The Young Stranger (1957)

The son (James MacArthur) of a wealthy film producer (James Daly) lives in a beautiful home in Beverly Hills but his father is a cold man. Not only to his son but to his wife (Kim Hunter). When the boy gets into a fight with the manager (Whit Bissell) of a movie theatre and is arrested by the police, it only makes the gulf between father and son wider. Written by Robert Dozier (who adapted his 1955 teleplay for the screen) and directed by John Frankenheimer (MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE). Frankenheimer had been acquiring a reputation directing live television in the 1950s including DEAL A BLOW in 1955 so when it was adapted for a film two years later under the title THE YOUNG STRANGER, Frankenheimer made his feature film debut. MacArthur and Bissell recreate their roles in the film with James Daly and Kim Hunter stepping in for Macdonald Carey and Phyllis Thaxter. The benchmark for these juvenile delinquent movies is REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE. STRANGER even has a score by Leonard Rosenman who scored REBEL. But whereas REBEL had an ambiguous ending in that we didn't know what would happen next, this film ties it up in a neat little ribbon of reconciliation as son, father and mother walk off into the sunset arm in arm. It also bears some resemblance to ORDINARY PEOPLE which would come years later, only this time it's the father who's the icy one. MacArthur's "misunderstood" kid is pretty obnoxious but the film makers seem to want us to overlook that because he's not getting any love at home. It's okay but no surprises (kids behaving badly because adults don't care). With James Gregory, Marian Seldes and Jeffrey Silver (perhaps the most likable character in the cast).