From the moment you see street thugs (John Cassavettes, Mark Rydell and Sal Mineo to mention a few), you can feel the anger pouring from the streets and onto the screen. They all have different issues, but it all boils down to the same thing-they hate everything about their lives, their families and their community. Cassavettes, who was a bit older than the late teen's he's supposed to be (he was 26), is the angriest of them all, although there are a few others who seem to be gleefully happy to cause the tension they do. When Cassavettes and his gang are caught in a fight with their rivals, a fed-up neighbor (Malcolm Atterbury) goes to the police, which results in the arrest of one of their pals. Later, the man slaps Cassavettes, and that causes him to begin to plot the man's murder. James Whitmore, as the local social worker determined to help the boys as much as he can, is like a substitute father figure, and even though they won't admit it, the young men respect him. When it comes apparent that Cassavettes is planning revenge, it's up to Whitmore to step in before it's too late.
These kids aren't living the middle class life of the rebels without a cause of that 1955 James Dean/Sal Mineo/Natalie Wood classic. They are poor, fairly uneducated, and with little or no hope of making it out of their situations. Cassavettes' mother (Virginia Gregg) is a tired waitress who neglected him after giving birth to his much younger half-brother (a wonderful Peter J. Votrian) who hasn't been corrupted yet but is scared of his dangerous sibling whom he adores. Mineo is the baby-faced youngest member of the gang who is desperate for acceptance. One key scene has Mineo in a confrontation with his worried father (Will Kuluva) who actually acts more like an overprotective mother in his display of love for his son. Soap vet Denise Alexander plays Mineo's sister who is tired of the violence and also tries to get through to Cassavettes.
This film gives a really mean looking portrayal of the life of these kids. Just a year after "Rebel Without a Cause" and "The Blackboard Jungle", teen gang films were catching on, but few of them really were anything more than exploitation films. This is not one of those, but a serious look at a problem that still exists today. Cassavettes and Whitmore give the most intense performances. My only real issue with the film was the sterilized ending which doesn't really complete the story, but takes it into a new direction the audience doesn't get to see.
These kids aren't living the middle class life of the rebels without a cause of that 1955 James Dean/Sal Mineo/Natalie Wood classic. They are poor, fairly uneducated, and with little or no hope of making it out of their situations. Cassavettes' mother (Virginia Gregg) is a tired waitress who neglected him after giving birth to his much younger half-brother (a wonderful Peter J. Votrian) who hasn't been corrupted yet but is scared of his dangerous sibling whom he adores. Mineo is the baby-faced youngest member of the gang who is desperate for acceptance. One key scene has Mineo in a confrontation with his worried father (Will Kuluva) who actually acts more like an overprotective mother in his display of love for his son. Soap vet Denise Alexander plays Mineo's sister who is tired of the violence and also tries to get through to Cassavettes.
This film gives a really mean looking portrayal of the life of these kids. Just a year after "Rebel Without a Cause" and "The Blackboard Jungle", teen gang films were catching on, but few of them really were anything more than exploitation films. This is not one of those, but a serious look at a problem that still exists today. Cassavettes and Whitmore give the most intense performances. My only real issue with the film was the sterilized ending which doesn't really complete the story, but takes it into a new direction the audience doesn't get to see.