College Confidential (1960)

When a sociology professor (Steve Allen) at a small town college conducts a survey about the mores and lifestyle of its students, some of the townspeople are disturbed to learn that it contains questions about sex! When an anonymous letter accusing the professor of corrupting the students is sent to her, a local reporter (Jayne Meadows) investigates and it gets ugly. Directed by Albert Zugsmith. Known mainly as a producer, Zugsmith was a curiosity. He usually produced exploitation B movies like HIGH SCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL, SEX KITTENS GO TO COLLEGE and CONFESSIONS OF AN OPIUM EATER. But he also produced some genuine classics like Welles' TOUCH OF EVIL and Sirk's WRITTEN ON THE WIND. Go figure! This effort tries to have it both ways. It wants to titillate us with a Kinsey like report but at the end of the film, Allen has a long heavy handed speech attacking the repressive small town mentality of American society. Mamie Van Doren who played the aunt of a high school student in HIGH SCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL two years earlier plays a college student here. When she goes to take the stand at a court hearing, someone refers to her as "a Mamie Van Doren type". With Herbert Marshall, Ziva Rodann, Mickey Shaughnessy, Conway Twitty, Pamela Mason (Mrs. James), Walter Winchell, Sheila Graham and Elisha Cook Jr.