High School

I remember seeing this movie on San Antonio television back in the 1960s. I was particularly interested because my older sister went to Jefferson. As others have said, this is definitely a "B" movie. I think the director missed an opportunity to put in more quality trick roping as trick roper Sam Garrett was an uncredited member of the cast and taught Jane Withers the body loop she does in the beginning of the movie. To anyone interested in Sam Garrett's work with actresses, I'd recommend going to YouTube and viewing Eleanor Powell's western rope dance in "I Dood It". Another person of interest in this movie is Cliff Edwards (aka Ukelele Ike), who plays Jeff. He had a successful recording and "B" movie career in the 1920s through 1940s, was the voice of Jiminy Cricket in the Disney production Pinocchio (1940), and died penniless in 1971. "High School" can be obtained from Ashfault's Classic Movies (on the web).

Another comment states that the movie was made at "San Antonio High School."

This is incorrect; the setting was Thomas Jefferson High School. I know; I attended Jefferson (tho I was only 2 years old at the time that the movie was made). One of the big deals of the movie was the pep squad called the Lassos. At the time that was the only pep squad composed of girls who could actually twirl ropes when they marched on football fields during the half-time or in parades. That was still true when I attended Jeff from 1953-56 -- and twirled a rope as a Lasso.

As far as I know, there has never been a San Antonio High School; there was a San Antonio Vocational Tech H.S. -- my mother went there.

Shirley Temple may have been queen of the child actresses in the late 1930s, but Jane Withers starred in more pictures at 20th Century-Fox in the period and may have been more profitable for the company -- B pictures cost a lot less to make. When she made HIGH SCHOOL, she had reached the ripe old age of 14, and so there were some uneasy signs of romance in the air.

Jane has been raised on her father's ranch and, despite his hiring tutors to teach her to be a lady, she isn't interested, so he ships her off to San Antonio, where his brother, Lloyd Corrigan, is the principal of the Thomas Jefferson High School in San Antonio. Jane alienates everyone with her brashness and independence, except for Joe Brown Jr. He's rather taken with the forthright young woman. However, when she unwittingly gets him thrown off the football team, she gets snubbed.... until a subplot about a stolen car ring raises its head.

Miss Temple may have held patents on cuteness and pouting, but Miss Withers'' brashness and occasional deviltry has its own fans -- including me! -- and charms, and Fox' B production was probably the strongest in Hollywood in this period. It's a solid, pleasing effort.

While preparing this review, I checked the reviews of this movie on the IMDb. They were all written by San Antonians (I hope I have used the correct term), and were anxious to correct errors about San Antonio in the era. None of them pointed out that the character played by Maurice Cass is touted as a direct descendant of Thomas Jefferson, named Franklin Jefferson; yet none of Jefferson's legitimate sons survived to have children of their own. I suppose that when assessing a work of fiction, we each have different standards of what errors are important.

This is one of my favorite movies. Being a native San Antonian and a Jefferson grad. I love Jane Withers! Jane is a gifted actress I remember her role in Shirley Temples "Bright Eyes" and the epic "Giant". As mentioned by other comments, the movie was filmed at Thomas Jefferson High School. Mrs. Oliphant our English teacher, and Bess Richards the Lasso Sponsor recalled many times that the classroom blinds had to be drawn while filming was going on outside, and occasionally a student would draw them open and the director had to call "cut" and re-shoot the scene. Jane's photo portrait is prominently displayed in the Lasso office. A further note, Thomas Jefferson High School was featured in Life Magazine as the nations first million dollar high school, the architecture is Romansque and features a dome reminiscent of the famous Monticello. The Lassos were also featured on the front page of Life Magazine.

In actuality, the school interiors and neighborhood scenes were filmed in the Fox back lot. The "stars" never stepped foot in SA during the filming. In 1992, I spoke with Jane Withers, and she verified the information. The scene with the Lassos is obviously a rear screen projection.

Jefferson High School itself has incorrect information in its files, as it states a sequel called "Texas Girl" was released a year later. In fact, both are the SAME film, released under different names, in various areas of the country. I researched this information in the Fox Film Archives.

About ten years ago, the movie was screened at Jefferson High. It is very much a "B" movie. The actual interiors of the school are amazing, unlike the lame sets utilized in the film. An even lamer "B" flick, "Johnny Be Good," was also filmed at the school in the late 80s. It has also been the location for numerous TV commercials.