Teen-Age Crime Wave

1955 film by Fred F. Sears

November 1955 (1955-11)

Running time

76 minutesCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglish

Teen-Age Crime Wave (aka Teenage Crime Wave) is a 1955 American juvenile delinquency film noir crime film directed by Fred F. Sears and starring Tommy Cook and Molly McCart. It was released by Columbia Pictures. The plot concerns a pair of delinquent teens who go on a statewide shooting spree after escaping from reform school.^[1]

It was featured on a 1994 episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000.

Plot

Jane Koberly, accidentally present during a robbery, is falsely convicted of being an accessory. While being transferred to an industrial school with her cellmate Terry Marsh, Terry's boyfriend Mike Denton springs them, killing a deputy in the process. With the police hot on their trail, they take over a farmhouse owned by the Grants and terrorize the family while waiting for their friend Al to arrive with money and transport. The Grants' son Ben arrives for Thanksgiving, and is also held hostage. As time passes, Mike becomes more unhinged as Terry flirts with Ben. The criminals are forced to flee after killing a neighbor of the Grants. The fugitives are cornered at the Griffith Observatory, where Terry is fatally shot by the police, and Mike is subdued by Ben. Before she dies, Terry confesses to the police that Jane is innocent. When Mike is taken to Terry's dead body, he breaks down and cries hysterically.

Cast

Tommy Cook as Mike Denton
Molly McCart as Terry Marsh (as Mollie McCart)
Sue England as Jane Koberly
Frank Griffin as Benjamin David 'Ben' Grant
James Bell as Thomas Paul Grant
Kay Riehl as Sarah Wayne Grant
Guy Kingsford as Mr. Koberly
Larry J. Blake as State Police Sgt. Connors (as Larry Blake)

Mystery Science Theater 3000

Teen-Age Crime Wave was shown as episode #522 of Mystery Science Theater 3000. The episode debuted January 15, 1994.^[2] Among fans, the episode has a middling reputation. It did not make the Top 100 list of episodes as voted upon by MST3K Season 11 Kickstarter backers.^[3] Writer Jim Vorel ranked the episode #82 (out of 191 total MST3K episodes), judging it a solid episode; he claims, "The film is quite solid, a melodramatic 'teens in trouble' flick ... and it receives a thorough riffing. But every one of the sketches is memorable, and indicative of the wilder, more high-energy tone that came into the show after Mike became the host."^[4]

The MST3K version of Teen-Age Crime Wave was included as part of the Mystery Science Theater 3000 Volume XXXIII DVD collection, released by Shout! Factory in July 2015. The other episodes in the four-disc set include Daddy-O (episode #307), Earth vs. the Spider (episode #313), and Agent for H.A.R.M. (episode #815).^[5]

References

^ Rotten Tomatoes
^ Episode guide: 522- Teen-Age Crime Wave. Satellite News. Retrieved on 2017-11-18.
^ Bring Back Mystery Science Theater 3000 Update #41. Kickstarter. Retrieved on 2017-11-18
^ Ranking Every MST3K Episode, From Worst to Best. Vorel, Jim. Paste Magazine. April 13, 2017. Retrieved on 2017-11-18
^ MST3K: Volume XXXIII. Shout! Factory. Retrieved on 2017-11-18.

External links

Teen-Age Crime Wave at IMDb

Films produced by Sam Katzman

Showmen's/
Screencraft

His Private Secretary (1933)
Police Call (1933)
Ship of Wanted Men (1933)
Public Stenographer (1934)
The Moth (1934)
The Big Race (1934)
St. Louis Woman (1934)

Supreme

A Demon for Trouble (1934)
Western Justice (1934)
The Brand of Hate (1934)
Smokey Smith (1935)
Tombstone Terror (1935)
Trail of Terror (1935)
Alias John Law (1935)
Big Calibre (1935)
Sundown Saunders (1935)
Brand of the Outlaws (1936)
The Kid Ranger (1936)

