The Beatniks (film)
| The Beatniks | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Directed by | Paul Frees |
| Produced by |
Edward Heite Ron Miller |
| Written by |
Paul Frees Arthur Julian |
| Starring | See below |
| Cinematography | Murray De Atley |
| Edited by | Harold White |
Running time | 78 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Beatniks is a 1960 American film directed by Paul Frees. It was also featured on the movie-mocking program Mystery Science Theater 3000.
Plot
Eddy Crane is the leader of a gang that robs small businesses for petty cash. At one point, his gang accosts the broken-down car of a music business executive, Harry Bayliss. Afterward Bayliss wishes to call a tow truck, so he goes into the eatery where Eddy's gang is celebrating. Bayliss overhears Eddy singing to the jukebox and offers him a chance to audition for his variety program. Eddy accepts, passes his audition, and is given a spot on television. Eddy sings a two-minute song that is apparently stupendously successful, with Bayliss calling Eddy an "overnight sensation" and prophesying an astounding rise to fame, complete with a hit record, "a guest spot on every top show," and eventually culminating with "The Eddy Crane Show." Atop Eddy's newfound success, he also immediately begins making advances at Bayliss's secretary, Helen Tracy, in preference over his long-suffering girlfriend, Iris.
The specter of Eddy's stardom raises dissension among his gang, who wish either to accompany him unquestionably on his ascent, or to hold him back in their ranks. Iris is also jealous of Helen, with whom Eddy has been carrying on an affair. Helen eventually professes her love for Eddy. But one of Eddy's gang members, Moon, commits a murder, threatening to drag Eddy down by association. Moon runs from the police, but is tracked down by Eddy, who delivers him for arrest. With this he also definitively separates himself from the rest of his gang and from Iris, but also destroys his prospects for a career as a singer with his own arrest.
Production
The film was shot in 1958 under the title of Sideburns and Sympathy.[1] In 1958 it was announced the film was to have been produced by Elmer Carl Rhodan Jr (1922-1959).[2] In addition to producing teen exploitation films[3] such as Daddy-O, The Cool and the Crazy(both 1958), The Delinquents (1957) and Corn's-A-Poppin' (1956)[4][5] Rhodan was the son of the owner of a chain of Midwestern Commonwealth Theatre chain [6] but died in 1959.
Cast
- Tony Travis as Eddy Crane
- Joyce Terry as Helen Tracy
- Peter Breck as Bob 'Moon' Mooney
- Karen Kadler as Iris
- Charles Delaney as Harry Bayliss
- Sam Edwards as Red
- Bob Wells as Chuck
- Stanley Farrar as Mr. Ray Morrissey
- Claude Stroud as The Hotel Manager
- Bob Pacquin as The Hotel Detective
- Martha Wentworth as Nadine (Iris' Mother)
- Frank Worth as Gus, the bartender
Soundtrack
Songs for The Beatniks were written by songwriter Eddie Brandt and director Paul Frees.
Notes
- ↑ http://www.berkeley.edu/news/berkeleyan/2006/09/20_media.shtml
- ↑ p.4 Galaxy Science Fiction Volume 16 World Editions, 1958
- ↑ P. 27 The Daily Courier Connellsville, Pennsylvania February 27, 1958
- ↑ http://www.northwestchicagofilmsociety.org/2011/10/09/peants-for-popcorn-a-tentative-history-of-corns-a-poppin/
- ↑ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0722358/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cr2
- ↑ pp. 79-80 Zuckoff, Mitchell Robert Altman Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 20 Oct 2009
External links
- The Beatniks at the Internet Movie Database
- The Beatniks is available for free download at the Internet Archive