After a 16-year-old, neglected by his movie producer father, gets in trouble, his father doesn't believe his claim of self-defense.After a 16-year-old, neglected by his movie producer father, gets in trouble, his father doesn't believe his claim of self-defense.After a 16-year-old, neglected by his movie producer father, gets in trouble, his father doesn't believe his claim of self-defense.
- Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award
- 1 nomination total
Photos
- Jerry Doyle
- (as Jeff Silver)
- Boy in Courtroom
- (scenes deleted)
- Peter Kalish
- (uncredited)
- Carhop
- (uncredited)
- Usherette
- (uncredited)
- Detective
- (uncredited)
- Woman in Movie Theatre
- (uncredited)
- Boy
- (uncredited)
- Man at Police Station
- (uncredited)
- Lottie
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writer
- Robert Dozier(uncredited)
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaBased on a real incident between this film's screenwriter Robert Dozier and his father William Dozier, then head of production at RKO.
- GoofsAfter Harold gets up to leave after asking his father to borrow the car, the shadow of the boom mic can be seen moving in and out of frame in the upper left hand corner of the screen.
- Quotes
Helen Ditmar: [about their sixteen year old son, Hal] We've taught him to tell the truth. You and I, we've tried to teach him to be honest and fair, haven't we? Isn't that what we've tried to teach him? If he's telling the truth, you should be proud of him, but all he got from you is a lot of abuse. He's right about one thing: you don't know him. He's a stranger to you.
Tom Ditmar: I... always thought I knew him pretty well. How do you talk to him? I don't know. I can't say three words to him without offending him some way.
Helen Ditmar: The only time you see him is at the dinner table... or when you want to punish him for something. I remember once when you lectured him about charging too many things at the department store. He came to me later, very upset, and very confused. He was sorry about the money, but asked me, "why is it Dad always bawls me out for spending money, when money is the only thing he ever gives me?" I couldn't answer him. Maybe you can. I even had to tell him you loved him yesterday. He didn't know that. Your son didn't know you loved him.
- Crazy creditsopening title card "James MacArthur as The Young Stranger."
- ConnectionsFeatured in Decoy: Ladies Man (1958)
From an affluent Beverly Hill home, MacArthur finds himself being harassed in a movie theater after a patron complained about his putting his legs on a chair. The problem is that there were plenty of people saw the harassment by the manager of the theater but no one was asked to say anything. This is a definite problem in the screen writing.
I had actually forgotten that James Daly was an actor. I remember him in television commercials. As his wife, Kim Hunter looks like she is annoyed with the whole plot. We suddenly find out that she has been contemplating leaving Daly for 5 years. What's stopping you lady, your life of luxury?
While John Frankenheimer always dealt with social problems, this one is cliché ridden.
Acting kudos goes to James Gregory as a hard-nosed police officer who adds to the problem by giving MacArthur a bad time. I think this picture was a cheap stunt to continue the theme of "Rebel Without A Cause." That Sal Mineo masterpiece also deals with wayward youth and a loss of interaction between parent and child. "Young Stranger" is adequate but certainly not in the league of "Rebel."
Whit Bissell is effective as the theater owner who is fed up with the behavior of all teenage movie-goers and wants to use MacArthur as an example. Usually a cowardly co-star in grade B films of the 1950s, Bissell shows his adeptness of really being a weakling.
With regard to Gregory, Frankenheimer would get a brilliant performance out of him in 1962's "The Manchurian Candidate." Remember him as the moronic senator married to Angela Lansbury?
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $350,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 24 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1