Stereotyped and clichéd exploitation film about a serial rapist known as the Aspirin Kid (Ray Danton), who hangs out with a group of beatniks while continuing to victimize attractive suburban housewives. Set in beatnik bars and on the beaches of LA, with some humorous dialog and a misogynistic cop played by Steve Cochran who tracks down the Kid after his own wife becomes a victim, the film has a refreshing originality, though generally it is laughably ridiculous, with its goateed beatniks staring off into space while listening to recorded car crashes, jazz, and the worst Beat poetry ever recited. With Mamie Van Doren, and a cast of several familiar faces that would crop up in Beach Party films, its nearly done in by what is now referred as camp, though there is enough of a story there to keep it moving along.
21 Reviews
Promising ideas get lost in attempt at topical exploitation
bmacv28 April 2002
The Beat Generation exploits that post-war phenomenon of feckless and disillusioned youth as a topical gimmick superficial parody pitched at about the level of Bob Denver's Maynard G. Krebs on `The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis,' the TV series which debuted the same year as this movie. Beatniks with bongo drums spout petulant poesy couched in a made-in-Hollywood argot thick with `daddy-o's,' `real gone's' and `cool cats.' (Out of all this comes at least one good line: `I don't need a mother, man I've BEEN born.')
All of which is too bad, because here and there The Beat Generation shows glimmers of higher aspirations, as though it had started out a more ambitious project a better movie than it ended up. (The co-scriptwriter, Lewis Meltzer, has some solid noir credits on his resume, including The Brothers Rico.)
Out of the coffee houses comes rapist known as the Aspirin Kid (Ray Danton) who is terrorizing the community. On the pretext of repaying a debt, he shows up at the door of married women whose husbands are away, pleads a headache, and, while water is being fetched, slips on leather gloves and overpowers his angels of mercy.
On his trail is cop Steve Cochran, whose wife becomes the Kid's next victim. This proves more than Cochran can handle, who starts treating his wife the way he treated the other victims as tramps who asked for it. It doesn't help when she finds out she's pregnant, presumably by the rapist. (And here the movie takes some very odd turns. First, there's discussion of a possible abortion a subject that movies at this time touched upon, if at all, only in the murkiest of terms. Then there's a mini-sermon about the sanctity of life which sounds as if it had been written in Vatican City, though it turns out to be the movie's viewpoint as well.)
The theme of the misogyny shared by Cochran and the rapist remains the most compelling element of the story; if only it had been pursued more consistently or honestly. Instead, the film flies off on its peculiar tangents. One of them concerns Mamie Van Doren, whose assault is rudely interrupted, which is a shame, because she quite explicitly WAS asking for it, and stays miffed for the rest of the movie. Another concerns Jim Mitchum (Robert's son) as the rapist's accomplice; he inherited his father's looks, down to the cleft in his chin, but little of his talent. His idea of acting is to fling out his arms with every line he utters. Charlie Chaplin's son appears as well, not that it matters much, as does a very early Vampira, reciting an ode to parental hate with a white rat perched on her shoulder like a pirate with a parrot.
The Beat Generation suffered too many compromises to be classed as true noir, though it often is. Sadly, its chief interest is in preserving its grotesque travesty of that cultural phenomenon called the Beats a travesty that has become more or less the official line when the beats are remembered at all.
All of which is too bad, because here and there The Beat Generation shows glimmers of higher aspirations, as though it had started out a more ambitious project a better movie than it ended up. (The co-scriptwriter, Lewis Meltzer, has some solid noir credits on his resume, including The Brothers Rico.)
Out of the coffee houses comes rapist known as the Aspirin Kid (Ray Danton) who is terrorizing the community. On the pretext of repaying a debt, he shows up at the door of married women whose husbands are away, pleads a headache, and, while water is being fetched, slips on leather gloves and overpowers his angels of mercy.
On his trail is cop Steve Cochran, whose wife becomes the Kid's next victim. This proves more than Cochran can handle, who starts treating his wife the way he treated the other victims as tramps who asked for it. It doesn't help when she finds out she's pregnant, presumably by the rapist. (And here the movie takes some very odd turns. First, there's discussion of a possible abortion a subject that movies at this time touched upon, if at all, only in the murkiest of terms. Then there's a mini-sermon about the sanctity of life which sounds as if it had been written in Vatican City, though it turns out to be the movie's viewpoint as well.)
