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. 

BUS STOP: I Kiss Your Shadow and A Lion Walks Among us

Reason, Jenny Maxwell, Fabian

BUS STOP TV series. 

Bus Stop was an hour long 1961 drama series that lasted for one season. It focused on the inhabitants of a small town, including Grace (Marilyn Maxwell), who owns a restaurant or "bus stop;" waitress Elma (Joan Freeman); Sheriff Will (Rhodes Reason); and District Attorney Glenn Wagner (Richard Anderson). Sometimes these people participated in the weekly installment; at other times they showed up briefly or not at all.

The series has not been released on DVD yet, but there are two grainy episodes available on youtube, because these were "special" episodes. "I Kiss Your Shadow" was the 26th and final episode of the series, and it was based on a short story by Robert Bloch. The story concerns a man, Joe (George Grizzard),  whose wife, Donna (Joanne Linville), is killed in an automobile accident. He claims that Donna, who was a bit smothering when she was alive, is now haunting him, and attacks anyone who tries to come between them, including his psychiatrist, who is pushed out of a window. 

Dianne Foster

This episode has become famous because in his book Danse Macabre, Stephen King (who had probably not seen the episode in decades) wildly overpraises it. Children may have found it scary, and there are maybe a couple of creepy moments (and I never read the short story, which may be superior), but I found "I Kiss Your Shadow" to be obvious, trite, and predictable, although well-acted by the above-named, as well as by Alfred Ryder as Donna's brother and Richard Anderson. John Newland was probably tapped to direct this because of his association with the show One Step Beyond.

Anderson also has a large part and is excellent in a controversial episode entitled "A Lion Walks Among Us." which is quite well-directed by Robert Altman. Luke Freeman (pop singer Fabian) is a handsome young psycho who murders a country store clerk and seemingly gets away with it. The person who could have placed him at the scene is D.A. Wagner's wife, Sally (Dianne Foster), an alcoholic who gave Luke a lift. but then ordered him out of the car when he got fresh. 

Young Psycho: Fabian

Luke has a different story, and the defense attorney, Oliver West (Philip Abbott), who is a friend of the Wagner's, has to make mincemeat of the poor woman on the witness stand, a situation that is devastating to her husband. Rhodes Reason also appears in this episode as the sheriff and is fine. As for Fabian, he gives a better performance than expected, and uses his sexy looks and charm to etch an interesting portrait of a nasty psychopath. Dianne Foster is outstanding, especially in the courtroom scenes, and the episode is a stand out. The climactic scene was originally to have been much more violent, but even in this form there was some protest from viewers. Considering the ending of the story, I assume there were repercussions in future episodes.

Verdict: I Kiss Your Shadow: *1/2. 
              A Lion Walks Among Us: ***.