Victory

Peter B. Kyne	Danger Ahead (1935) Hot Off the Press (1935) Bars of Hate (1935) The Fighting Coward (1935) Taming the Wild (1936) aka Madcap A Face in the Fog (1936) Rio Grande Romance (1936) Kelly of the Secret Service (1936)
Tom Tyler	Rip Roarin' Buckaroo (1936) The Phantom of the Range (1936) Orphan of the Pecos (1937) (also d) Brothers of the West (1937) (also d) Cheyenne Rides Again (1937) Lost Ranch (1937) (also d) Mystery Range (1937) Feud of the Trail (1937)
Serials	Shadow of Chinatown (1936) Blake of Scotland Yard (1937)
Herman Brix	Two Minutes to Play (1936) Silks and Saddles (1936) Amateur Crook (1937) (also d) Flying Fists (1937) Million Dollar Racket (1937) Sky Racket (1937) (also d)
Tim McCoy	Six-Gun Trail (1938) Lightning Carson Rides Again (1938) Texas Wildcats (1939) Code of the Cactus (1939) Outlaws' Paradise (1939) Trigger Fingers (1939) The Fighting Renegade (1939) Straight Shooter (1939)

Puritan

The Rogues' Tavern (1936)

Monogram

East Side Kids	East Side Kids (1940) Boys of the City (1940) That Gang of Mine (1940) Pride of the Bowery (1941) Flying Wild (1941) Bowery Blitzkrieg (1941) Spooks Run Wild (1941) Mr. Wise Guy (1942) Let's Get Tough! (1942) Smart Alecks (1942) 'Neath Brooklyn Bridge (1942) Kid Dynamite (1942) Clancy Street Boys (1942) Ghosts on the Loose (1943) Mr. Muggs Steps Out (1943) Million Dollar Kid (1943) Follow the Leader (1944) Block Busters (1944) Bowery Champs (1944) Docks of New York (1945) Mr. Muggs Rides Again (1945) Come Out Fighting (1945)
Bela Lugosi	Invisible Ghost (1941) Bowery at Midnight (1942) The Corpse Vanishes (1942) Black Dragons (1942) The Ape Man (1943) Voodoo Man (1944) Return of the Ape Man (1944)
Musicals	Zis Boom Bah (1942)
Billy Gilbert	Spotlight Scandals (1943) Crazy Knights (1944) Three of a Kind (1944) Trouble Chasers (1945)
The Teen-Agers	Junior Prom (1946) Freddie Steps Out (1946) High School Hero (1946) Vacation Days (1947)