The theme of the misogyny shared by Cochran and the rapist remains the most compelling element of the story; if only it had been pursued more consistently or honestly. Instead, the film flies off on its peculiar tangents. One of them concerns Mamie Van Doren, whose assault is rudely interrupted, which is a shame, because she quite explicitly WAS asking for it, and stays miffed for the rest of the movie. Another concerns Jim Mitchum (Robert's son) as the rapist's accomplice; he inherited his father's looks, down to the cleft in his chin, but little of his talent. His idea of acting is to fling out his arms with every line he utters. Charlie Chaplin's son appears as well, not that it matters much, as does a very early Vampira, reciting an ode to parental hate with a white rat perched on her shoulder like a pirate with a parrot.
The Beat Generation suffered too many compromises to be classed as true noir, though it often is. Sadly, its chief interest is in preserving its grotesque travesty of that cultural phenomenon called the Beats a travesty that has become more or less the official line when the beats are remembered at all.
The Beat Generation (1959)
MartinTeller3 January 2012
An obsessed cop tries to track down the "Aspirin Kid," a beatnik serial rapist. MGM was not a noir studio, and I don't really know if you could call this noir but if it is, it's one of the most insane noirs I've ever seen. Like crazy, man. I hardly know where to begin. Dig this groovy cast, Daddy-O... Vampira, Mamie Van Doren (who steals the show) and real-life husband Ray Anthony, Charles Chaplin Jr., James Mitchum (a dead ringer for the old man), Jackie Coogan and performances by Cathy Crosby and Louis Armstrong. I think I can safely say it's the only noir that climaxes at a beat "hootenanny" where a guy randomly tries to wrestle the hero, who later chases the bad guy underwater while dodging harpoons. Yeah, this sh*t is nuts. The portrayal of beatniks is the standard Hollywood ridicule and parody. Has there ever been a positive image of beatniks in an American film? Even FUNNY FACE is pretty condescending. Steve Cochran (looking quite Clooney-esque at this stage in his career) is practically psychotic, setting up an interesting parallel with the villain (Ray Danton, turning the sleaze up to 11) as both are portrayed as misogynistic creeps. Being a late-period noir, there's more freedom to openly address subjects like rape and abortion. Although there is no graphic imagery, the screams of the victims are harrowing enough. The film is campy and trashy and yet also has a moral center... one which backfired for me when it came to the vile anti-choice message. It's hard to make a case against hatred towards women while also telling them they need to keep their rape-spawned babies. It was a pre-Roe v. Wade world, though. The Van Doren character sends mixed messages about the film's stance as well.
This review is rambling because frankly, I don't know what to make of this movie. It's all over the place. In most respects it's pretty bad but also weirdly compelling, and sometimes even hilarious, whether intentionally or not. I can't honestly say I liked it, but I sure as hell couldn't stop watching it.
This review is rambling because frankly, I don't know what to make of this movie. It's all over the place. In most respects it's pretty bad but also weirdly compelling, and sometimes even hilarious, whether intentionally or not. I can't honestly say I liked it, but I sure as hell couldn't stop watching it.
One wild ride down the slick road of sleaze ....
cricket-1413 April 1999
Mamie Van Doren is deliciously "pneumatic" as always, a rougher version of Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield.This film is one of my favorite bad films - and from me that's a compliment!
Juvenile delinquency films were Mamie's forte - check her out in Girls Town and High School Confidential - they have cool casts like this film, bad racy scripts, and Miss Van Doren herself "The Queen of Teen".
In this film we have everything - the lovely Mamie Van Doren, a serial rapist "The Aspirin Kid"(played by Ray Danton), one of my favorite B movie hunks (namely Steve Cochran) in a bathing suit no less, a hula-hooping suburban housewife, and even a very blonde Vampira (!) in a speaking role, reciting some hip Beatnik poetry about parents being a "drag". And the children of (much more talented) famous parents: Charles Chaplin Jr, Jim Mitchum, etc. What more could you ask for in a camp trash late '50s flick?
This film is definitely a must-see for any trash, B movie lover . . . as are most of Mamie Van Doren's late "50's films.
Juvenile delinquency films were Mamie's forte - check her out in Girls Town and High School Confidential - they have cool casts like this film, bad racy scripts, and Miss Van Doren herself "The Queen of Teen".
