The Beat Generation (1959)

A detective is assigned to track down and capture a crazed serial rapist.

Director:

Charles F. Haas

Writers:

Richard Matheson, Lewis Meltzer

Stars:

Steve Cochran, Mamie Van Doren, Ray Danton

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Steve Cochran	...	Dave Culloran
Mamie Van Doren	...	Georgia Altera
Ray Danton	...	Stan Hess
Fay Spain	...	Francee Culloran
Louis Armstrong	...	Louis Armstrong
Margaret Hayes	...	Joyce Greenfield (as Maggie Hayes)
Jackie Coogan	...	Jake Baron
James Mitchum	...	Art Jester (as Jim Mitchum)
Cathy Crosby	...	The Singer
Ray Anthony	...	Harry Altera
Dick Contino	...	Singing Beatnik
Irish McCalla	...	Marie Baron
Maila Nurmi	...	The Poetess (as Vampira)
Billy Daniels	...	Dr. Elcott
Maxie Rosenbloom	...	The Wrestling Beatnik

Storyline

Soon after, we learn that Hess is a serial rapist at large in Los Angeles. His modus operandi is to gain entry to the home of a married woman whose husband is away by pretending to be there to repay money loaned by the husband. Once inside, he feigns a headache, pulls out a tin of aspirin, and asks the woman for water. While she is distracted by this errand, he sneaks up behinds her, and then assaults and rapes her. He leaves the tin of aspirin behind as his calling card, leading the police to call him "The Aspirin Kid." Leaving the scene of the first assault portrayed in the film, he is nearly hit by a car. The driver, who is a police detective named Culloran (Steve Cochran), gives him a lift, and the two engage in conversation. The rapist calls himself Arthur Garret, and as the two talk, he learns that Culloran is married, and sees his address on an envelope on the car seat. After getting out of Culloran's car, he writes down the name and address, and the word "married," ...

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Plot Keywords:

teensploitation | psychotronic film | rapist | detective | husband wife relationship | 

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Taglines:

Behind the Weird "Way-Out" World of the Beatniks!

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 July 1959 (USA)

Also Known As:

This Rebel Age

Company Credits

Production Co:

Albert Zugsmith Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

"On the Road" author Jack Kerouac was disturbed that his friend, author John Clellon Holmes, managed to get his "Beat Generation" novel "Go" into print before his own was published ("Go", in which Kerouac is a main character, was published in 1952, while "On the Road" was not published until 1957). Kerouac was worried that Holmes was plagiarizing him, although Holmes was careful to credit Kerouac with creating the term "Beat" for their generation, and much of the material was common amongst them and other writers of their circle, such as Allen Ginsberg. Ironically, producer Albert Zugsmith outfoxed Kerouac by copyrighting the term "The Beat Generation", which he used as the title of this egregious exploitation film, which was released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1959. A year later, M.G.M. released a film of Kerouac's novel "The Subterraneans", made by with top talent: It proved to be a major disappointment as it grossly misrepresented the scene (as well as Kerouac's novel). Ironically, "The Subterraneans" probably is the premier contemporary movie about the Beats, as so few "Beat" movies were made ("On the Road" has never been filmed), the phenomenon occurring during a time of strict screen censorship in the United States. By the time censorship was lifted in 1967, the Beats had been supplanted by the Hippies.

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Quotes

Georgia Altera: Would you rather be dead with him or alive with me?

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Connections

Featured in Vampira and Me (2012)

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Soundtracks

The Beat Generation
Written by Walton Farrar (as Tom Walton) and Walter Kent
Performed by Louis Armstrong and His All-Stars

User Reviews

Trashy, but interesting!

I watched this movie with some hesitation, because it really received awful reviews; however, because I like Ray Danton and Steve Cochran, I decided to give it a chance. Ray Danton and Steve Cochran both gave very good performances, as did Mamie Van Doren, Fay Spain, Jackie Coogan, and Jim Mitchum, and the plot, though trashy, was interesting, and as pointed out by Martin Teller, this movie was weirdly compelling, mainly due, I think, to Ray Danton's very menacing and interesting performance as a killer, and Steve Cochran's performance as a complex cop. I am, therefore, recommending this movie, but only if you like any of the actors in it, since they all gave good performances, and, I think, one can bear with the worst movie if one is a fan of an actor!