The Beat Generation

I watched this movie with some hesitation, because it really received awful reviews; however, because I like Ray Danton and Steve Cochran, I decided to give it a chance. Ray Danton and Steve Cochran both gave very good performances, as did Mamie Van Doren, Fay Spain, Jackie Coogan, and Jim Mitchum, and the plot, though trashy, was interesting, and as pointed out by Martin Teller, this movie was weirdly compelling, mainly due, I think, to Ray Danton's very menacing and interesting performance as a killer, and Steve Cochran's performance as a complex cop. I am, therefore, recommending this movie, but only if you like any of the actors in it, since they all gave good performances, and, I think, one can bear with the worst movie if one is a fan of an actor!

An obsessed cop tries to track down the "Aspirin Kid," a beatnik serial rapist. MGM was not a noir studio, and I don't really know if you could call this noir but if it is, it's one of the most insane noirs I've ever seen. Like crazy, man. I hardly know where to begin. Dig this groovy cast, Daddy-O... Vampira, Mamie Van Doren (who steals the show) and real-life husband Ray Anthony, Charles Chaplin Jr., James Mitchum (a dead ringer for the old man), Jackie Coogan and performances by Cathy Crosby and Louis Armstrong. I think I can safely say it's the only noir that climaxes at a beat "hootenanny" where a guy randomly tries to wrestle the hero, who later chases the bad guy underwater while dodging harpoons. Yeah, this sh*t is nuts. The portrayal of beatniks is the standard Hollywood ridicule and parody. Has there ever been a positive image of beatniks in an American film? Even FUNNY FACE is pretty condescending. Steve Cochran (looking quite Clooney-esque at this stage in his career) is practically psychotic, setting up an interesting parallel with the villain (Ray Danton, turning the sleaze up to 11) as both are portrayed as misogynistic creeps. Being a late-period noir, there's more freedom to openly address subjects like rape and abortion. Although there is no graphic imagery, the screams of the victims are harrowing enough. The film is campy and trashy and yet also has a moral center... one which backfired for me when it came to the vile anti-choice message. It's hard to make a case against hatred towards women while also telling them they need to keep their rape-spawned babies. It was a pre-Roe v. Wade world, though. The Van Doren character sends mixed messages about the film's stance as well.

This review is rambling because frankly, I don't know what to make of this movie. It's all over the place. In most respects it's pretty bad but also weirdly compelling, and sometimes even hilarious, whether intentionally or not. I can't honestly say I liked it, but I sure as hell couldn't stop watching it.

Mamie Van Doren is deliciously "pneumatic" as always, a rougher version of Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield.This film is one of my favorite bad films - and from me that's a compliment!

Juvenile delinquency films were Mamie's forte - check her out in Girls Town and High School Confidential - they have cool casts like this film, bad racy scripts, and Miss Van Doren herself "The Queen of Teen".

In this film we have everything - the lovely Mamie Van Doren, a serial rapist "The Aspirin Kid"(played by Ray Danton), one of my favorite B movie hunks (namely Steve Cochran) in a bathing suit no less, a hula-hooping suburban housewife, and even a very blonde Vampira (!) in a speaking role, reciting some hip Beatnik poetry about parents being a "drag". And the children of (much more talented) famous parents: Charles Chaplin Jr, Jim Mitchum, etc. What more could you ask for in a camp trash late '50s flick?

This film is definitely a must-see for any trash, B movie lover . . . as are most of Mamie Van Doren's late "50's films.

Like a few others have already stated in these user comments, it's kind of surprising that the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio of 1959 would get involved in a movie with a number of trashy elements. The movie has a number of flaws as well. The musical numbers seem out of place for a serious story, and there is also comedy relief that seems out of place. The movie is stretched out to the breaking point when a more compact telling was obviously needed. And the character of the rapist isn't really explored that well.

Still, there are some interesting things to be found here. The movie explores some topics like rape and abortion with effectiveness that even more than 50 years later still seems a little daring. Also, Ray Danton, despite a weakly written character, acts in a really slimy way that makes him an effective villain. While this material isn't enough to make the movie worth searching for, if it happens to come on your TV, people interested in 50s movie exploitation that was done while still hampered by a production code may find the movie of some interest.

On one level this movie is sort of pop psychology trying to make a subtle distinction between the slippery slope of ordinary misogyny (non- violent here) and serial rapist (extreme brutality of course). The contrast between two men with these hang-ups in relation to women seems an odd basis for a film script, but then this whole movie is pretty odd.

The attempt at a psychological overall theme fails to rise above mere exploitation in this 1959 b-movie time capsule complete with Mamie Van Doren at her bleach blondest and flirtatious best. Also you have some beatniks who say "lets have a hootenanny". And dig these cats as they really do have a hootenanny. Its a crazy beat event as self-absorbed oddball characters endeavor to find nihilistic and existential new ways to waste their time and practice the fine art of hanging out. Watchable chaos ensues as a campy b-movie police manhunt goes on literally in its midst. This is 1959 b-movie heaven, complete with Louis Armstrong and an inexplicable role for Cathy Crosby that is so out of place it actually adds more camp to the camp.

Fay Spain carries the acting load as she did in numerous movie roles and countless fine and noticeable performances in TV dramas. She was a true acting talent. Steve Cochran, once one of those incredibly beautiful male actors who populated 1940's and 50's movies, is clearly aging here and gives a sort of disinterested, hangdog performance that is not among his best. Ray Danton, another movie stud of the era, is convincing as the psycho, but unfortunately is only allowed to perform at a strictly b-movie level.

Fay Spain is the real deal. Aside from her this is just a fast-paced psychological mumbo jumbo of a b-movie that is priceless as a time capsule of the age.