In this film we have everything - the lovely Mamie Van Doren, a serial rapist "The Aspirin Kid"(played by Ray Danton), one of my favorite B movie hunks (namely Steve Cochran) in a bathing suit no less, a hula-hooping suburban housewife, and even a very blonde Vampira (!) in a speaking role, reciting some hip Beatnik poetry about parents being a "drag". And the children of (much more talented) famous parents: Charles Chaplin Jr, Jim Mitchum, etc. What more could you ask for in a camp trash late '50s flick?
This film is definitely a must-see for any trash, B movie lover . . . as are most of Mamie Van Doren's late "50's films.
Needs More Mamie Scenes But Well-Done!
shepardjessica-116 December 2004
Warning: Spoilers
Interesting late 1950's pseudo-exploitation flick that covers all kinds of topics. Steve Cochran is sturdy as the tough cop who needs to make up his mind. Ray Danton is sleazy and demented as The Aspirin Kid, Fay Spain is touching as Cochran's wife, and Mamie Van Doren is wonderful and beautiful and needs a bigger role in this one.
A 6 out of 10. Best performance = Mamie Van Doren. Jackie Coogan, who was in many of these "exploitation" flicks is creepy. Great opening with Louis Armstrong to set the pace in a cool club. I got this because of Ms. Van Doren, but was surprised by all the overlapping topics that are covered in this cop tale.
A 6 out of 10. Best performance = Mamie Van Doren. Jackie Coogan, who was in many of these "exploitation" flicks is creepy. Great opening with Louis Armstrong to set the pace in a cool club. I got this because of Ms. Van Doren, but was surprised by all the overlapping topics that are covered in this cop tale.
Trashy, but interesting!
marlene_rantz24 June 2013
I watched this movie with some hesitation, because it really received awful reviews; however, because I like Ray Danton and Steve Cochran, I decided to give it a chance. Ray Danton and Steve Cochran both gave very good performances, as did Mamie Van Doren, Fay Spain, Jackie Coogan, and Jim Mitchum, and the plot, though trashy, was interesting, and as pointed out by Martin Teller, this movie was weirdly compelling, mainly due, I think, to Ray Danton's very menacing and interesting performance as a killer, and Steve Cochran's performance as a complex cop. I am, therefore, recommending this movie, but only if you like any of the actors in it, since they all gave good performances, and, I think, one can bear with the worst movie if one is a fan of an actor!
A most interesting Zugsmith....
jadedalex21 July 2013
Warning: Spoilers
The cast is strange, the movie is all over the place. Any film that features Louis Armstrong, Steve Cochran, Mamie Van Doren, Jackie Coogan, Fay Spain and Vampira can't be ALL bad. It's pretty bad, but in an interesting way.
You want beatniks? You got 'em. You want dixieland jazz? You got it. You want bad beat poetry read by Vampira AND frank discussion about abortion by erstwhile character actor William Schallert? It's all here. There's even a kitchen sink and Jackie Coogan in a blonde wig and a dress.
In short, this is one strange flick. A few of the in-jokes: The rapist writes down the cop's address, revealing that he lives on 'Danton' Avenue. (Ray Danton plays the rapist, get it?) Ray Anthony has a short bit as Mamie Van Doren's bitter ex-husband. (In real life they were husband and wife.)
It's a bit sad to see Steve Cochran resorting to this schlock. Danton, handsome devil that he is, has always appeared quite wooden to me as actor. I don't believe him as the violent misogynist he plays here, either. And Mamie Van Doren once again plays the part she was born to play: Mamie Van Doren.
It fails on just about every level...as crime drama, morality tale or beatnik movie. But it's an interesting failure. There's something fairly amusing about Ray Danton in his white turtleneck playing bongos. And how can you miss with a hit song like 'Don't Bug Me, Daddy-O'?
I don't recall ever seeing this film on television as a youth. Like Zugsmith's classic 'Sex Kittens Go To College' (never on TV because of its topless scenes), this movie may have been considered too violent (the abortion subplot remains controversial to this day) and thus not considered acceptable television fare.
One strange film.
You want beatniks? You got 'em. You want dixieland jazz? You got it. You want bad beat poetry read by Vampira AND frank discussion about abortion by erstwhile character actor William Schallert? It's all here. There's even a kitchen sink and Jackie Coogan in a blonde wig and a dress.
In short, this is one strange flick. A few of the in-jokes: The rapist writes down the cop's address, revealing that he lives on 'Danton' Avenue. (Ray Danton plays the rapist, get it?) Ray Anthony has a short bit as Mamie Van Doren's bitter ex-husband. (In real life they were husband and wife.)
