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I Was a Teenage Werewolf (1957)

 
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Sat May 09, 2015 12:16 am    Post subject: I Was a Teenage Werewolf (1957) Reply with quote




Whit Bissell as a mad scientist again! (Actually this one came first).

Michael Landon plays a troubled high school student who is turned into a werewolf by an unscrupulous doctor who experiments with drugs and hypnosis.

Landon's gruesome change to the werewolf state is brought on by emotional stress instead of full moons. The film's scariest scene occurs when Landon is casually watching a pretty teenaged gymnast; the school bell blares out on the wall right next to him and causes him to change into the monster.

Admittedly this movie is low budget horror, but it's extremely enjoyable.

Directed by Gene Fowler ("I Married a Monster From Outer Space"). The success of "I Was a Teenage Werewolf" inspired an inferior follow-up, also starring Whit Bissell -- "I Was a Teenage Frankenstein", directed by Herbert L. Strock.

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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)


Last edited by Bud Brewster on Fri Nov 04, 2022 12:13 pm; edited 4 times in total
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Pow
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PostPosted: Mon May 11, 2015 12:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

A young Guy Williams portrays a policeman in this movie.

Years later he would have a recurring role on Landon's Bonanza TV series as cousin Will Cartwright.

Read an interview with Guy in which he stated that the Bonanza experience was very unpleasant for him.

He was being used as a negotiating chip because Pernell Roberts was threatening to leave the show.

Consequently the cast was not too friendly to Guy although he did not know he was being used by the studio in such a manner.

Mike Landon met with the producers to get rid of Guy. He did not want the competition of another handsome Cartwright (who was also taller) on a weekly basis.

Always enjoyed Mike's acting & all of his TV shows.
Sorry to read he could also be petty.


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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Mon May 11, 2015 12:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Extremely interesting facts, Powmeister. Thanks! Cool
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
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PostPosted: Mon May 11, 2015 4:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I still remember the line from the MST3K version. "Thank goodness for the department issue silver bullets".

David.
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orzel-w
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 14, 2017 6:52 pm    Post subject: Re: I Was a Teenage Werewolf (1957) Reply with quote

Bud Brewster wrote:
The success of "I Was a Teenage Werewolf" inspired an inferior follow-up...

The inferiority of the follow-up was necessitated by the former's poster claim of being "The most amazing motion picture of our time!"
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 14, 2017 9:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

In 1957 I was four years away from being a teenage anything-at-all, but at nine years old I'm sure these two low budget shockers would have had me crouched in the rear of the family car next to my four-year-old sister as we peeked fearfully over the back of the front seat between my parents' shoulders at the Roosevelt Drive-In. Shocked






That would probably be equally true if the second feature was Invasion of the Saucer Men.



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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 01, 2019 8:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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A classic B movie with a good cast, a famous star, and a kinky premise!

Enjoy the trailer, which has a good picture! Then enjoy the full movie. Cool
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______ I Was a Teenage Werewolf (1957) Trailer


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_________ I WAS A TEENAGE WEREWOLF (1957)


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Phantom
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PostPosted: Fri Jun 10, 2022 6:31 pm    Post subject: I Was a Teenage Werewolf (1957) Reply with quote



An evil doctor uses a troubled teenager in an experiment in regression that turns him into a ferocious beast.

I Was a Teenage Werewolf is the most famous of the lured titles of the 1950’s b-features. The idea came about when producer Herman Cohen, looking for an angle, realized that none of the Hollywood studios were paying attention to the vast untapped teenage audience. Not even American International Pictures, which was making a ton of money with the Roger Corman science fiction/horror movies, saw what the most lucrative market of them all could be.

Teenage movies had been around from the beginning before the term became common. Although the word was coined in a book, “Teenager,” by Jon Savage in 1922, people between the ages of 13 and 19 were generally known as “youths.” Often, they were simply misguided as in the Andy Hardy films of the 1940’s. Sometimes they were wayward runaways and orphans (Wild Boys of the Road, 1933) and most vividly as juvenile delinquents (Blackboard Jungle 1954) and (Dead End, 1939).



By the 1950’s, a schism had developed between kids of teen age and their parents. Some sources blamed it on the home front situation during WWII when their fathers were drafted into military service, thereby depriving their sons and daughters of the discipline inherent in the traditional nuclear family.

The rise of the rebellious outcast in films like The Wild One (1953) and the introduction of Rock and Roll further distanced the generations.

Coming up with the provocative title was Cohen’s first inspiration and it led to a string of likewise titles that tried to capitalize on its success. I Was a Teenage Frankenstein, Teenage Zombies and Teenagers from Outer Space all cashed in as a result of Cohen’s picture, none of which, however, were as good or as clever and most of which were downright terrible.

Cohen’s second choice was in hiring a more than competent cast, including Whit Bissell as the evil scientist (a role in which he excelled).

Veteran like Barney Phillips as Detective Donovan, Vladimir Sokoloff as a janitor emigre from Eastern Europe (with the unlikely name Pepe) and Adam West (Batman, tv) lift the acting above what one might expect from such a venture.



