Lack of good storyline.

Highly Overrated But Still Good

Good concept, poorly executed.

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

This title will be familiar to most viewers who have heard of it as the film debut of Jack Nicholson in the title role, second billed to veteran TV and 'B' movie tough guy Harry Lauter; here representing the law. Although Roger Corman is billed as Executive Producer (and has one line as a TV cameraman (after which all we see of him for the rest of the film is his right hand resting on the side of the camera), the film is a United Artists release rather than one of AIP's quickies, with slightly bigger production values; a mixed blessing in the face of TV director Justus Addiss's lethargic direction.Corman regulars Leo Gordon (who co-wrote the script) and Bruno Ve Sota (who the same year directed 'The Brain Eaters') fill out the economy-sized crowd who have gathered to ogle; and Gordon generously gives Ve Sota one of the script's best lines, "Teenagers, never had 'em when I was a kid!" The basic situation dates back at least as far as Jean Gabin in 'Le Jour se Lève' (1939), and was probably more immediately inspired by the siege at the end of 'Rebel Without a Cause'. Nicholson doesn't actually get that much screen time, as much of the action taking place back in the diner and in the forecourt. The script flits from character to character, including Gordon's own wife Lynn Cartwright, who gives an attractive performance as waitress Julie, united with Ruth Swanson as Nicholson's mother in her contempt for poison maiden Carolyn Mitchell who started all the trouble in the first place by ditching Nicholson for obnoxious alpha male bully Brett Halsey. (Swanson sums her up as "selfish, vulgar, cruel...rotten!!")The film's unsung hero is Jordan Whitfield as Sam, the black dishwasher who keeps his head throughout the crisis. That we don't see him get his due as Hero of the Hour at the film's conclusion is one of several issues left unresolved (including the ultimate fates of both Nicholson and Halsey) when the end credits roll.

Recently, this viewer happened to watch, for the first time, the 1950 film "The Men," historically important today as the screen debut of 26-year-old Marlon Brando. And by some strange coincidence, my next film, also seen for the first time, was the 1958 picture "The Cry Baby Killer," whose only legitimate claim to fame today is that it marked the screen debut of the 21-year-old Jack Nicholson. The connection between the two actors, of course, is that they were neighbors for many years on Beverly Hills' Mulholland Drive, as well as former costars in 1976's "The Missouri Breaks." And as reported on a certain Wiki site, Nicholson even purchased Brando's home after his death, with the express intention of having the place torn down out of respect for Marlon's memory. But whereas the Brando debut in "The Men" clearly demonstrated the emergence of a wonderful new screen talent, in an exceptionally fine film, "Cry Baby Killer" just barely hints at the latent possibilities that the young Nicholson harbored, and the film itself is...well, let's just say that it is far from "exceptionally fine." Indeed, even executive producer Roger Corman (who I had erroneously thought the film's director, who had met Nicholson in an acting class, and who was on a two-month trip around the world as the film was being prepared) has gone on to say that "the finished movie is less than inspiring." In truth, without Jack's presence, the film would hardly be worth watching today, and yet...well, as will be seen, it still has some points to commend it to the viewer's attention, and at a brief 61 minutes, can hardly be accused of overstaying its welcome!In the film, Jack stars as teenager Jimmy Wallace, who, when we first encounter him, is in the process of getting the crap pounded out of him by a gang led by the suit-and-tie-clad Manny Cole (Brett Halsey). Later that evening, Jimmy enters the Klix Drive-In eatery, in which Manny presides like some kind of smarmy, thuggish demigod, determined to take back his girl, Carole (Carolyn Mitchell, whose only other film appears to be that same year's "Dragstrip Riot"), from the older punk. A fight develops outside, during which Jimmy grabs a gun from one of Manny's accomplices and shoots two of the toughs in the heat of battle. Thinking that he has slain the two youths (as it develops, he hasn't; just wounded them in their intestines), Jimmy holes up in a shack next to the drive-in, holding a young mother and her baby, as well as an older black man, as hostages. And before long, a siege situation develops, as cops, spectators, relatives and a news crew gather, and Jimmy is soon being referred to as "the boy with the gun."Of course, the question uppermost in the viewer's mind will probably be "Why doesn't Jimmy just give himself up right away?," but I suppose that if that were the way things logically transpired, this hour-long movie would barely have cracked the 10-minute mark. Rather, "The Cry Baby Killer" (an odd title, actually, given that Jimmy does not shed tears once and, as has been mentioned, is not actually a killer) treats the viewer to around 50 minutes' worth of the head cop, Lt. Porter (Harry Lauter), questioning everyone at the scene, Jimmy's parents and Carole begging the mixed-up nut via bullhorn to come out, and, most annoyingly, a newsman from KQQQ (!) repeating every incident that we have already witnessed for the benefit of the television viewers at home. Fortunately, we also get to see what is transpiring inside that shack, and thus are privy to Nicholson's first on-screen rants, as he screams at the young mother to make her hungry baby stop crying. For all its brevity, the picture nonetheless seems to drag in parts, and indeed feels padded with needless scenes (the tentative romancing between cop Gannon and waitress Julie, for example). Curiously, the circus atmosphere that eventually develops at the siege site, with vendors selling hot dogs and Red Hots to the gawking crowd, is almost reminiscent of the situation that develops at the cave-in locale in Billy Wilder's wonderful offering of 1951, "Ace in the Hole"; of course, "The Cry Baby Killer" should not even be mentioned in the same breath as that classic film. Besides Nicholson, only a few faces here will be at all familiar to most viewers: Ed Nelson as that TV reporter (Nelson also appeared in Corman's popular schlock classics "Attack of the Crab Monsters," "Teenage Cave Man" and "A Bucket of Blood," but will probably be most recognizable to baby boomers by dint of his work on TV's "Peyton Place") and Herb Vigran as a shyster lawyer (Herb appeared as crooks no less than six times on TV's "The Adventures of Superman"!). Oh...Corman is in there, too; a cameo as a TV technician whose only line is "Sounds OK!" And speaking of Roger, perhaps it would have been better for all concerned if he had indeed directed this film, as the work turned in here by Justus Addiss--who seems to have directed almost exclusively for '50s and '60s television--is pedestrian, at best. "The Cry Baby Killer," to its credit, does feature a title tune that will likely work as an "earworm" in your head for many days. Composed and sung by actor and sometimes music writer Dick Kallman, this bizarre, repetitive number almost sounds as if it were being chanted by a beatnik, perhaps in a coffeehouse similar to the Yellow Door Cafe in "A Bucket of Blood." This memorable tune, and the fact that this was indeed Nicholson's first go before the cameras, are probably the two best reasons (possibly the only reasons!) for seeking out this otherwise forgettable film. At worst, it will inspire viewers to check out one of Jack's later, better performances...such as masochistic dental patient Wilbur Force in the Corman-directed "Little Shop of Horrors," for example. Now THERE'S a performance for the ages!