Columbia

Serials	Who's Guilty? (1945) Jungle Raiders (1945) Brenda Starr, Reporter (1945) Hop Harrigan (1946) Chick Carter, Detective (1946) Son of the Guardsman (1946) Jack Armstrong (1947) The Vigilante (1947) The Sea Hound (1947) Brick Bradford (1947) Congo Bill (1948) Tex Granger (1948) Superman (1948) Adventures of Sir Galahad (1949) Batman and Robin (1949) Bruce Gentry – Daredevil of the Skies (1949) Pirates of the High Seas (1950) Atom Man vs. Superman (1950) Cody of the Pony Express (1950) Captain Video: Master of the Stratosphere (1951) The Mysterious Island (1951) Roar of the Iron Horse (1951) Son of Geronimo (1952) Blackhawk (1952) The Great Adventures of Captain Kidd (1953) The Lost Planet (1953) Riding with Buffalo Bill (1954) Gunfighters of the Northwest (1954) Adventures of Captain Africa Mighty Jungle Avenger! (1955) Perils of the Wilderness (1956) Blazing the Overland Trail (1956)
Jean Porter	Betty Co-Ed (1946) Little Miss Broadway (1947) Sweet Genevieve (1947) Two Blondes and a Redhead (1947)
Jon Hall	Last of the Redskins (1947) The Prince of Thieves (1948) The Mutineers (1949) Hurricane Island (1951) When the Redskins Rode (1951) Brave Warrior (1952) Last Train from Bombay (1952)
Jungle Jim	Jungle Jim (1948) The Lost Tribe (1949) Mark of the Gorilla (1950) Captive Girl (1950) Pygmy Island (1950) Fury of the Congo (1951) Jungle Manhunt (1951) Jungle Jim in the Forbidden Land (1952) Voodoo Tiger (1952) Savage Mutiny (1953) Valley of the Head Hunters (1953) Killer Ape (1953) Jungle Man-Eaters (1954) Cannibal Attack (1954) Jungle Moon Men (1955) Devil Goddess (1956)
Gloria Henry	Racing Luck (1948) Triple Threat (1948)
Gloria Jean	I Surrender Dear (1948) Manhattan Angel (1949)
Musical	Mary Lou (1948) Glamour Girl (1948)
Crime	Chinatown at Midnight (1949) State Penitentiary (1950) Revenue Agent (1950) Chain Gang (1950) The Miami Story (1954) Chicago Syndicate (1955) The Crooked Web (1955) Inside Detroit (1955) Teen-Age Crime Wave (1955) Miami Exposé (1956) Rumble on the Docks (1956) Escape from San Quentin (1957) The Tijuana Story (1957) The World Was His Jury (1958)
William Castle	Serpent of the Nile (1953) Fort Ti (1953) Slaves of Babylon (1953) Conquest of Cochise (1953) The Law vs. Billy the Kid (1954) Jesse James vs. the Daltons (1954) Masterson of Kansas (1954) The Battle of Rogue River (1954) Charge of the Lancers (1954) Drums of Tahiti (1954) The Saracen Blade (1954) The Iron Glove (1954) Duel on the Mississippi (1955) The Gun That Won the West (1955) New Orleans Uncensored (1955) Uranium Boom (1956) The Houston Story (1956)
Action	Barbary Pirate (1949) The Mutineers (1949) Last of the Buccaneers (1950) Tyrant of the Sea (1950) The Magic Carpet (1951) The Golden Hawk (1952) Thief of Damascus (1952) Prisoners of the Casbah (1953) Flame of Calcutta (1953) Siren of Bagdad (1953) Prince of Pirates (1953) Target Hong Kong (1953) The 49th Man (1953) Pirates of Tripoli (1955) Crash Landing (1958)
War	Purple Heart Diary (1951) A Yank in Korea (1951) The Pathfinder (1952) A Yank in Indo-China (1952) Sky Commando (1953) Mission Over Korea (1953) The Last Blitzkrieg (1959) The Enemy General (1960)
Western	California Conquest (1952) Jack McCall, Desperado (1953) Seminole Uprising (1955) Blackjack Ketchum, Desperado (1956) Utah Blaine (1957) The Wild Westerners (1962)
Sci-fi	Creature with the Atom Brain (1955) It Came from Beneath the Sea (1955) Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956) The Werewolf (1956) The Man Who Turned to Stone (1957) The Giant Claw (1957) Zombies of Mora Tau (1957) The Night the World Exploded (1957) Lock Up Your Daughters (1959)
Rock Musical	Rock Around the Clock (1956) Cha-Cha-Cha Boom! (1956) Calypso Heat Wave (1957) Don't Knock the Rock (1957) Juke Box Rhythm (1959) Twist Around the Clock (1961) Don't Knock the Twist (1961)
Drama	Going Steady (1958) Life Begins at 17 (1958) The Flying Fontaines (1959) The Love-Ins (1967) For Singles Only (1968)

Fox

Pirates of Tortuga (1961)
The Wizard of Baghdad (1961)

Tallahassee 7000 (1961)

MGM

Musicals	Hootenanny Hoot (1963) Get Yourself a College Girl (1964) Kissin' Cousins (1964) Your Cheatin' Heart (1964) Harum Scarum (1965) When the Boys Meet the Girls (1965) Hold On! (1966) The Fastest Guitar Alive (1967) A Time to Sing (1968)
Non-musical	Hot Rods to Hell (1967) Riot on Sunset Strip (1967) (sold to AIP) The Young Runaways (1968)