It's a bit sad to see Steve Cochran resorting to this schlock. Danton, handsome devil that he is, has always appeared quite wooden to me as actor. I don't believe him as the violent misogynist he plays here, either. And Mamie Van Doren once again plays the part she was born to play: Mamie Van Doren.
It fails on just about every level...as crime drama, morality tale or beatnik movie. But it's an interesting failure. There's something fairly amusing about Ray Danton in his white turtleneck playing bongos. And how can you miss with a hit song like 'Don't Bug Me, Daddy-O'?
I don't recall ever seeing this film on television as a youth. Like Zugsmith's classic 'Sex Kittens Go To College' (never on TV because of its topless scenes), this movie may have been considered too violent (the abortion subplot remains controversial to this day) and thus not considered acceptable television fare.
One strange film.
Awful Masterpiece of Weirdness
Michael_Elliott8 December 2013
The Beat Generation (1959)
** (out of 4)
It's not often where I come across a movie and I'm not certain if I should call it a masterpiece for what it is or call it one of the worst films ever made. The story has a woman-hating detective (Steve Cochran) trying to track down a serial rapist (Ray Danton). A twist in the story is that the rapist raped the detective's wife who is now pregnant. THE BEAT GENERATION starts off fairly decent as it tackled some issues that weren't normally talked about in 1959 but then it just keeps getting weirder and weirder and in the end we're left with a complete mess of a film but at the same time it's an original mess. For the life of me I couldn't help but feel that this 95-minute movie was over three hours because of its slow pace and the fact that so much is going on. Not only do you have the investigation into the rape but you also follow the rapist and his friend (Jim Mitchum) as they try to plan more attacks, which leads to the friend falling for one of the attempted victims (Mamie Van Doren)!!! Even stranger is a subplot dealing with the raped wife who now wants to have an abortion. Throw in the detective/husband who is rather obsessive and hates women just like the rapist! Oh yeah, there's also the entire stuff dealing with the "beat generation," which includes an ending with a hootenanny. The rape scenes are handled with some class as we never really see anything but we do here the women scream in terror. The ending, which I won't spoil, is just downright crazy as none of it makes too much sense but then again, nothing that comes before it does either. The cast features a pretty good performance by Cochran and Fay Spain as his wife. Jackie Coogan appears as his partner and we get small performances from Louis Armstrong, Vampira, Max Rosenbloom, Ray Anthony and Cathy Crosby. And yes, Jim Mitchum is the son of screen legend Robert Mitchum. Believe it or not, Mamie Van Doren is actually given a real role here and she too turns in a good performance. THE BEAT GENERATION is a complete mess of a film but at the same time it's very original and somewhat daring for its time.
** (out of 4)
It's not often where I come across a movie and I'm not certain if I should call it a masterpiece for what it is or call it one of the worst films ever made. The story has a woman-hating detective (Steve Cochran) trying to track down a serial rapist (Ray Danton). A twist in the story is that the rapist raped the detective's wife who is now pregnant. THE BEAT GENERATION starts off fairly decent as it tackled some issues that weren't normally talked about in 1959 but then it just keeps getting weirder and weirder and in the end we're left with a complete mess of a film but at the same time it's an original mess. For the life of me I couldn't help but feel that this 95-minute movie was over three hours because of its slow pace and the fact that so much is going on. Not only do you have the investigation into the rape but you also follow the rapist and his friend (Jim Mitchum) as they try to plan more attacks, which leads to the friend falling for one of the attempted victims (Mamie Van Doren)!!! Even stranger is a subplot dealing with the raped wife who now wants to have an abortion. Throw in the detective/husband who is rather obsessive and hates women just like the rapist! Oh yeah, there's also the entire stuff dealing with the "beat generation," which includes an ending with a hootenanny. The rape scenes are handled with some class as we never really see anything but we do here the women scream in terror. The ending, which I won't spoil, is just downright crazy as none of it makes too much sense but then again, nothing that comes before it does either. The cast features a pretty good performance by Cochran and Fay Spain as his wife. Jackie Coogan appears as his partner and we get small performances from Louis Armstrong, Vampira, Max Rosenbloom, Ray Anthony and Cathy Crosby. And yes, Jim Mitchum is the son of screen legend Robert Mitchum. Believe it or not, Mamie Van Doren is actually given a real role here and she too turns in a good performance. THE BEAT GENERATION is a complete mess of a film but at the same time it's very original and somewhat daring for its time.
