Watch Teen-Age Crime Wave For Free

One of my all time favorites.

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

"Teen-Age Crime Wave" is clearly intended as an exploitational film--to scare the audience and sensationalize the topic of juvenile crime. Plus, it's doggone silly because the teens in the film are all closer to their 30s than their teen! Oddly, this sort of bizarro casting was the norm in the 1950s--even with higher quality films of the genre such as "Rebel Without a Cause" where only one member of the starring cast was high school age! Yet, in spite of its low budget and all its other obvious shortcomings, there is something strangely entertaining about this film and I do recommend it--but still give it a 5 due to the production values. As far as entertainment goes, it's far better. The acting is good for unknowns and the script is excellent--probably too good for a film of such low pedigree! It's a great film for exploitation lovers or someone wanting something different.The film has a familiar theme--similar to "The Desperate Hours" in that a group of psycho criminals take a family hostage and spend much of the film menacing them. A similar low-budget film made just a few later is the surprisingly good "The Sadist"--by Arch Hall--a man known for genuinely crappy films! It's well worth seeking if you like "Teen-Age Crime Wave".

**SPOILERS** Your usual troubled youth of the 1950's movie that has the distinction of being filmed at the famous Griffin Park Observatory just two months-in January 1955- before the granddaddy of all 1950's troubled youth movies was filmed there "Reble Without a Cause".In "Teenage Crime Wave" we have these two crazy mixed up kids Mike & Terry, Tommy Cook & Molly McCart, who get themselves in hot water by gunning dawn a deputy sheriff during an escape, with Terry being the one who does the escaping, attempt. Along with both Mike & Terry is Jane, Sue England, who was being transfered to a womens detention center for armed robbery. As we've seen earlier in the film Jane was an innocent bystander, but go tell that to the judge, when both Terry and Mike mugged Freddy Boy, George Cisan, who picked up Terry at a sleazy bar thinking that he'll score with her.Now on the run from the state troopers the three end up at the Grant House where both Tom & Sarah Grant, James Bell & Kay Riehi, are preparing to spend the Thanksgiving Holiday with their son handsome US Army hero Ben, Frank Griffin. Not realizing the fix that they find themselves in the two fugitives from the law not only hold the Grants, together with Jane, hostage but tip off the police in getting their not too bright friend Al, Jimmy Ogg, to drive over to the place with a carload of weapons! This has Al, when he resist arrest, get gunned down by the state troopers who then, knowing where Al was headed, surround the Grant house!***SPOILERS*** Besides having, because of his incompetence, the place surrounded by the police Mike also has his girlfriend Terry fall for the handsome Ben who just about had it with his both bizarre and mindless behavior. The movie ends with Mike trying to elude the police by getting himself trapped like a rat, with all escape routes blocked, at the Griffin Park Observatory. Knowing that his brief, and very unsuccessful, crime career is over-with his girlfriend Terry gunned down by the police- Mike finally comes to his senses. It's then that the cops, together with war hero Ben Grant, put the cuffs on him and haul the notorious "Cry-Baby Mike Denton" away to face ultimate justice.

This is a very worthwhile diversion. Tommy Cook overacts all over the place, but it does provide many enjoyable chuckles. Molly McCart does a fine job as Terry and deserved a successful career based on the talent she displayed here. While Sue English as Jane portrayed her character satisfactorily, the role did not require much of a stretch. Given her obvious attractiveness, I am surprised I was not previously aware of this actress! This production must have had an "in" with the Griffiths Observatory, as they were certainly given full access to the site! Recommended fun! James Bell,the farmer, is immediately recognizable from the dozens of TV and film roles he's had over the years!

Enjoyed this old time film from the 1950's where Tommy Cook, ( Mike Denton) plays the role of a two-time loser in robbery and his sidekick is Terry Marsh, (Molly McCart) who also has a police record. Mike & Molly commit another robbery and Mike kills a police office while he is escaping and this couple wind up taking over a farm house where an elderly couple live. There is another girl named Jane Koberly,(Sue England) who is a delinquent girl and gets deeply involved with Mike and Molly. Mike continues to shoot and kill people at the farm house and then there is a big shoot out at the historic Griffith Park Observation in Los Angles, California. This is not the greatest of black and white films from the 1950's, but I bet plenty of people enjoyed this film during those years.