Teenage Bad Girl (1956) User Reviews

A Movie of Many Mixed Emotions!

[JohnHowardReid · 5/10 · 25 November 2016]

I'm in a bit of a quandary here. I agree with all the previous reviewers, even the one who rubbished the film as well as those who gave it reasonably high marks. The only disagreement I had with any of the reviewers was with the one who praised Wilfrid Hyde-White's performance. (IMDb is of the opinion that that is not the way to spell "Wilfrid" but that is the spelling employed on the good quality Alpha DVD). I had the impression that Hyde-White was re- dubbing his lines as they seemed to be slightly out of sync. Or maybe he had mistakenly walked slightly out of range of the mike, but the producer-director Herbert Wilcox was forced to use the take anyway.

One also gets the impression that the movie was headed for a sweetness-and-light conclusion, when it was suddenly realized that the teen-age girl (superbly played by Sylvia Syms - was this her first movie?) was not such a bad girl after all, so a murderous conclusion was fabricated involving her boyfriend. But Sylvia still has nothing to do with the murder, so she's not really a bad girl at all. The only thing bad about her was that she occasionally talks back to her mother - drearily played by Ann Neagle. (I always thought her name was Anna Neagle, but the cover designer of the excellent Alpha DVD thinks otherwise). The cover designer has also used the film's front-of- house shot of Sylvia Syms looking both sultry and available, even though she doesn't appear anything like so so flamboyantly in the movie itself.

A failure to move with the times

[DPMay · 6/10 · 12 January 2021]

From the mid-1950s comes this story of a widowed mother finding herself powerless as her teenage daughter gradually goes 'off the rails' after falling in with the wrong crowd, yet watched from a modern perspective it seems somewhat flawed in its attempts at moralising. Anna Neagle plays the mother, Valerie Carr, who works in lowly position in women's magazines. Supposedly having to save up for weeks to buy her eldest daughter a new dress, she nevertheless seems well kitted out herself and lives in a big posh house with two daughters and an aunt. Sylvia Syms plays the elder child, the 17-year-old Jan, and for some reason that is never properly explained she is in attendance at an elegant party at the exclusive Savoy Hotel, where she instantly falls for another attendee named Tony (Kenneth Haigh) who admits he finds it all rather staid and tells the impressionable teenager all about a livelier dance called 'jive', and later that evening teaches her the movements out on the veranda. It is the start of a romance and the pair start meeting regularly, with Tony taking Jan to funfairs, speedway races and teaching her to drive his Bentley on quiet country roads. Valerie, meanwhile, is unexpectedly given a promotion to the position of fiction editor of a new magazine for teenagers, through which she meets Hugh Manning (Norman Wooland), who writes novels for young adults. Hugh is attracted to Val from the beginning, and when he hears she is unattached he begins to woo her. As events develop, Val becomes increasingly disapproving of Jan's frequenting of nightclubs and of Tony's influence over her. She wants Jan to instead hook-up with straight-laced farmboy Mark. However, Jan rebels more and more against her mother's interference. When she finds out that Tony isn't as wealthy as he claims, that he has only borrowed the Bentley and that he is in debt, she is no less attracted to him, but her loyalty to him eventually results in her being arrested by the police, bringing great shame on herself and her family. Although the film is engaging and tells an interesting story, it has two fundemantal problems. The first is that it totally misunderstands youth culture and the second is that it can't seem to make its mind up whether the viewer is supposed to dislike the character of Tony or sympathise with him. The combination of the two severely impairs its depiction of a youth's slide into bad character and ultimately leaves one questioning the behaviour of the mother. A lot of the things that 'the wrong crowd' are doing in this film are, in fact, perfectly innocent and suggest some paranoia on the part of the writers and producers towards the changing culture of the times. The worst things that 'bad boy' Tony does in this film are that he encourages Jan to smoke and drink, he teaches her to drive, he gatecrashes parties, he lies about his wealth (but later comes clean), he engages in fisticuffs if some drunken lout makes a move on his girl, and, when driven to absolute desperation, he steals money. On the plus side he is shown to generally care for Jan, and he is well mannered and well dressed. There's no suggestion he's pressuring her into sex. Compare this with the behaviour of the mother, Valerie, who can clear off to New York for a few days without a thought for her daughters, who can enjoy her own romance (with a man who smokes, no less), who chastises her daughter for borrowing one of her dresses and for using a taxi cab, who locks her daughter in her bedroom and who denies her access to her own savings. She even lets the younger daughter stay unchaperoned on the farm with Mark. The attempts to portray youth culture frequently make the viewer cringe. For a start, the film only has the one 'hip' music track (the ironically named "Get With It"), which is played repetitively, as though it's the only number the live musicians in the nightclub know how to perform. "What's the meaning of that look on your face?" the aunt asks Jan as she's demonstrating the jive to her. "Oh, that's getting into the MOOD!" comes the excited reply. When Val tells her boss that she finds the idea of her promotion "Absolutely blissful", she has to explain this strange new teenage expression to him. Even the opening titles and theme tune would have you think you are going to be sitting through some romantic period costume drama rather than an insight into the modern problem of juvenile delinquency. Edmond Greville's "Beat Girl", released in 1960, which explores some similar ideas, gets so many things right that this film gets wrong. In spite of the fragile quality of the material, Sylvia Syms performs her role well and it's little wonder she was destined for better things, and very soon, too. It's remarkable to think that just two years later she'd be starring in the exemplary "Ice Cold In Alex".