Entertaining hooey
Panamint15 December 2015
On one level this movie is sort of pop psychology trying to make a subtle distinction between the slippery slope of ordinary misogyny (non- violent here) and serial rapist (extreme brutality of course). The contrast between two men with these hang-ups in relation to women seems an odd basis for a film script, but then this whole movie is pretty odd.
The attempt at a psychological overall theme fails to rise above mere exploitation in this 1959 b-movie time capsule complete with Mamie Van Doren at her bleach blondest and flirtatious best. Also you have some beatniks who say "lets have a hootenanny". And dig these cats as they really do have a hootenanny. Its a crazy beat event as self-absorbed oddball characters endeavor to find nihilistic and existential new ways to waste their time and practice the fine art of hanging out. Watchable chaos ensues as a campy b-movie police manhunt goes on literally in its midst. This is 1959 b-movie heaven, complete with Louis Armstrong and an inexplicable role for Cathy Crosby that is so out of place it actually adds more camp to the camp.
Fay Spain carries the acting load as she did in numerous movie roles and countless fine and noticeable performances in TV dramas. She was a true acting talent. Steve Cochran, once one of those incredibly beautiful male actors who populated 1940's and 50's movies, is clearly aging here and gives a sort of disinterested, hangdog performance that is not among his best. Ray Danton, another movie stud of the era, is convincing as the psycho, but unfortunately is only allowed to perform at a strictly b-movie level.
Fay Spain is the real deal. Aside from her this is just a fast-paced psychological mumbo jumbo of a b-movie that is priceless as a time capsule of the age.
The attempt at a psychological overall theme fails to rise above mere exploitation in this 1959 b-movie time capsule complete with Mamie Van Doren at her bleach blondest and flirtatious best. Also you have some beatniks who say "lets have a hootenanny". And dig these cats as they really do have a hootenanny. Its a crazy beat event as self-absorbed oddball characters endeavor to find nihilistic and existential new ways to waste their time and practice the fine art of hanging out. Watchable chaos ensues as a campy b-movie police manhunt goes on literally in its midst. This is 1959 b-movie heaven, complete with Louis Armstrong and an inexplicable role for Cathy Crosby that is so out of place it actually adds more camp to the camp.
Fay Spain carries the acting load as she did in numerous movie roles and countless fine and noticeable performances in TV dramas. She was a true acting talent. Steve Cochran, once one of those incredibly beautiful male actors who populated 1940's and 50's movies, is clearly aging here and gives a sort of disinterested, hangdog performance that is not among his best. Ray Danton, another movie stud of the era, is convincing as the psycho, but unfortunately is only allowed to perform at a strictly b-movie level.
Fay Spain is the real deal. Aside from her this is just a fast-paced psychological mumbo jumbo of a b-movie that is priceless as a time capsule of the age.
Crazy man, dig?
mgtbltp2 March 2016
Warning: Spoilers
Another Tail Fin Noir (barely), a curiosity on the cusp of Classic Noir/Neo Noir
The Beat Generation is somewhat in the vein of Detective Story (1951) the ensemble film that takes place in a New York City Police Precinct Detective squad. In Detective Story, Kirk Douglas plays an embittered morally superior cop McLeod who crusades against NYC's lowlifes. In the course of his pursuit of a Doctor Schneider who is an abortionist he discovers that his wife Mary, whom he had assumed was virginal and pure on the day of his marriage has had an abortion after she had a liaison with a racketeer named Giacoppetti. Mary confesses this her husband, and asks his forgiveness. McLeod tells her in a misogynist rage that "he'd rather die than find out his wife is a tramp." He then asks if her infertility was caused by Schneider's abortion.
In The Beat Generation Steve Cochran plays a Sergeant of Detectives Culloran, who is after a serial rapist dubbed "The Aspirin Kid" Stan Hess, (Ray Danton) a quasi "Beat" coffee house guru, who charismatically attracts women but is in reality a misogynist. The Kid's M.O. is to impersonate the friend of his victim's husband, boyfriend, etc., etc., by saying that he's there to pay back some money that he borrowed. He then gains entrance to their house by saying he needs a pen to write his check. Once inside he fakes a headache, and asks the victim for a glass of water so that he can take a aspirin. While the victim is out of the room he puts on leather gloves and lies in wait, attacking them from behind and raping them upon their return.
