Girls Town (1959)

Directed by

Charles F. Haas

Genre

drama film, teen film

Country

United States

Runtime

1h 30m

Rated

NR

Rating

3.8 of 10 from 20 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A teenage girl is sent to a strict school run by nuns after getting into trouble. She worries she cannot help her sister and gets caught up in fights and car races.

campymelodramaticdatedexploitativeupbeatsentimentalenergetic

What happens

Girls Town is a 1959 American drama film directed by Charles F. Haas and starring Mamie Van Doren, Mel Tormé, and Ray Anthony. Paul Anka also appears in his first acting role. Van Doren stars as a juvenile delinquent who is sent to a girls' school run by nuns, where she finds herself unable to help her sister. The film capitalizes on the 1950s rebellious-teen exploitation films, with catfights, car races, music from Anka and The Platters, and sexy outfits. The supporting cast includes the offspring of two major silent cinema stars: Charles Chaplin Jr. and Harold Lloyd Jr. Also featured is James Mitchum (son of Robert Mitchum) and (as a nun) gossip columnist Sheilah Graham. Elinor Donahue of Father Knows Best also acted in the film. A year after making it she said: "I would just as soon forget the whole thing. In the first five minutes of the picture it was established that I was a good girl, being pushed into being a bad girl. The rest of the picture I spent doing practically nothing but crying and saying, 'Help me, help me!' It was fun making it, but it was an awful picture." Girls Town was lampooned in July 1994 on movie-mocking television series Mystery Science Theater 3000. About 15 minutes of the actual film were cut from this version. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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