Twee

[malcolmgsw · 5/10 · 20 January 2019]

The first problem with this film is that Sylvia Simms does not look or act like a 16 year old and Anna Neagle is about 10 years too old for her part.The second is that the fact that the film doesn't really acknowledge that teenagers as a group had arrived.Everything about this film is old fashioned.You think of all the American films coming out at this time with Dean,Presley etc and this film feels like it was made in the thirties.

Starts off typical 50's teen trash and ends up as something quite profound.

[mark.waltz · 7/10 · 15 April 2022]

He's played Queen Victoria and nurses Edith Cavell and Florence Nightingale. She sang and danced to "Alice Blue Gown", "Tea For Two" and "Who?". As the wife of producer Herbert Wilcox, Anna Neagle had many great roles in British Cinema and briefly in Hollywood. She was the British version of Irene Dunne and Anne Harding, her tightly wound blonde hair making her always cast as a lady. Now she's a troubled career woman, dealing with a very difficult teenage daughter (Sylvia Syms), whope ironically working for a magazine focusing on subjects that are of interest to teens, and unable to deal with her own daughter.

Basically a nice girl, Syms turns into a terror when she begins to hang out with the wrong crowd and starts dating Kenneth Haigh who apparently was spoiled by his wealthy parents and is now under the thumb of rigid grandmother Helen Haye. Everything with her mother becomes a challenge, from arranging to go out to dinner with Neagle and her new gentleman friend, Norman Woodland, staying out all night and blaming all of her teenage problems on her mother. She does break down a few times, wondering what is wrong with her, but as soon as those issues are resolved, new ones crop up, and finally she runs away only to be an accessory in an accidental death that Haigh was responsible for. This results in her being on trial for murder along with him, and a very strong finger wagging at Neagle once the trial is over.

This was much better than I thought it would be, having expected something resembling the type of low budget drive-In fare that was being made by second-rate studios in Hollywood. I should have known that being produced by Herbert Wilcox would have this being a classier production, and while the acting does often shipped into melodramatic ranting, considering some of the situations that go on, it is very believable and at times the audience gets a real "pow". Veteran actor Sir Cedric Hardwicke adds authority as Neagle's boss, and in her brief time on screen, Haye is a forced to be reckoned with. The script and direction are better than average for a film of this nature oh, making it a surprise for me when I thought it was just going to be another teen exploitation drama.

Bad Girls, Bad Girls Whatcha Gonna Do?

[bkoganbing · 4/10 · 17 April 2011]

After two films with Errol Flynn, the acting producing husband and wife team of Anna Neagle and Herbert Wilcox decided to try a film with a more modern theme. Not that musical comedy star Neagle was about to rock and roll, but she could play the mother of a daughter who was into that crazy new beat.