Leaving his latest victim The Kid is lightly hit by a car driven by Culloran, when he jaywalks out in the road, he's picked up and innocently given a ride to an emergency room. While making small talk Culloran reveals that he's married but is working late nights on the Aspirin Kid Case. The Kid spots a letter addressed to Culloran and memorizes his address, writing it down. The Kids next victim is Culloran's wife. She subsequently gets a "bun in the oven", and Culloran begins to show his own misogynist streak, blaming the women victims for getting raped. His wife wants to get an abortion, which puts Culloran into destructive obsessed overdrive trying to solve the case so that he can find out The Aspirin Kid's blood type. This all alienates him from his wife and friends.
Both Detective Story and The Beat Generation are examples of films with slim to none Noir visual stylistics, they are NIPOs, Noir In Plot Only type films that get listed in the Noir Canon more for the dark subject matter (at that time period) of their plots than for the cinematography.
The Beats are your stereotypical Maynard G. Krebs beatnik's dressed in torn sweatshirts, goatees, black sweaters, berets, sunglasses, horizontal striped shirts, ponytails and leotards, Some are grooving to the jazz some are stone still. Other's walk around dazed carrying abstract sculpture. Stan Hess dressed in black is sitting at a table reading Schopenhauer. Meg a blonde in spaghetti straps is beside him. We get full frontal beatnik jive dialogue heavily seasoned with the culture's Zeitgeist of impending nuclear destruction.
The huge ensemble cast has some standouts, watch for Jackie Coogan (pre Uncle Fester from The Addams Family) in a serious turn as Culloran's best friend and fellow detective Jake Baron. James Mitchum, doing his daddio's eyelids at half mast schtick. Sexpot Mamie Van Doren as a divorced women on the make who turns the tables on Mitchum, Maila Nurmi (Vampira, pre Ed Wood's Plan 9 From Outer Space) reciting poetry with a pet rat on her shoulder, Slapsie Maxie Rosenbloom the wrestling beatnik, and a guy billed as just Grabowski.
The film has a bit of cross dressing humor as the Coogan and Sid Melton in drag try to bait a lovers lane bandit . It also seems to cram in some of society's in things of 1959, hula hoops, California mussel beach blanket culture, even references to TV's Sea Hunt with a scuba sequence, I'm surprised it didn't have some surfing too. Like a lot of Hollywood films that attempted to replicate the 60's you get the impression that the Beat Generation wasn't just a man with a goatee and beret reciting nonsensical poetry and playing bongo drums or a base without strings, while pony-tailed babes wearing black leotards dance in abandonment. lol. Soundtrack is Jazz, torch songs, bongo music. As a visual Noir it's a 5/10 it's pretty hard to get that claustrophobic atmosphere in a film shot in 2.35:1 CinemaScope, as an entertaining window onto a frozen moment of a quickly changing culture filtered through a Hollywood reflection 7/10. Crazy Man, Dig?
The Beat Generation is somewhat in the vein of Detective Story (1951) the ensemble film that takes place in a New York City Police Precinct Detective squad. In Detective Story, Kirk Douglas plays an embittered morally superior cop McLeod who crusades against NYC's lowlifes. In the course of his pursuit of a Doctor Schneider who is an abortionist he discovers that his wife Mary, whom he had assumed was virginal and pure on the day of his marriage has had an abortion after she had a liaison with a racketeer named Giacoppetti. Mary confesses this her husband, and asks his forgiveness. McLeod tells her in a misogynist rage that "he'd rather die than find out his wife is a tramp." He then asks if her infertility was caused by Schneider's abortion.
In The Beat Generation Steve Cochran plays a Sergeant of Detectives Culloran, who is after a serial rapist dubbed "The Aspirin Kid" Stan Hess, (Ray Danton) a quasi "Beat" coffee house guru, who charismatically attracts women but is in reality a misogynist. The Kid's M.O. is to impersonate the friend of his victim's husband, boyfriend, etc., etc., by saying that he's there to pay back some money that he borrowed. He then gains entrance to their house by saying he needs a pen to write his check. Once inside he fakes a headache, and asks the victim for a glass of water so that he can take a aspirin. While the victim is out of the room he puts on leather gloves and lies in wait, attacking them from behind and raping them upon their return.
Leaving his latest victim The Kid is lightly hit by a car driven by Culloran, when he jaywalks out in the road, he's picked up and innocently given a ride to an emergency room. While making small talk Culloran reveals that he's married but is working late nights on the Aspirin Kid Case. The Kid spots a letter addressed to Culloran and memorizes his address, writing it down. The Kids next victim is Culloran's wife. She subsequently gets a "bun in the oven", and Culloran begins to show his own misogynist streak, blaming the women victims for getting raped. His wife wants to get an abortion, which puts Culloran into destructive obsessed overdrive trying to solve the case so that he can find out The Aspirin Kid's blood type. This all alienates him from his wife and friends.
