Siegel's stylish opening is deceptive. This is an Reginald Rose screed about how love and understanding can save all the poor delinquent boys of the world. Cassavetes glowers, Mineo looks beautiful and lost, Rydell gives a fey and sinister performance, and the jazz score is "hep." But the flat '50's look,the cheap sound stage street, and the unnecessary repetition of dialogue make this look like an hour-long TV drama padded into feature film length. . . which it is (The Elgin Hour, 1955)

Cassavetes is far too old to play 18 convincingly. Worse than that is his overblown performance, as if he were trying to earn extra credit at the James Dean College of Intense Brooding. The city block sets look especially cheap, and the film feels dated, more so than most noirs. It's a lot of moralistic hand-wringing with very little nuance. There's a few interesting moments, Mineo and Rydell are terrific, the score is exciting, and the cinematography is quite good. Unfortunately, still a dud.