Teenage Bad Girl starts with Anna's daughter Sylvia Syms being a good girl. Syms is the oldest of two daughters to Neagle and she's pretty happy especially since she has a new man in her life, Norman Wooland. But Syms has met up with a new boy, a bad boy played by Kenneth Haigh who intrigues and excites her.

Pretty soon she's spending all her time with him to the exclusion of family, school, other friends and Syms has Neagle properly worried. It all ends in a senseless tragedy.

Teenage Bad Girl was no better or worse than some of the teen themed dramas that were starting to flood the market as the age of rock and roll dawned on this side of the pond. I'm sure it made some good money for the Wilcox/Neagle team although it certainly wasn't a typical Anna Neagle product. She and Wilcox would be leaving the big screen shortly and concentrating on British television.

Frustrating...

[planktonrules · 4/10 · 12 March 2012]

Despite the title, this really isn't a sleazy exploitation film but more a drama from the UK about a teenage girl gone amok. It's actually reasonably well made but also VERY frustrating to watch. That's because the teen in the film goes from being a nice kid to a nasty little monster--and yet, after treating those around her like garbage, the film blames the mother and ends on that note! There's even a scene when the judge blames the mother---and no one seems to place any responsibility on the teen running around with a delinquent boyfriend. And, at times, the teen says horrible things to her mother, sneaks out of the house at night and is completely incorrigible and just plain mean. Sure, the mother probably should have filed charges against this idiot kid but the 'kid' is 17--old enough to accept most of the blame herself for messing up her life. Too often you hear lines like "..that poor, poor child..."--and it made me want to scream! And all this followed her being arrested as an accomplice after the boyfriend kills someone! She is no victim here--just a horrible person who is more in need of jail or a rap in the mouth than sympathy (no, I am NOT really advocating the rap in the mouth...)! Frustrating and dumb--this film ALMOST was watchable had it ended better. As it is, the film fails to deliver on a coherent message or as entertainment.

Herbert Gets With It

[richardchatten · 2/10 · 6 September 2020]

Talking Pictures ironically advises parental guidance for this museum piece, in which bobbysoxer Sylvia Syms gets plenty from concerned parent Anna Neagle.

Directed by a 65 year-old veteran of silent films, as the daughter who learns the hard way that Angry Young Men (even those in tweeds and a cravat) mean trouble Sylvia Syms was supposedly seventeen but actually 21 when she made this (and is now 86)! And the sum of money that causes all the grief is just £40.

Another twenty years still lay ahead before one of the other teenagers - Wanda Ventham - would give birth to Benedict Cumberbatch. I could go on, but I think you get the picture...

Tame But Entertaining Juvenile Delinquent Film

[dcole-2 · 8/10 · 6 October 2004]

In most juvenile delinquent films, the teens usually do something horrible or at least somewhat nasty. For most of this film, they stay out late and dance to the same song ("Get With It") in smokey clubs. And they yell at their Mom that she doesn't understand them. It isn't until near the very end that the Bad Boy (Kenneth Haigh) sets out to get money from an old aunt -- and when he steals it, she drops dead of a heart attack, no less! Talk about tame! There are far too many scenes of Mom Anna Neagle going "what will I do? why doesn't she obey me?". But it's a good-looking film courtesy of cinematographer Mutz Greenbaum (especially the club scenes) and Sylvia Syms shines as the Teenage Bad Girl in question. Also, Haigh is first-rate as the Bad Boy. So it's worth seeing, but don't expect real juvenile delinquents.

Don't drink and drive while dancing "jive"

[F Gwynplaine MacIntyre · 4/10 · 2 April 2004]

I never would have watched 'My Teenage Daughter' if it hadn't been made by Herbert Wilcox and Dame Anna Neagle. This husband/wife team (he as director, she as star) churned out a long series of highly profitable British films, most of which were earnest period dramas. 'My Teenage Daughter', made in 1956, is very much of its time, and tries hard to make some earnest statements about the disaffected youth of the Fifties. Unfortunately, the end result is more like one of those Ed Wood exploitation movies about reform-school girls gone wild. This movie tries hard to be 'with it' but is clearly Without It. This movie is similar to 'Reefer Madness': it deals with a genuine problem in society, but fails to address that problem honestly.

