Untamed Youth (1957)
** (out of 4)
If you look at any critic books you're probably going to find this one with a BOMB rating and it being called one of the worst films of all time. Something this entertaining can't be considered one of the worst ever made. Period. Sisters Penny (Mamie Van Doren) and Jane (Lori Nelson) Lowe gets picked up by a crooked Sheriff and the two are sentenced by a crooked judge to a work farm where the owner abuses the workers and gets his pockets filled with their hard work. Soon the judge's son (Don Burnett) returns home from the Navy and begins to see what's really going on at the camp. UNTAMED YOUTH is one of many drive-in juvenile flicks that were released in this era and while it has one of the worst reputations of any, this is just so memorable because of all the camp, wild dialogue and unbelievable situations. I'm really not sure where you start but there's some of the most memorable dialogue that you're ever going to find in a film. There this: "Don't hit me in the mouth again. You'll break my dental plate". Also this: "If you had two heads you'd still be a moron." You've also got an opening sequence with the two beautiful blonds skinny dipping with the perverted Sheriff spying on them. There's also some very campy musical numbers, which for some reason the "inmates" are able to put on. I'm still not sure why the evil owner allowed all of this considering everything else he was doing to them. Then there's the hilarious ending where the people finally can't take any more. I won't ruin what exactly happens but it's certainly funny. Mamie Van Doren, as you'd expect, gives a pretty blah performance but that pointy bra is constantly at work. Nelson actually gives a pretty good performance as she's the only thing that doesn't come off campy. The supporting players all fit their roles nicely. UNTAMED YOUTH is pure camp and I'd say it deserves the right to be considered a cult classic.
