Dick Clark strays too far from the Bandstand in this misguided youth flick, which is one-half benign high school opus and the other half a "Rebel Without a Cause"-type drama. Based on John Farris' novel "Harrison High", the plot has been reworked in schoolteacher Clark's favor, turning the teenagers of the piece into 'problems' this sensitive adult can solve. The newest teacher at a high school primarily home to the wealthier teen set gets involved with the principal's secretary while straightening out entangled young lives. Worse off seems to be Michael Callan as a working-class boy who doesn't fit in; his love-hate relationship with a touchy-feely butcher who wields a mean cleaver has to be seen to be believed! Tuesday Weld, suffering under the thumb of her harping, bed-ridden mother, is anxious to shed her trampy reputation, crossing paths with bad-boy Callan for the second time. Clark has problems of his own, nursing a wounded ego after a car accident has left him unable to play football--oh, and the wreck killed his brother and sister-in-law, too! The stilted dialogue throughout, courtesy screenwriter James Gunn, renders the teen conversations utterly false, while the only animated thing about Dick Clark is his eyebrows (and when he jiggles them around, his forehead becomes lined with curious criss-cross wrinkles). The film's third act becomes intentionally mired in juvenile delinquent melodramatics, with moody lighting and mad bongos on the soundtrack; however, since none of the characters have managed to elicit our sympathies, one is inclined not to care who makes out all right and who doesn't. *1/2 from ****
