THE YOUNG STRANGER (1957)

Hal (James MacArthur) is a student at a Beverly Hills high school. His family has money but poor Hal is stuck driving a junky jalopy that has to be pushed to get started. Hal's mother Helen (Kim Stanley) is loving but his dad Tom (James Daly), a film producer, is distant, never having time for Hal, and when he does, he's usually berating the boy for something. One night, Hal and his buddy Jerry go to the movies. Hal insists on putting his feet up on the seat in front of him even the patron sitting next to that seat complains. Eventually, Hal is forcibly ejected from the auditorium and Mr. Grubbs, the theater manager, first tells him to leave, then tries to get him to go into his office. When Hal instead starts to leave, Grubbs grabs him and pushes him toward the office. Hal responds with a sock to Grubb's jaw. Hal and Jerry are taken to the police station and Tom takes him home. When Hal tries to explain that Grubbs started the fight and that he was just defending himself, Tom won't listen. Helen tries to talk to Tom about their son's behavior, but Tom is more interested in making a martini. When Jerry's father finds out what happened, he forbids his son from hanging out with Hal. It's not terribly surprising that, even though Grubbs decides not to press charges, Hal is adamant about getting Grubbs to admit that he started the altercation—at one point, he admits what he wants is a father who believes him. When Hal goes back to the theater, things don’t go well for Hal.

In the era of JD (juvenile delinquent) movies, this is a remarkably gentle film. Hal is certainly no delinquent, though he does have the stereotypical problem of being misunderstood. There’s a scene in the police department with Hal and an actual JD talking that reminded me of the "Gee, Officer Krupke" number from West Side Story. Hal's first encounter with Grubbs (Whit Bissell, frequent enactor of authority figures both good and bad) is presented with just enough ambiguity to make Grubbs' claim of assault valid. MacArthur, in his first starring role, is good; he's confident and fresh-faced. His complaints to his parents get a bit repetitious, but that's the fault of the writing. Daly is very good as the father who today would be considered a bad parent, but in the 50s would have come off more as just clueless. Stanley is wasted as the mom shunted to the background most of the time. James Gregory (better known as the gruff Inspector Luger on TV's Barney Miller) is fine as the cop who eventually winds up on the boy's side. Jeff Silver has the small but important role of the friend who wants to stand up for Hal but is hindered by his own parental pressure. Their reconciliation scene involves a shirtless Jerry wrestling with Hal in a bunch of raked leaves. At least one IMDb reviewer sees gay content here, but to me it comes off more as homosocial rather than homoerotic (even if thinking about wrestling with James MacArthur does make me smile). This feels like a TV movie, and indeed it was based on a TV drama from 1955 that featured MacArthur, Bissell and Silver. Worth seeing as a period novelty with a somewhat improbable happy ending. Pictured are Silver and MacArthur. [TCM]