Michael Landon as Tony the troubled teenage werewolf shows genuine star power and carries the weight of the film.

The road to stardom via science fiction/horror pictures of the 1950’s was paved with mud. Actors who got stuck in the mire were never heard from again. I can think of only three who actually reached the heights of superstardom, Steve McQueen (The Blob), Jack Nicholson (The Little Shop of Horrors) and Landon.



This was his first important starring role after he began appearing on television in 1955. From this point on, it was a steady climb in ever better films and eventually Bonanza, the show that put his name firmly in the cinema history books.



Cohen’s third inspiration was in hiring Gene Fowler, Jr. to direct.

Fowler had an eye for good scene composition and atmospheric lighting and was able to keep the film going through long scenes of exposition and character development before he got to the werewolf, which came well into the story.

Sets like these convey a far more realistic lifestyle than the usual Hollywood image. This is a room that looks like someone actually lives in it, as opposed to the scrubbed and sterile environments depicted in many films of the period.



Daily implements familiar to the characters are used to fill the frame and add atmosphere to a scene. The doctor and Tony’s father are both surrounded with the necessities of their lives and the audience is supplied with a detailed sense of place.





Tony’s alienation from society, his widower father and even his own peers resonated with teenagers. Girlfriend, Arlene (Yvonne Lime) is baffled by his unexpected rages yet remains loyal in their rocky relationship. Lime was dating Elvis Presley during the making of this picture.



The teens in the movie, with the exception of Tony, are neither provocative nor threatening. Their world is somewhere between the drag racing miscreants in The Blob, and the innocent youths of the Rooney-Garland comedies of the 1940’s.



Blackboard Jungle (1954) was the first dramatic movie to include a rock and roll score under the opening credits. According to reports, it had teenagers dancing in the aisles. I Was a Teenage Werewolf was the first horror movie to introduce a rock and roll number into the mix, “Eeny, Meeny, Miney, Mo,” a terrible song that is almost as cringe worthy as “Puppy Love” (not to be confused with the Paul Anka hit) in Blood of Dracula, a loose retread of I Was a Teenage Werewolf.



Despite their familiarity with Tony’s flashpoint temper, they are shocked when he decks one of the gang who pulls a surprise stunt at a Halloween dance. The event convinces him to take the advice of Detective Donovan and seek psychiatric help.



Unfortunately, Tony’s doctor is a lunatic who finds the impulsive teenager the perfect subject for his experiment in the regression of a human being to his primitive state in order to benefit mankind (you’ll have to see the movie to figure out that one). Director Fowler and cinematographer Joseph La Shelle turn the doctor’s office into a den of shadows, a metaphor for the scientist’s dark secrets and disordered mind.



At the 48-minute mark in a movie that runs only 1:15, Tony is startled by a school bell and transforms into full wolf mode. No one seems to have ever questioned why the boy, in regressing to his primitive state, should become a wolf rather than a representation of Cheeta. Hey! Darwin! Up yours!



Fowler pulls a neat trick on the audience. The first good look we have of the werewolf is upside down, the point of view of a gymnast working out on the parallel bars.





Makeup artist Phillip Scheer and hair stylist Fae M. Smith have created a werewolf as iconic to the 1950’s as Lon Chaney was to the 1940’s. In films like Wolfen (1981) and Wolf (1994), they were fully transformed into four-footed wolves, which may have been more in keeping with the legend, but lost the physical combination of traits that make the traditional movie style more compelling. This shot makes the long wait for the werewolf worthwhile, although the teeth may be a bite too much.



Landon makes horror film history as the first foam-at-the- mouth werewolf.





The teenage horror movies of the 1950’s were derided for decades as cheap exploitation for the fast buck, and there is much truth in that. However, with the passage of time, the era has taken on a nostalgic sheen and many that were hammered with such disdain are being reassessed and mined for values overlooked by film critics of the day.

No one is ever going to confuse the merits of I Was a Teenage Werewolf with The Wolfman (1941), but on its own level it still holds up as a well-crafted and entertaining b-film of mid-century Hollywood.

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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Fri Jun 10, 2022 7:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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What a magnificent post, Phantom! Cool

In honor of your magnificence contribution to All Sci-Fi I'll schedule this movie for All Sci-Fi's Saturday Live Chat (<— link) in the near future.

Check the UPCOMING MOVIES IN THE ALL SCI-FI CHAT ROOM! thread for the specific date.

Meanwhile, thanks of re-energizing ASF with your wonderful review!

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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
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Pow
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 11, 2022 12:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Mike Landon was always proud of this movie, which I thought was very cool of him.

Other actors would have distanced themselves from a werewolf horror film. Steve McQueen certainly never spoke about his early starring role in The Blob.

Not Mike, he was more than happy to always acknowledge Teenage Werewolf, even as he went on to great success with his Bonanza, Little House on the Prairie, and Highway to Heaven television series.

In fact, he did a Halloween episode of Highway to Heaven, "I Was a Middle Aged Werewolf (October 28, 1987) where he once again donned werewolf makeup.
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