The Flaming Teenage (1956)
** (out of 4)
Fred (Noel Reyburn) is a small town boy who seems to have the perfect small town life. His father left him a candy store and he's dating a great gal but this just isn't enough. After getting a sampling of alcohol, Fred decides it's time to head to the big city where soon he's broke and hooked on heroin.
THE FLAMING TEENAGE was apparently shot in 1945 as TWICE CONVICTED and this title is on a card at the end of the picture. Apparently new footage was shot and it finally got released in 1956. No matter what or when it was shot, this is a rather predictable entry into the propaganda machine, which started in the silent era and moved through the next couple decades as countless films were made to warn young people about the evils that await them.
Of course, if you've seen one of these films then you've really seen them all as rarely anything new happened in them. We've seen countless stories were a naive person ends up leaving the small town and going bad in the big city. The only thing somewhat different here is the insane and over-the-top religious element that pops up at the end of the picture. Outside of this THE FLAMING TEENAGE is pretty much like everything you've seen.
Thankfully there are some pretty campy moments that add some laughs including an early scene where a guy drinks alcohol for the first time and turns into a drunken maniac. Scenes like this an others were people are "drugged" make the film a bit more energetic and especially with the weaker performances.
