THE DELINQUENTS

Eddy (Richard Bakalyan) checks out Scott (Tom Laughlin)

THE DELINQUENTS (1957). Written and directed by Robert Altman. 

Scotty (Tom Laughlin) is a nice young man who is going steady with 16-year-old Janice (Rosemary Howard), whose parents think she is too young to be dating one older boy. Encountering Cholly (Peter Miller) and his pals during a misadventure at a drive-in, Scotty is grateful when Cholly offers to pretend to be Janice's date, pick her up, and deliver her to Scotty -- the catch is they have to go to a party the gang is  holding without permission on an isolated estate. Thinking that Scotty tipped off the cops about the party, they basically kidnap him and then Janice -- and things get worse from there. 

Peter Miller and Richard Bakalyan

This alleged study of juvenile delinquency was written and directed by Robert Altman, his first film. Supposedly -- and inexplicably -- Alfred Hitchcock was so impressed that he hired Altman to helm some of the episodes of his TV series. (Let me make it clear that except for That Cold Day in the Park and maybe Popeye, I've never been a particular Altman admirer.) There is little impressive about this picture aside from the fact that it moves at a fairly good pace and is well acted by most of the cast. Laughlin certainly makes an impression in this. Years later he directed and starred in Billy Jack, a film that cost little to make and grossed 65 million! (Despite that, he never quite made the A list in Hollywood.) Peter Miller and Richard Bakalyan are also effective as the nastier members of the gang; Bakalyan had an especially long career. 

Verdict: They smoke, they drink, they make out -- and it's still not that interesting. **1/4.