The Cry Baby Killer
The Cry Baby Killer is a 1958 film noir crime film produced by Roger Corman. It marked Jack Nicholson's film debut. Until recently, the film was out of print and hard to find. In 2006, it was issued on DVD for the first time by Buena Vista Home Entertainment as part of their Roger Corman Classics series.
The Cry Baby Killer | |
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Theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | Joe Addis |
Produced by | Roger Corman David Kramarsky David March |
Written by | Leo Gordon Melvin Levy |
Starring | Harry Lauter Jack Nicholson Carolyn Mitchell |
Music by | Gerald Fried |
Cinematography | Floyd Crosby |
Edited by | Irene Morra |
Distributed by | Allied Artists Pictures Corporation |
Release date |
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Running time | 70 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Plot
Seventeen-year-old Jimmy Wallace panics after he thinks he has committed manslaughter while fighting with a group of teenage hoodlums. Wallace then takes a random man and woman, and the woman's infant, hostage inside a food shelter outside a popular local restaurant, and threatens them if they try to escape. This leads to a stand-off with a police force led by the sympathetic detective, Lieutenant Porter, who tries to avoid bloodshed. Meanwhile, an eager crowd of onlookers and a news reporter gather outside to see what will happen next.
Production
Corman later claimed the film was the first movie he produced which did not make money, although he said it earned its costs back off television rights. He also says he was out of the country during pre-production and much of the script was changed by the producer. Corman returned to Hollywood two days before filming began and tried to reverse the changes, but was only partially successful.[1]
Cast
- Harry Lauter as Police Lt. Porter
- Jack Nicholson as Jimmy Wallace
- Carolyn Mitchell as Carole Fields
- Brett Halsey as Manny Cole
- Lynn Cartwright as Julie
- Barbara Knudson as Mrs. Maxton
- William A. Forester as Carl Maxton
- John Shay as Police Officer Gannon
- Ralph Reed as Joey
- Bill Erwin as Mr. Wallace
- Ed Nelson as Rick Connor
- Smoki Whitfield as Sam
See also
References
- Ed. J. Philip di Franco, The Movie World of Roger Corman, Chelsea House Publishers, 1979, page 16–17.
External links
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