Rumble on the Docks (1956)

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

A teen exploitation flick from Columbia Pictures. Not regrettably bad, but not exactly easy to be remembered. This juvenile delinquent tale takes place on a dance floor, waterfront and the docks. Teen dream Della(Laurie Carroll)and her little brother Poochie(Barry Froner)are roughed up by a street gang "the Stompers". Jimmy(James Darren)the leader of the rival gang called "the Diggers" comes to the rescue. Jimmy takes up Della's invitation to a dance. While they are jitterbugging to tunes like "Take The Last Train Out Of Town" by Freddie Bell and the Bellboys, the Stompers show up with a rumble on their mind.Police sirens begin to wail and teenagers are splitting in all directions. Jimmy runs into a racketeer named Joe Brindo(Michael Granger), who offers him the chance to be taught all the ins and outs of the rackets. Later Jimmy will be called to testify against his mentor about corruption on the docks. The waterfront will no longer be big enough for the two of them. Jimmy becomes a marked man for a cement suit.Helping to round out the cast: David Bond, Robert Blake, Jerry Janger, Edgar Barrier and Stephen H. Sears.

On the waterfront in Brooklyn, attractive high school senior James Darren (as Jimmy Smigelski) saves a young woman from being raped by two hoodlums. Kissed and roughed-up, Laurie Carroll (as Della) is drawn to Mr. Darren. He is leader of the "Diggers" and his rival gang is called the "Stompers". Both are chump change when compared to big-time racketeer Michael Granger (as Joe Brindo). He lures Darren, a poor Polish student recently thrown out of his house, with $100 payments and a pretty blonde woman. When Darren is expected to lie under oath in a court case against Mr. Granger's organization, friends and relatives endeavor to turn him around. The unoriginal "Rumble on the Docks" looks like an attempt to merge James Dean with Marlon Brando. In his first film, Darren is obviously appealing. Producer Sam Katzman and director Fred F. Sears appear to be aiming squarely at the 1950s teen audience. Notorious actor Robert Blake (as Chuck) plays Darren's gang pal, but the one who really impresses is sneaky Don Devlin (as Wimpy). Freddie Bell and His Bellboys are a musical highlight.****** Rumble on the Docks (12/12/56) Fred F. Sears ~ James Darren, Laurie Carroll, Michael Granger, Don Devlin

This film is finally available. I got it at Amazon.com as a manufactured on demand. The DVD says digitally remastered and since it is in the widescreen format I believe them. Anyway, it's James Darren's first film and he does admirably carrying the film. He plays Jimmy Smigelski, the leader of a gang, the Diggers. Robert Blake plays his pal Chuck. I liked most of the performances, however, Laurie Carroll as the love interest for Jimmy was weak. I can see why she is basically unknown today. It's too bad they couldn't have gotten someone like Susan Kohner for that role. Anyway, the film is well worth a look if only because of how they managed in the 1950s to do a film about tough street kids in which no one as much as says damn and still managed to be convincing.