Sylvia Syms (whom I've never liked) plays 17-year-old Janet, who drops out of business school to spend all her time with Tony (Kenneth Haigh), a teddy-boy spiv. The booze and the wild parties are a bad influence on her, but the fatal corruption occurs when he takes her to a dance-hall where she learns how to dance 'jive'. Well, once a teenage girl dances 'jive', her soul is beyond all redemption.

Tony casually murders his aunt to get money to finance his wild sprees. (What will he do for money when he runs out of aunts?) Tony is such a bad influence on Janet, he soon has her yelling at her mother (shock! horror!) from inside a gaol cell. Jan's mum Valerie is played by Anna Neagle, which is part of the problem in this film: the main characters are clearly meant to be Janet and Tony, but the focal character is Valerie.

SPOILERS COMING: Eventually, Janet is hauled up before a magistrate, played by senile Major Gowen from 'Fawlty Towers'. Tony comes to a bad end (no surprise!), and Jan learns her lesson after having committed only a few misdemeanours. 'We mustn't ever lose each other again,' says Valerie to her daughter in a tear-stained reunion. Oh, blimey! Naturally, this film takes the line that parents want to hear: namely, *your* kids aren't bad, it's that *other* lot they've got in with (such as Tony) who are the real problem. And parents always know best, of course. (No comment.)

Matters are not helped by a leering undertone throughout 'My Teenage Daughter'. The film takes a moralistic stance, but it invites us to take a voyeuristic look at all the stuff that happens to teen girls gone wild. Wilfrid Hyde-White is good in a supporting role, as Janet's respectable employer before she goes off the rails. I'll rate this movie 4 points out of 10. It's a very revealing artefact of the 1950s, but not for the reasons that its makers intended.

a peice of crap

[funkyfry · 1/10 · 20 January 2001]

This is one of the worst movies I've seen, and that's saying a lot. Ruminations on "Rebel Without a Cause", but they could have called this movie "Film without a Director." It was so completely boring that it was almost unbelievable. They used the same annoying song five times (at least) in the movie. "Get with it!" says the song. Indeed. Do not not not get with this movie. ever.

Jive Squawking

[kalbimassey · 5/10 · 15 September 2023]

One of a whole slew of movies made as the '50's kicked off for the second half, to cash in on/play catch-up with the rapidly emerging youth culture. By the time 'My Teenage Daughter' hit the big screen in the summer of 1956, no self respecting Ted was blathering on about 'jive'. The tidal wave of rock 'n' roll which had swept across the United States, initially with Bill Haley and the Comets, but more importantly, Elvis, was now taking Britain by storm.

Hanging around fashionable bars, Kenneth Haigh tries to act the hipster, but looks like he's in the middle of a dry run for 'Man at the Top'. Introducing respectable teenager Sylvia Syms to his world of black coffee, cigarettes, fast cars and late night parties, she seamlessly transforms from intellectual prude to intellectual rude girl, by-passing the optional acne along the way.

Syms' journalist mother (Anna Neagle) is the perfect candidate for a key role in the launch of a new magazine, aimed at 14 -18 year old readers. The brainchild of super cool, visionary editor, ....Wilfrid Hyde-White.....who no doubt endured numerous sleepless nights and endless days of brainstorming before deciding to call his new creation....'Teenage'.... WOW!

Neagle's affinity with the younger generation receives a severe jolt, several evenings later, when Syms sends shock waves of such magnitude through the family home that structural damage to the building was inevitable, by announcing her intention to attend a party, at.... HALF PAST NINE!

Haigh and Syms soon catch the attention of the boys in blue, hitting the front page of the evening paper, along with the shock of England losing three quick wickets, following a rain delay. Is Syms discovering to her cost, that despite Haigh's swanky car and hip friends, there's a lot less to him than meets the eye?

One dimensional doesn't even come close to capturing the contrived portrayal of Syms' delinquency by numbers fall from grace. Whilst the recurrent trendy song, 'Get With it' by The Ken -Tones owes more to The Andrews Sisters than rock 'n' roll.

