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Theatrical Release – 1957
Length – 78 minutes
The Cast
Charles Courtney – Johnnie Simpson
Melinda Byron – Betty Palmer
Robert Fuller – Maurie Weston
Tyler McVey – Frank Simpson
Helena Heigh – Aunt Martha Simpson
Paul Bryer – Bert Morrison
The Crew
Producer – Jaques Marquette
Director Paul Helmick
Screenplay – Rudy Makoul
Music composed by – Walter Greene
THE STORYLINE
Right from the get go as the music plays and the credits roll, you could be forgiven for experiencing a touch of genre confusion. With some publicity posters displaying the words ‘Chicken is not just a game, it’s murder’ as its catch phrase above the image of a car and a girl lying on the ground, you might be thinking you’re in for a Hitchcock thriller. Yet the opening theme song, Teenage Kisses, crooned from the silver screen by David Houston would give the impression a romantic melodrama awaits. However, from the very first scene the viewer is assaulted by revving engines, screeching tires, the checkered flag and voiceover extolling the virtues of drag racing as an organised sport for the youth of America.
This is a movie full of fast cars drag-
Quiet, sullen and completely at odds with himself and the world, Chuck Courtney is Johnnie Simpson. At age three after losing his mother, he is left to be raised by his father, Frank, and Aunt Martha. Martha seems to be an ally for young Johnnie who wants what all teenagers desire – to be left alone to pursue his own dreams and aspirations without a meddling parent dogging his every move and mapping out a life plan in which he has no interest in following.
Frank Simpson is consumed with his own affairs and has very little time to get to know or understand his son. His habit of constantly belittling Johnnie’s wants and needs only serves to drive a deeper wedge between what little remains of the father/son relationship. Nothing Johnnie does meets with any satisfaction or approval from his father.
And as if he hasn’t got enough to deal with at home, let’s now introduce Robert’s character: Maurie Weston, the antithesis of Courtney’s Johnnie Simpson. Cocky, full of himself and oozing self-
The concept of good is loosely represented by Chuck Courtney’s character Johnnie; blond, blue-
Though things seem to go from bad to worse for Johnnie, he does at least have one saving grace – girlfriend Betty Palmer who works at The Front Page drive-
While the road to fulfilment is rocky, the story line in Teenage Thunder is intent on showing how good will conquer over evil. We follow Johnnie through his battle to fit in with the cool kids... and his journey to overcome parental oppression.
Lacking in the love and support of his father, Johnnie does find refuge of sorts with Bert Morrison, the local gas station owner who gives him a job and a much needed adult role model.
Succumbing to peer pressure, Johnnie takes a quick foray into a life of crime not once but twice. When challenged by Maurie and called a chicken, Johnnie devises a plan to get hold of a hot rod of his own so he can take up Maurie’s challenge. Despite Betty’s pleading, Johnnie goes ahead with his plan, tricking a used car salesman into letting him test drive a car which he uses in Maurie’s deadly game of chicken. Betty saves the day at the last minute by standing between the oncoming vehicles forcing them to stop.
While Betty’s father is supportive and understanding when he collects her from the police station, Johnnie’s is not, more concerned about his reputation than his son’s welfare.
Tired of being pushed around by both his father and Maurie, Johnnie steals the hot rod Bert had been building for his crippled son and had planned to race the next day. Johnnie’s basic sense of right and wrong is tested when Betty points out how upset Bert and his son will be if Johnnie doesn’t return the car.
We are left wondering briefly if good will ultimately triumph over evil when Bert, who has faith in Johnnie’s integrity, takes Frank Simpson to the drag strip expecting Johnnie to turn up with the car. Although there is some doubt at first, Johnnie doesn’t disappoint and arrives with the car intact.
The movie climaxes here when Bert asks Johnnie to drive the hot rod in a race, wanting him to compete on behalf of his son, Jimmy. Of course the other competitor is Maurie who is a renowned hot rod champ.
The two tussle for supremacy on the track, the lead changing several times before Johnnie crosses the finish line victorious. Unaccustomed to losing and especially upset that his loss was to someone he considers an unworthy opponent, Maurie emerges from his car ready to give Johnnie a taste of his fists. But things don’t quite work out that way and Johnnie gives Maurie a taste of his own medicine winning the fight with a few well-
Frank Simpson realises there is more to his son than just another mouth to feed and comes to an understanding that not all young men who race hot rods are hooligans. When Bert offers to sell Johnnie his car, Frank agrees without argument, marking the beginning of a new relationship between father and son.
Review written by Sally Bahnsen -