a desert manhunt. Once they round up Cassandra, the authorities pack her pff by train to a Federal Narcotics Hospital where she will receive treatment that may cure her.
As a time capsule, "Teenage Devil Dolls" ranks as either completely hilarious for today's sophisticated audiences or marginally gripping for audiences analyzing the efforts of drug propaganda advocates from 1955. Not surprisingly, Kurt Martell who provides the voice of L.A.P.D. Narcotics Investigator Lieutenant David Jason as well as the histrionic narration appeared in four of Jack Webb's immortal "Dragnet" episodes. Sadly, Martell's narration is so grim and wooden that it is sleep inducing. Wisely, Barbara Marks swore off acting and went behind the cameras to work as an editor. "Teenage Devil Dolls" belongs to the category of so-bad-they're-awful drug scare movies like "Reefer Madness," "Cocaine Fiends," and "Marihuana." Interestingly, the villain-- Miguel 'Cholo' Martinezis played by none other than Price, while Price's pop plays Cassandra's step-father.
Basically, Price links Cassandra's history of narcotic abuse with her callous, irresponsible parents. Everything goes wrong in Cassandra's life. Her mother keeps getting divorces and the stepfathers in Cassandra's life alienate her. Mom tried to keep her daughter on a tight leash, Cassandra cannot tolerate this tyrannical rule and she hits the road to ruin with a motorcycle gang. Initially, Cassandra refuses to puff pot with her biking buddies. Later, when she realizes that they won't trust her, she capitulates and starts puffing.
"Teenage Devil Dolls" appropriates the standard-issue anti-narcotics propaganda that categorizes marihuana as the gateway drug that leads to harder stuff, namely heroin. Since her mother neglected to establish a stable home life, Cassandra searches happiness on her own and fails miserably. Later, she makes the mistake of marrying a nice guy, Johnny Adams (Robert Norman), who doesn't use narcotics, but he is a complete imbecile in every sense of the word. When the boredom of domesticityshe cannot handle hanging out the laundry to dry--drives Cassandra around the bend, she starts forging prescriptions for Seconal. Johnny's solution to Cassandra's problem is getting her a pet pooch to keep the poor girl occupied while he is at work. The real problem is that Cassandra's addiction prevents her from having the emotional maturity to be a responsible wife.
Cassandra's condition worsens. Greater evils crop up. Not only does Cassandra have to contend with the drug dealers, but she also is her own worst enemy because she gets high on their supply. The dealers tolerate this for only so long and then when Cassandra finds herself back in police custody, she is sent to inadequate facilities to keep her under lock and key. Eventually, the press launches a crusade on drugs and the cops start rounding up and arresting drug dealers and this makes the predicament of the junkies all the more damaging. Several scenes show these unfortunate junkies suffering from narcotic withdrawal. Eventually, Cassandra hooks up with Martinez. Martinez steals a car and plans to sell it in Mexico for heroin and he takes Cassandra with him. In one of the more interesting moments of the film, the authorities thwart them during a desert manhunt. Once they round up Cassandra, the authorities pack her pff by train to a Federal Narcotics Hospital where she will receive treatment that may cure her.
As a time capsule, "Teenage Devil Dolls" ranks as either completely hilarious for today's sophisticated audiences or marginally gripping for audiences analyzing the efforts of drug propaganda advocates from 1955. Not surprisingly, Kurt Martell who provides the voice of L.A.P.D. Narcotics Investigator Lieutenant David Jason as well as the histrionic narration appeared in four of Jack Webb's immortal "Dragnet" episodes. Sadly, Martell's narration is so grim and wooden that it is sleep inducing. Wisely, Barbara Marks swore off acting and went behind the cameras to work as an editor. "Teenage Devil Dolls" belongs to the category of so-bad-they're-awful drug scare movies like "Reefer Madness," "Cocaine Fiends," and "Marihuana." Interestingly, the villain-- Miguel 'Cholo' Martinezis played by none other than Price, while Price's pop plays Cassandra's step-father.