Jack Nicholson's film debut. He plays a teenage kid who shoots two other guys (off screen) and panics. He thinks he's killed them (he hasn't) so he gets some hostages and holes up in a room. Soon the police have the place surrounded and order him to let the hostages go and give up. But he's scared and doesn't know what to do.Basically this could be a pretty good half hour TV show...but this is stretched out to 75 minutes! The script is bland and very by the numbers. All the characters are clichéd and I saw every line of dialogue coming. This would be a thoroughly forgotten little movie by now if it weren't for Nicholson. Seeing him so young is fascinating in itself and seeing him doing his best with such subpar material is interesting. Unfortunately he's NOT the whole movie. There are long stretches when he's not even on screen which are more than a little boring. The acting by everybody is no more than OK but nobody could make this script interesting. So worth seeing if you're a Nicholson fan but it's a pretty bad film. A 3.

Cry Baby Killer, The (1958) *** (out of 4) This is somewhat of a Holy Grail for me because I've been dying to see this flick since I became a fan of Jack Nicholson back in the late 80s. I've been pretty lucky to know people who own rare movies but not a single one ever had this film and in fact, I never he knew anyone who had actually seen it. In the film Nicholson (in his debut) plays a hot headed teen who is upset when the town's tough guy steals his girl. After being jumped, Nicholson gets ahold of a gun, kills the tough guy and then takes another man, a woman and her baby hostage. A tough as nails cop (Harry Lauter) tries to talk him out as the television station and onlookers gather outside. This moral/teenage flick is in the same vein as Rebel Without a Cause but it stands out due in large part to being Nicholson's debut. I wouldn't say he gives a good performance as he goes way too over the top in a few scenes but you can see certain trademarks that'll show up in some of his classic performances. The scenes with him screaming at the crying baby get some unintentional laughs as does a few other scenes but this just adds to the cult appeal. Since this film is on DVD now I'm sure it will become a cult classic of the Drive-In teenage films. Producer Roger Corman and screenwriter Leo Gordon have cameos.