Well Deserved Praise

Very well executed

Absolutely amazing

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

"Oh I know you, you're that Shakespeare Queen that Beatty dumped!"Once you've seen this black and white cheapie from 59' all you can say is: Poor Marv, poor, poor Marv.......High School Big Shot is just a riot (largely thanks to Mike Nelson & Co.) I've seen it many times and clocking in at a mere 70 minutes the Big Shot doesn't take long to reach it's dreary conclusion. So what's it all about? Just this, homely nerd/high school senior Marv Grant is toiling through his depressing life with his dad, a broke, dead-beat, drunkard known simply as Mr. Grant. Marv works part-time as a shipping clerk at "the warehouse" for the mostly legit, but slightly-crooked Mr. Matthews; Marv provides the soul income between the two of them - and sadly it's pop's mooching off his son, which is the opposite of usual. Marv is also an A-student, with a love for Shakespeare and it's in the classroom of a certain "strict" English teacher, a one Mr. Carter that Marv catches the attention of his one true love AND his ultimate undoing: a manipulative, two-faced, tight sweater-wearing, hussy, named Beatty! And so the plot begins to thicken.And so one fateful afternoon, Marv, ever the Teacher's Pet, flaunts his keen intellect on Shakespeare and much to Mr. Carter's approval, nails the answer on several key-points; this one event really set's the ball in motion, because it's at this moment where the initial spark forms inside Beatty's deceitful little mind and she soon put's her moves on young gullible Marv. But now another character enters the fray, one who ALSO has the hot's for Beatty, a hot-tempered hood named Vince Rumbo the school bully, who amusingly enough, feels that Marv emasculated him somehow with his superior knowledge of Shakespeare - Literary Showboating if you will. And after a brief chat with Mr. Carter, Vince is waiting for him outside, confronting Marv threateningly by grabbing him by the shirt collar, then enter's Beatty, who quickly tames the big lug with a few choice word's, because you see she's Vince's girl, Vince exit's the scene and Beatty then expertly sets her plan in motion and easily hooks poor Marv. She only want's Marv for one thing: his comprehensive understanding of Shakespeare and his works or more to-the-point she want's Marv to write a term paper of infamous rogue for her. In other words, cheat. It's all part of Beatty's grand scheme of graduating high school (Carter's class is a BIG thorn in her side, as you'll see) and then being whisked away by her true love Vince.And now we cut to the warehouse, where Marv overhears his boss talking about the workings of a deal in the works, that involves one million dollars being deposited in the safe in his office, Marv, with a very busy and convoluted conscience (sweat is literally beading on the brow!) quickly starts a scheme of his own. But the very next day, Beatty's cruel betrayal - Marv is reeling in the wake of her vile treachery and consequently he finds himself in a downward spiral. First off Mr. Carter easily sniffed out the quality of Marv's work regarding the fraudulent term paper, he then re-neg's his offer on a scholarship he had in mind for Marv, then Beatty - all bothered and in a huff dumps him and to further depress him - his dad not only loses his job, but he also get's dumped by his date as well and he promptly returns to the bottle to drowned his sorrow's. A triple-whammy by my count. And I'll tell you it's an AWESOMELY bleak and depressing, downbeat scene when Marv walks through that door and see's his dad passed-out, drunk, with a bottle in his lap.Increasingly desperate and yet somehow still hopelessly in love with Beatty, he takes a walk downtown to a certain liquor store, the proprietor of the joint is the shady Sam Tallman, who happens to know Harry March an infamous safe-crack "maybe the best in the business". The very next night the 3 of them meet in a dimly-lit backroom at Sam's place and discuss their plan on: How To Grab The Million. Later at "Joe's Diner" (on 7th and Adams) dumb-ass Marv inexplicably tells Beatty every detail of the heist he's planned >>BAD MOVE MARV<<, then that no-good Beatty Alexander set's out to betray Marv once again, by immediately spilling the beans to Vince, who then with the help of his two cronies Burt and Larry devise a plan to steal Marv's new-found loot. As you no doubt can see by now, the triangle of Marv, Beatty and Vince is all very much a tragic series of inner-tangled events - most of which were easily avoidable.The night of the heist, be there at 10:56 or all is lost. Marv and his crew of two disembark for the warehouse, however an untimely traffic accident delays their arrival by a few precious minutes, dejected and thinking they've missed all the action, but then suddenly "Johnson" the night watchmen comes up a running to the front-door "Sorry I'm late boss there was an accident" and on that note Sam Tallman draws his trusty blackjack, rears back his hand AND........................ well I shan't give the ending away, it's up to -You- to see.Despite my affections for this movie, IT IS a cheap and for the most part, bad movie. And when you watch this flick you're essentially watching the GHOST of Tom Pittmann, as Tom kicked it soon after in a drunk-driving accident; he ran his Porsch off the hilly, winding roads of Benedict Canyon, on Halloween night 1958, after getting plastered at a party. His mangled corpse was not discovered until 3 weeks after the fact. High School Big Shot, released the following year, kinda serves as a grim swansong for Marv Grant a.k.a. Tom Pitmann a.k.a. Jerry Lee Alten.