Both Detective Story and The Beat Generation are examples of films with slim to none Noir visual stylistics, they are NIPOs, Noir In Plot Only type films that get listed in the Noir Canon more for the dark subject matter (at that time period) of their plots than for the cinematography.
The Beats are your stereotypical Maynard G. Krebs beatnik's dressed in torn sweatshirts, goatees, black sweaters, berets, sunglasses, horizontal striped shirts, ponytails and leotards, Some are grooving to the jazz some are stone still. Other's walk around dazed carrying abstract sculpture. Stan Hess dressed in black is sitting at a table reading Schopenhauer. Meg a blonde in spaghetti straps is beside him. We get full frontal beatnik jive dialogue heavily seasoned with the culture's Zeitgeist of impending nuclear destruction.
The huge ensemble cast has some standouts, watch for Jackie Coogan (pre Uncle Fester from The Addams Family) in a serious turn as Culloran's best friend and fellow detective Jake Baron. James Mitchum, doing his daddio's eyelids at half mast schtick. Sexpot Mamie Van Doren as a divorced women on the make who turns the tables on Mitchum, Maila Nurmi (Vampira, pre Ed Wood's Plan 9 From Outer Space) reciting poetry with a pet rat on her shoulder, Slapsie Maxie Rosenbloom the wrestling beatnik, and a guy billed as just Grabowski.
The film has a bit of cross dressing humor as the Coogan and Sid Melton in drag try to bait a lovers lane bandit . It also seems to cram in some of society's in things of 1959, hula hoops, California mussel beach blanket culture, even references to TV's Sea Hunt with a scuba sequence, I'm surprised it didn't have some surfing too. Like a lot of Hollywood films that attempted to replicate the 60's you get the impression that the Beat Generation wasn't just a man with a goatee and beret reciting nonsensical poetry and playing bongo drums or a base without strings, while pony-tailed babes wearing black leotards dance in abandonment. lol. Soundtrack is Jazz, torch songs, bongo music. As a visual Noir it's a 5/10 it's pretty hard to get that claustrophobic atmosphere in a film shot in 2.35:1 CinemaScope, as an entertaining window onto a frozen moment of a quickly changing culture filtered through a Hollywood reflection 7/10. Crazy Man, Dig?
Beatnik Bust
wes-connors29 June 2013
Handsome philosophy-spewing Ray Danton (as Stan Hess) says goodbye to his platinum blonde girlfriend and dons a suit to rape hula-hooping housewife Maggie Hayes (as Joyce Greenfield). After the assault, Mr. Danton hitches a ride with police detective Steve Cochran (as David "Dave" Culloran). Danton is called "The Aspirin Kid" due to his habit of asking his victims to fetch a glass of water so he can take the tablets for feigned headaches. The case is investigated by Mr. Cochran and his understanding partner Jackie Coogan (as Jake Baron)...
On the beach, Cochran finds his first suspect, jive-talking James "Jim" Mitchum (as Art Jester). The young son of Robert (Mitchum) turns out to be acquainted with Danton, who decides the policeman's wife would make a good rape victim. He's not the sharpest knife in the drawer...
Fay Spain (as Francee) is attacked after "Vampira" recites "beat poetry" while holding a white rat and cigarette. Thereafter, tightly-dressed Mamie van Doren (as Georgia Altera) figures prominently in the plot. "The Beat Generation" includes Cathy Lee Crosby, Charles Chaplin Jr. and other strange faces. Jazz legend Louis Armstrong performs and fatherly William Schallert preaches. The camera angles well and the conflict experienced by Cochran's misogynist detective is interesting, but the film is too lurid and unbalanced for its own good.
**** The Beat Generation (7/3/59) Charles Haas ~ Steve Cochran, Ray Danton, Mamie Van Doren, Fay Spain
On the beach, Cochran finds his first suspect, jive-talking James "Jim" Mitchum (as Art Jester). The young son of Robert (Mitchum) turns out to be acquainted with Danton, who decides the policeman's wife would make a good rape victim. He's not the sharpest knife in the drawer...
