High School Big Shot (1959)

Excellent but underrated film

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Is this a great film? By no means. Is it as bad as they say it is? I just don't think so. I suspect people the majority of those who watched this film saw the MST3k version and take enjoyment out of saying that it "sucks". High School Big Shot is one of the better movies to get the MST3k treatment; as much as it still made great riffing-fodder, it actually had some decent acting for such a low-budget. While certain aspects of the story were very one-dimensional, other parts were a bit complicated. The only aspect of the plot that was downright lousy was the end. The ending is not only abrupt but makes very little sense! I couldn't have predicted such an awful ending from the rest of the film which was not only entertaining but even relatable. This film had an overall anti-woman theme, painting women as being only interested in financial-gain. I won't comment on whether or not such themes have a place in our society, but it has the potential to anger some viewers. However, very small dialog changes could have avoided that problem and still held the movie together.Not great, but pretty good for a cheap noir flick. Give it a watch.PS: Star Trek fans might get a kick out of the appearance of Stanley Adams, who played Cyrano Jones in the TOS episode "The Trouble with Tribbles".

Several performances that young Tom Pittman did were released posthumously the following year after his tragic death in an automobile crash in 1958. High School Big Shot was the last of them and I feel bad that this is the epitaph of young Tom's career. He should better be remembered as one of Dean Jagger's sons in The Proud Rebel.But for better or worse Pittman was the lead in this independent B feature probably popular in drive-ins at the time. He plays a poor and sensitive kid who for love of the high school vixen Virginia Aldridge embarks on a life of crime.Truth be told he's not got much of a life to begin with, but he has a shot at a college scholarship that his English teacher Peter Leeds is going to recommend him for. But when Pittman is discovered doing a paper for Aldridge, Leeds withdraws his recommendation. I think that was a bit much. If Leeds had any understanding he would have known it was the kid's hormones in overdrive which they are at that age.Anyway Pittman finds that the warehouse he works at after school is to be used as a drop for syndicate money, untraceable syndicate money to be used to purchase heroin. And Pittman finds a safe-cracker in Stanley Adams to help him with the job.But it all goes wrong, not the least of which is that Pittman tells Aldridge and she tells her hoodlum boyfriend Howard Veit who decides he wants the loot. It all ends in a bloody mess.Adams is good as the philosophical safe-cracker and Malcolm Atterbury contributes a nice performance as Pittman's alcoholic father. But the film such as it is belongs to Pittman who is a sensitive soul gone terribly wrong. And I'm sure Pittman knew this one was a Thanksgiving feast yet his performance in this very cheaply made film is good.And this review is dedicated to Tom Pittman another sad Hollywood tragedy.

It's funny, but I can't believe this film has an overall score below 2.0!! That would seem to indicate that this is a truly awful film...yet I liked it despite its limitations and actually recommend you see it.The film is about a bright and seemingly nice young man named Marv. However, despite having excellent grades and a possible future in college, he is a lonely nerd---but the actor playing Marv is 27 years old--far too old to be playing a character who is supposed to be 17! If you can ignore this, what happens next is pretty interesting--even if his character occasionally acts too dumb--showing the writers really weren't that good despite some good story ideas. You see, Marv is supposed to be a genius--yet he also does MANY stupid things...too stupid! When Marv is inexplicably approached by a pretty classmate (Betty), he falls head over heels---as it's the first girl to take notice of him AND she's a hottie. However, Marv isn't aware that this girl is a devil! She really is NOT interested in him but wants to use him to help her to graduate--as without some help (or cheating) she won't graduate. Poor Marv--you really have to feel sorry for the schmuck. Well, at least that is until you see just how dopey this guy gets. You see, when he learns that Betty is using him, instead of getting angry, the sap wants to impress her--even though she obviously isn't worth it! Now despite how dumb his motivation is, I did like Marv's plan to win her back. When Marv accidentally learns that his boss is involved with buying and selling drugs, he also learns that there will be $1,000,000 in the company safe--and it's ripe for the picking. So, this teen(!) organizes a mini-gang and sets out to rip off the drug dealer. The rest of the film plays a lot like the merging of film noir AND a teenage romance! I loved how black the ending was--so violent and fatalistic...so gritty! It sure ended well and never bored me.

Times I look back to high school and it amazes me that I never went lower than Marvin did in this BAD film.Poor Marv is the main character who's bad luck just gets worse and worse. Despite his intelligence, he manages to get bullied, exploited, supports his lousy deadbeat Dad, and plenty more goof-ups including a daring heist which let's say doesn't go fully to plan. Of course, the viewer feels no empathy with anyone in this film, so all this disastrous gloom bounces off like harmless zeta rays. Recommended for those days you're feeling down, pop this film in and you'll smile and say, "I'm so glad I'm not Marv!"