High School Confidential!

High School Confidential! (1958)

Behind these "nice" school walls... A TEACHERS' NIGHTMARE!...A TEEN-AGE JUNGLE!

A tough kid comes to a new high school and begins muscling his way into the drug scene. This is a typical morality play of the era, filled with a naive view of drugs, nihilistic beat poetry, and some incredible '50s slang.

Date of release
1958-05-30
TMDB
5.6 / 10 (23)
Runtime
1h 25m
Genres
Drama
Director
Jack Arnold

Casting

Interesting facts

High School Confidential! is a 1958 American crime drama film directed by Jack Arnold, starring Mamie Van Doren, Russ Tamblyn, Jan Sterling, John Drew Barrymore, Jackie Coogan, Diane Jergens and Michael Landon.

Production

The movie was produced by Albert Zugsmith, the first of a six-picture deal he had signed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. MGM would receive 75% of the profits, Zugmsith 25%.

In January 1958, Russ Tamblyn, who had just made the movie Tom Thumb (1958), was assigned to star. Filming began in February 1958.

George Raft had been cast in a role in the film but in March 1958, MGM announced Jackie Coogan would be playing the part instead. No explanation was given.

The film was based on an original script by Lewis Meltzer and screen story by Robert Blees. and according to critic Dana M. Reemes “utterly preposterous from beginning to end.”

High School Confidential! was conceived by Zugsmith, Meltzer and Blees and as a teenage exploitation film with an anti-marijuana message. Director Jack Arnold recalls an exchanges with producer Zugsmith regarding the film’s style and theme:

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