Take a look a this film's cast: Mamie Van Doren, Mel Torme, Paul Anka, Gigi Perreau, Gloria Talbott, Elinor Donahue, Ray Anthony, James Mitchum, and other late 1950s luminaries. Add some of the most ridiculous dialogue ever, numerous Paul Anka songs, and a laughably dumb script, and you have the delicious and campy "Girls Town".
Silver Morgan (Van Doren) is framed for a death and railroaded into a disciplinary place called Girls Town, which is inhabited by orphans and problem girls and run by nuns(!). She is immediately put in her place by dorm boss Vida (a very tough Gloria Talbott), resulting in all kinds of problems when Morgan misbehaves and breaks the rules. Along the way we see a laughable gang rumble, teen idol Jimmy Parlow (a very young Paul Anka) sings innumerable songs, bad-guy Fred (Mel Torme) abducts Silver's innocent kid sister Mary Lee (Donahue) and tries to sell her for profit in Mexico, there's a wild drag race and a drug overdose, and eventually Jimmy, Vida, Silver, and the nuns triumph over Fred. Silver has learned her lesson and emerges from Girls Town as a fine young woman, and also as a woman in her late 20s playing a high school senior.
Van Doren's dialogue is unintentionally ludicrous. She says "daddy-o" more times than I could count, she calls the head nun's phone an "Alexander Graham", she refers to another girl as a "baby chick", and...well, you get the idea. I found myself laughing out loud at the ridiculous words that came out of her mouth. Still, "Girls Town" has a certain weird appeal to it. It's hokey, but it's a lot more innocent than anything you'll see today, and it's a chance to see Paul Anka at the beginning of his stardom (strangely, Torme doesn't sing at all). It's over an hour of silly entertainment, and the music's not bad, either.
Silver Morgan (Van Doren) is framed for a death and railroaded into a disciplinary place called Girls Town, which is inhabited by orphans and problem girls and run by nuns(!). She is immediately put in her place by dorm boss Vida (a very tough Gloria Talbott), resulting in all kinds of problems when Morgan misbehaves and breaks the rules. Along the way we see a laughable gang rumble, teen idol Jimmy Parlow (a very young Paul Anka) sings innumerable songs, bad-guy Fred (Mel Torme) abducts Silver's innocent kid sister Mary Lee (Donahue) and tries to sell her for profit in Mexico, there's a wild drag race and a drug overdose, and eventually Jimmy, Vida, Silver, and the nuns triumph over Fred. Silver has learned her lesson and emerges from Girls Town as a fine young woman, and also as a woman in her late 20s playing a high school senior.
Van Doren's dialogue is unintentionally ludicrous. She says "daddy-o" more times than I could count, she calls the head nun's phone an "Alexander Graham", she refers to another girl as a "baby chick", and...well, you get the idea. I found myself laughing out loud at the ridiculous words that came out of her mouth. Still, "Girls Town" has a certain weird appeal to it. It's hokey, but it's a lot more innocent than anything you'll see today, and it's a chance to see Paul Anka at the beginning of his stardom (strangely, Torme doesn't sing at all). It's over an hour of silly entertainment, and the music's not bad, either.