Three O'Clock High

Like Marshal Will Kane (Gary Cooper) in classic western High Noon, meek high school student Jerry Mitchell (Casey Siemaszko) finds himself nervously watching time tick by after he angers psychotic school 'touch-freak' Buddy Revell (Richard Tyson) by innocently patting him on the arm. Challenged to a fight in the school parking lot at three o'clock, Jerry tries desperately to find a way out of his predicament, but everything he does only seems to make matters worse.

Three O'Clock High is one of those films that, more often than not, elicits a blank stare when I mention it to casual film fans, but which, in my humble opinion, deserves to share the same kind of popularity and recognition as much-loved '80s hits Risky Business and Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

I suspect that its current anonymity is largely due to the lack of a future A-list star, Casey Siemaszko never achieving the fame of Cruise or Broderick, a crying shame because the film is every bit as worthy of admiration as the aforementioned better known teen classics. The smart script, while not laugh-out-loud funny, is consistently amusing throughout, director Phil Joanou's direction is stylish and suspenseful, the performances are excellent, and although the outcome is predictable (and highly improbable), the film's finale delivers that all important feel-good factor.