Teenage Rebel
{{Short description|1956 film by Edmund Goulding}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2020}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Teenage Rebel
| image = Teenage Rebel (movie poster).jpg
| caption = Film poster
| director = Edmund Goulding
| writer = Charles Brackett
Edmund Goulding
Walter Reisch
| based_on = {{based on|A Roomful of Roses
1955 play|Edith Sommer}}
| producer = Charles Brackett
| starring = Ginger Rogers
Michael Rennie
Mildred Natwick
| cinematography = Joseph MacDonald
| editing = William Mace
| music = Leigh Harline
| studio = 20th Century Fox
| distributor = 20th Century Fox
| released = {{Film date|1956|11|1|}}
| runtime = 94 minutes
| country = United States
| language = English
}}
Teenage Rebel is a 1956 American drama film directed by Edmund Goulding and starring Ginger Rogers, Michael Rennie and Mildred Natwick. It was nominated for two Academy Awards; Best Costume Design and Best Art Direction (Lyle R. Wheeler, Jack Martin Smith, Walter M. Scott, and Stuart A. Reiss).{{Cite web|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1957 |title=The 29th Academy Awards (1957) Nominees and Winners |accessdate=August 21, 2011|work=oscars.org| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20110706094056/http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/legacy/ceremony/29th-winners.html| archivedate=July 6, 2011 | url-status= live}}{{cite web |url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/112808/Teenage-Rebel/details |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121018100057/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/112808/Teenage-Rebel/details |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 18, 2012 |department=Movies & TV Dept. |work=The New York Times |date=2012 |title=Teenage Rebel |access-date=December 22, 2008}}
The film was an adaptation of the play A Roomful of Roses by Edith Sommer, with Betty Lou Keim and Warren Berlinger reprising their Broadway roles. Teenage Rebel was the first black-and-white CinemaScope film.{{cite web|url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/92467/teenage-rebel#notes|title=Teenage Rebel (1956) – Misc Notes|work=Turner Classic Movies|access-date=January 31, 2016}}
Plot
Nancy Fallon (Ginger Rogers) is a divorcee who has trouble communicating with her 15-year-old daughter Dodie (Betty Lou Keim). Left in the custody of her father (Michael Rennie), Dodie feels as though her mother has deserted her.{{cite web|url=http://www.allmovie.com/movie/teenage-rebel-v112808|title=Teenage Rebel (1956) – Edmund Goulding – Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related|author=Hal Erickson|work=AllMovie|accessdate=January 31, 2016}}
Cast
- Ginger Rogers as Nancy Fallon
- Michael Rennie as Jay Fallon
- Mildred Natwick as Grace Hewitt
- Rusty Swope as Larry Fallon
- Lili Gentle as Gloria, teenager at the races
- Louise Beavers as Willamay, Fallon's Maid
- Irene Hervey as Helen Sheldon McGowan
- John Stephenson as Eric McGowan, Dodie's Dad
- Betty Lou Keim as Dorothy 'Dodie' McGowan
- Warren Berlinger as Dick Hewitt
- Diane Jergens as Jane Hewitt
Original play
The film was based on a play, A Roomful of Roses, written by Edith Sommer. It was bought for production in 1954 bu Guthrie McClintock and Stanley Gilkek.{{Cite news|title=LUNTS RETURNING IN PLAY TONIGHT: Edna Best and Brian Aherne Also Are Starred in Noel Coward's 'Quadrille'|author=SAM ZOLOTOW|work=New York Times|date=November 3, 1954|page=35}} In June 1955 Patricia Neal agreed to star.{{Cite news|title=STRATFORD GROUP REACHES RUBICON: American Shakespeare Fete Opens Tonight With 'Julius Caesar' as Initial Bill|author=ARTHUR GELB|work=New York Times|date=July 12, 1955|page=21}}
The play premiered on October 17. The New York Times said the acting was "winning" and it was "written with humanity".{{cite news|title=A Roomful of Roses' Opens at Playhouse: Play by Edith Sommer Merits Bouquets Betty Lou Keim and Patricia Neal Praised|author=BROOKS ATKINSON|work=New York Times|date=October 18, 1955|page=48}}
Linda Darnell later made her stage debut in a production of the play in Phoenix Arizona.{{Cite news|title=PLAY ROLE TAKEN BY LINDA DARNELL: Film Actress Signs Contract to Bow Here Next Fall in 'Harbor Lights' Garbo May Do Play Harris Goes to London|author=LOUIS CALTA|work=New York Times|date=July 12, 1956|page=15}}
Production
File:Sunair Drive-in Ad - 16 February 1957, Cathedral City, CA.jpg advertisement from 1957.]]
Film rights were purchased by 20th Century Fox before the play was even produced. In May 1955 Darryl F. Zanuck assigned the play to Sam Engel to produce.{{Cite news|title=Story of 'Roomful of Roses' Seems to Have Some Thorns|author=Hopper, Hedda|work=Chicago Daily Tribune|date=May 10, 1955|page=b5}}
According to writer Walter Reisch, 20th Century Fox had a commitment with Ginger Rogers and bought the play as a vehicle for her. Rogers' casting was announced in May 1956.{{Cite news|title=Diana Dors Signed by R.K.O.|date=May 25, 1956|work=New York Times|page=26}}
Reisch later said it was one of his favorite films, saying "It was a beautiful idea: a girl, the daughter of a woman who had meanwhile remarried, comes to the house to meet her new family. [Edmund] Goulding directed it. We only used the nucleus, the germ of the play, and made a lovely picture, a big success. But it was in black-and-white CinemaScope; again we couldn't get the color camera."{{cite book|url=https://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft0z09n7m0&chunk.id=d0e11350&toc.id=&brand=ucpress|page=243| last=McGilligan|first= Patrick|title= Backstory 2: Interviews with Screenwriters of the 1940s and 1950s.|publisher=University of California Press|date=1991}}
The film was known as Our Teenage Daughter and Dodie before Fox settled on Teenage Rebel. In June 1956 Betty Lou Kenim was cast in her stage role.{{Cite news|title=REPUBLIC PLANS 18 NEW PICTURES: Studio Will Resume Filming Operations in July With Low-Budget Program Columbia Signs Reinhardt|author=THOMAS M. PRYOR|work=New York Times |date=June 15, 1956|page=30}} Filming started in June 1956. The movie was the only film being shot on the Fox lot.{{Cite news|title=PROBLEMS SLOW ACTIVITY AT FOX: Story and Talent Difficulties Keep Studio From Planned Film Production Record Tony Curtis to Star Of Local Origin|author=THOMAS M. PRYOR|date=June 16, 1956|work=New York Times|page=12}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb title|id=0049831|title=Teenage Rebel}}
- {{TCMDb title|id=92467}}
- {{AFI film|id=52027|title=Teenage Rebel}}
{{Edmund Goulding}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Teenage Rebel}}
Category:1950s teen drama films
Category:1950s English-language films
Category:American teen drama films
Category:American black-and-white films
Category:American films based on plays
Category:Films directed by Edmund Goulding
Category:Films produced by Charles Brackett
Category:Films with screenplays by Charles Brackett
Category:Films scored by Leigh Harline