Memorable, largely as Sylvia Syms ' screen debut and for offering a youthful fling to Julia Lockwood, Wanda Ventham and Arthur Mullard, seen briefly as a bouncer, all familiar faces on British T. V. from the 1960's and beyond.

Coffee, Jive and Dry Martinis!!

[kidboots · 8/10 · 11 June 2018]

Sylvia Syms was no starlet - from the first (and "My Teenage Daughter was her first role) she had leads and good ones. "My Teenage Daughter" (for probably publicity reasons changed to "Teenage Bad Girl" for American distribution) was a prestigious Herbert Wilcox production and starring his wife, the legendary Anna Neagle. He had seen Syms in a television play and thought she would be ideal as the rebellious Jan. Sylvia remembered Anna and Herbert with so much affection - while her salary wasn't big they gave her every luxury, built up her part as the film progressed and then at the end Anna insisted on her having equal billing. She was overwhelmed by their kindness. Herbert Wilcox, he of the sparkling musicals and sophisticated romances of the 30s and 40s, probably felt the need to get "with it" in the 1950s and put his name to this quite good j.d. movie of 1956.

Jan (Syms) seeming to belong to an ideal family (hard working single mother, cute sister, doting aunt and a frisky dog) goes to her first party in a dress her mother scrimped and saved for. Here she meets Tony, an older sophisticate who sweeps her off her feet by taking her to clubs and introducing her to coffee, jive and dry martinis. In the meantime mum Val (Neagle) is working her way up the corporate ladder and is given a promotion as editor of the new "Teen Age" magazine. She really hasn't a lot of time for her daughter but is still horrified when Jan arrives at the launch party in a sophisticated cocktail dress from her mother's wardrobe with Tony, who is obviously a spiv, in tow. Kenneth Haigh gives a very taut and true performance as the troubled Tony and it stood him in good stead as he went straight into the West End production of "Look Back in Anger" originating the role that Richard Burton later played in the movie.

From now on it's a case of one step forward, two steps back as Val tries to recapture the elusive bond that she once shared with Jan. Fortunately she has found Hugh (Norman Wooland) who even though single has an understanding of rebellious youth who have had their young lives torn apart because of the war. For an instant Tony shows a softer side but then he is heavied by thugs wanting money that he owes them. Jan is confidant that she can get the money but when she becomes involved in a massive row with her mum, they take off towards Tony's Aunt Louisa and a date with destiny......

No, she wasn't a bad girl but the film was originally "My Teenage Daughter" which makes more sense and the mother definitely wasn't bad although she got a dressing down from the judge at the end. The irritating thing about a few of these movies ("Cosh Boy" ect) is the presumption that a dependable man is going to be the answer!!

Very Recommended.

Much Better Than I Expected

[jromanbaker · 8/10 · 14 March 2022]

I am appalled at the sensationalist title of ' Teenage Bad Girl ' and its original British title is so much better. In fact the film is much better than I expected watching it by chance on a television channel. The cast is excellent, and Anna Neagle gives a very good performance indeed worrying about her daughter who has quite simply met and fallen for a wayward young man who is psychologically disturbed. Sylvia Sims and Kenneth Haigh ( the original Jimmy Porter in John Osborne's ' Look Back in Anger ' and should have been chosen for the film role in Tony Richardson's version of the groundbreaking play ) play the lovers and because of a fatal turning of events land in a terrible situation. No spoilers but the frightening scene of this situation reminded me of Pushkin's ' The Queen of Spades. ' And as a the film's soundtrack uses Tchaikovsky's music ( not too well, but not too bad either ) I thought of the Opera of the composer based on the Pushkin story. As for the film as film I am not an admirer of Herbert Wilcox but this was much better than the rest of his work. It gives a portrait of 1950's life and it rings true, except for a few critical scenes towards the end when it becomes preachy. It is much better than most films of the time that dealt with teenagers in trouble and out of their depth in coming to terms with adult judgements and demands. Watch it if you can. It is not the trash that publicity showed it to be and has a cast at its best who give their best. Highly recommended.

The blame is the same..

[kerrydixon · 8/10 · 5 October 2019]

Started to watch this and realised the story is the same it just the times change... A good film for its genre at time of making...