Lost, Lonely and Vicious

Lost, Lonely and Vicious (1958)

* (out of 4)

Really awful drama about Johnnie Dennis (Ken Clayton), an up and coming star in Hollywood who has some sort of weird fascination about death, which causes issues with some of his friends but mainly the woman (Barbara Wilson) who loves him.

LOST, LONELY AND VICIOUS is a pretty awful movie from start to finish but it also contains some really awful stuff that makes it worth watching if you enjoy bad movies. The lead character is obviously meant to be James Dean and this film is obviously trying to tell the story of a "deep" and talented young man but one with many issues.

The problem here is that there are so many dialogue scenes where characters just sit around talking but these chats are so darn boring that you can't help but get tired of them. Even worse is the fact that the performances aren't strong enough to really make you care about the characters or their situations. All of the talk leads up to a final ten minutes that are pretty strange and outrageous. As awful as the film is, these final moments almost make it worth sitting through.

Hey I've said this before can you please fix the Top- bill cast pictures to maintain the last visited when searching the actor it goes back to the first head character and it's a pain in the ass when you are looking through Ta Lynton.

Johnnie Dennis, young movie star, alternates between being a nice guy and a mope. That's the movie.

The opening narration goes as follows: "In this town of make believe, the truth behind the scenes is also filled with drama - blah blah blah - against this Hollywood backdrop of fantasy, yesterday's teenager, now growing up, faces tomorrow, still searching for kicks, but deeply searching for meaning." I deeply searched this film for meaning, but only came up with gas. Even the scene during the opening credits makes no sense.

Unknown Ken Clayton plays Johnnie. At the start of the film, Clayton bears a slight resemblance to James Dean; by the end of the film, he looks more like liberal columnist David Corn of "Mother Jones." Lilyan Chauvin, the only recognizable face in the cast, plays Clayton's acting coach. However, we never see her coaching him, and she just seems to appear in scenes for no reason. Cute Barbara Wilson plays Clayton's love interest - but you have to wait about 55 minutes before they finally make out, at which point we also see Wilson's stuffed animal fall from the sofa. The symbolism escapes me. Richard Gilden plays Walt, but I have no idea what he is doing in the picture. He works on his car, gets into two fights with Clayton (some of the body positions these two get in are hysterical), and generally ticks everyone off. Gilden is cursed with a double-whammy; he looks uncannily like 40s B-movie star Dave O'Brien, and sounds uncannily like 50s Z-movie star John Agar. Gilden has a pal named Pig, and there is a blonde dame named Darlene who shakes her rear end a lot. There is lots of stock footage of Hollywood, even though the film was shot in Tuscaloosa.

Clayton seems obsessed with death; I'll admit I considered it myself while watching this bilge. Then he is Mr. Nice Guy for awhile, then, in the climax, decides to drive at a high speed down the highway in his sports car (hey, does this remind you of any young actor with the identical initials of J. D.?) while Wilson is reading a letter he wrote to her.

If you are still awake after 70 minutes, you'll hear more psychobabble from the narrator: "And so, with an actor's dramatics, John Dennis comes to a crossroads in life."

Will Johnnie crash? Will true love win out? Will the stuffed animal fall off the sofa again?

A little awkward in places, but kind of a sweet story. On the offbeat side. Love the slangy dialog : Ex: "That's right sell tickets. Make a big production out of it." Or: "You know, we might even get a newspaper plug out of it." In classic B&W.

Very one track story line; no intriguing side story. Just very boring and slow moving overall with a rather underwhelming finish.

Directing was decent, but not outstanding. Same as the acting.