Tuesday, April 4, 2023

Date Bait (1960)

Delinquent teens twisted by drugs, rock and roll and huge cars.

Brad (Dick Gering) returns home after spending some time in rehab. He tries to get in with Sue (Marlo Ryan), who he is sweet on, but she isn't keen and is with Logan (Gary Clarke) instead. Brad and Logan have a rather limp fight in the teen bar.

Brad's older brother (John Garwood) intervenes and beats up Logan for him, he orders Brad to help him out with his drug dealing. Brad finds the lure of drugs a challenge. Meanwhile, Logan and Sue's young love runs up against parental disapproval and they decide to skip to Vegas...

This is standard teen B-movie fare. The storyline is basic, the acting also pretty basic (though fairly serviceable) and the settings and direction average. It is an enjoyable little film though, Logan and Sue are fairly sympathetic characters. The rock and roll is cool, the 1950s cars are even cooler.