I often get a kick out of watching movies from the 1950s and 1960s aimed at the youth market, since more often than not they have a campy edge. (I wonder what people several decades from now will think of youth movies from my generation!) "High School Big Shot" does have its share of unintended humor. It isn't filled with big laughs (though the line about Rock Hudson is a howl), but there are plenty of chuckles, such as the "teen" actors who haven't been teenagers for years. Actually, the surprising thing about the movie is that it has a real cynical edge - most of the characters are flawed and/or corrupt to some degree or another. The one problem I had with the movie is that even at a brief running time (just 60 minutes), it feels considerably padded. However, I will admit that all the same the movie made me interested to see how things would be wrapped up at the end. Maybe it's not worth actively seeking out, but if you should stumble across it, it does have some entertainment for those into ancient juvenile delinquent quickies.

Is this a great film? By no means. Is it as bad as they say it is? I just don't think so. I suspect people the majority of those who watched this film saw the MST3k version and take enjoyment out of saying that it "sucks". High School Big Shot is one of the better movies to get the MST3k treatment; as much as it still made great riffing-fodder, it actually had some decent acting for such a low-budget. While certain aspects of the story were very one-dimensional, other parts were a bit complicated. The only aspect of the plot that was downright lousy was the end. The ending is not only abrupt but makes very little sense! I couldn't have predicted such an awful ending from the rest of the film which was not only entertaining but even relatable. This film had an overall anti-woman theme, painting women as being only interested in financial-gain. I won't comment on whether or not such themes have a place in our society, but it has the potential to anger some viewers. However, very small dialog changes could have avoided that problem and still held the movie together.Not great, but pretty good for a cheap noir flick. Give it a watch.PS: Star Trek fans might get a kick out of the appearance of Stanley Adams, who played Cyrano Jones in the TOS episode "The Trouble with Tribbles".

While I, like my fellow commentators, enjoyed the MST3K send-up of this flick, I also agree with them that "High School Big Shot" definitely had some redeeming values.The biggest value: the acting. For such a low-budget movie, the actors did a very good job. Tom Pittman pulled off the difficult task of making the audience sympathize with Marvin Grant, but not excuse his behavior. As his world goes to hell, destroyed by petty greed (both his own and others), the pain is evident on his face. His father, played by Malcolm Atterbury, comes off as a mainly honest, good guy who's made a few mistakes that have continually haunted him. As Betty Alexander, Virginia Aldridge plays the perfect conniving ice queen, and Howard Veit breathes convincing life into brainless jock Vince Rumbo (now THERE'S a name!).But the true standouts are Stanley Adams and Louis Quinn as Harry March and Samuel Tallman, respectively. Although they have limited screentime, they effortlessly make you believe that here are lawbreakers with honor. As Harry says, "I am a thief, not a crook." You know that if you hire these two as part of your caper, they won't doublecross you and will stay with you until the bitter end. To once again quote Harry, they are the "last of the gentlemen;" criminals with hearts of slightly tarnished gold. Adams and Quinn truly shine in the roles.The writing and directing by Joel M. Rapp is serviceable, and Carlo Lodato's editing works fine. Gerald Fried contributes a very nice score to this picture.Overall, I'd have to recommend checking out this picture, whether the original or the MSTreatment.