High School (1940)

Wissenswertes

• Gedreht in: Kalifornien

High School is a 1940 American teen comedy film directed by George Nicholls, Jr. and written by Jack Jungmeyer, Edith Skouras, and Harold Tarshis. The film stars Jane Withers as a spirited 13-year-old tomboy who is sent from her widowed father's ranch to learn at Thomas Jefferson High School in San Antonio, Texas, where she alienates her fellow students with her arrogant and know-it-all personality. The script draws from the real-life activities of the high school's JROTC, band, and "Lassos" girls pep squad.

Production

Executive producer Sol Wurtzel jumpstarted the project after reading a March 7, 1938, article about Thomas Jefferson High School of San Antonio, Texas, in Life magazine. The article illustrated the school's many extracurricular activities, including an ROTC unit and a 150-girl pep squad known as the "Lassos".

The original opening scene, which had Withers "riding a cow-pony and 'bull-dogging' a steer", was rewritten to feature Withers singing and dancing instead. The change was made in response to a review of Withers' fan mail, in which eight out of ten letters called for her to sing and dance more in her films. Withers and Cliff "Ukulele Ike" Edwards performed the traditional cowboy song "The Old Chisholm Trail" with new lyrics by Sidney Clare.

Sam Garrett, a world champion roper, coached Withers and the fictional members of the "Lasso Girls" on the "art of lasso-twirling".

According to contemporary press releases, "many of the teenage actors won their roles in the picture after being filmed at Withers' thirteenth birthday party". Withers herself had made a 16mm film of her guests and showed it to producer John Stone, who was assigned the job of casting "types" for the film. Joe Brown Jr.

The film features the songs "The Old Chisholm Trail", a traditional melody with new lyrics by Sidney Clare, and "Il bacio" ("The Kiss") by Luigi Arditi.

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