Fay Spain (as Francee) is attacked after "Vampira" recites "beat poetry" while holding a white rat and cigarette. Thereafter, tightly-dressed Mamie van Doren (as Georgia Altera) figures prominently in the plot. "The Beat Generation" includes Cathy Lee Crosby, Charles Chaplin Jr. and other strange faces. Jazz legend Louis Armstrong performs and fatherly William Schallert preaches. The camera angles well and the conflict experienced by Cochran's misogynist detective is interesting, but the film is too lurid and unbalanced for its own good.
**** The Beat Generation (7/3/59) Charles Haas ~ Steve Cochran, Ray Danton, Mamie Van Doren, Fay Spain
"I don't need a Mother...I have been born."
LeonLouisRicci21 June 2013
With no apologies to Jack Kerouac, this is an odd mix, to say the least. The title and the backdrop is a surreal, but stereotypical set-up with some Real Gone Cats looking drugged-out and oblivious to all except contemplating time and space. What goes on here is an Ed Wood like combination of some very odd bedfellows.
The Beats are interesting with crazy mixed up stuff like Poetry Readings with white rats on the shoulder, sleazy, soft spasms of youthful Ecstasy, listening, on record, to what might now be called Industrial Music Samples, and an out of place Louis Armstrong on stage.
There are some very strange, and for the time daring, sub-themes like Rape, Abortion, Serial Killers, and two Women Haters as the Leads. There is bizarre, incomprehensible stuff like a Wrestling Match (out of the blue), and an ending that takes place underwater with scuba gear (huh!).
There is enough quirk here to fill three Movies and it is all fascinating to behold. An undeniable underground Classic that is marvelously mishandled and has more angles than a Picasso. It is all so gut-wrenchingly charming that it cannot be overlooked and is a great example of Hollywood with its most unflinching, insoluble, insights and misrepresentations that makes the jaw drop and the Brain boggle.
The Beats are interesting with crazy mixed up stuff like Poetry Readings with white rats on the shoulder, sleazy, soft spasms of youthful Ecstasy, listening, on record, to what might now be called Industrial Music Samples, and an out of place Louis Armstrong on stage.
There are some very strange, and for the time daring, sub-themes like Rape, Abortion, Serial Killers, and two Women Haters as the Leads. There is bizarre, incomprehensible stuff like a Wrestling Match (out of the blue), and an ending that takes place underwater with scuba gear (huh!).
There is enough quirk here to fill three Movies and it is all fascinating to behold. An undeniable underground Classic that is marvelously mishandled and has more angles than a Picasso. It is all so gut-wrenchingly charming that it cannot be overlooked and is a great example of Hollywood with its most unflinching, insoluble, insights and misrepresentations that makes the jaw drop and the Brain boggle.
"This world which is so real with all its sunsets and milky ways is nothing!"
moonspinner5513 July 2017
Clean-cut young man (in jackets and skinny ties) hangs out with the beatnik kids and plays the bongos, but really gets off on beating and sexually assaulting vulnerable housewives. Standard police thriller jazzed up with slang; it uses the beatnik milieu only as ruse, it's main aim being a marriage in crisis (the rapist targets a police detective's wife, and two months later she's pregnant but doesn't know who the father is). Low-budget potboiler from MGM was probably a second-biller, though it has gleaming black-and-white cinematography from Walter Castle and some good performances. Steve Cochran is perfectly cast as the detective with the hysterical wife, Ray Danton is way-gone-cool as the scuba-diving psychopath (his M.O. is to call on women pretending he owes their husbands money) and Mamie Van Doren is terrific as a soon-to-be divorcée who wouldn't mind being man-handled. Co-written by Richard Matheson (!) and Lewis Meltzer, the action gets too crazy, dig, near the finish, but for the most part it's a rough little jewel, dad. ** from ****
Very uneven, but has some interesting aspects
Wizard-84 July 2013
Like a few others have already stated in these user comments, it's kind of surprising that the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio of 1959 would get involved in a movie with a number of trashy elements. The movie has a number of flaws as well. The musical numbers seem out of place for a serious story, and there is also comedy relief that seems out of place. The movie is stretched out to the breaking point when a more compact telling was obviously needed. And the character of the rapist isn't really explored that well.
Still, there are some interesting things to be found here. The movie explores some topics like rape and abortion with effectiveness that even more than 50 years later still seems a little daring. Also, Ray Danton, despite a weakly written character, acts in a really slimy way that makes him an effective villain. While this material isn't enough to make the movie worth searching for, if it happens to come on your TV, people interested in 50s movie exploitation that was done while still hampered by a production code may find the movie of some interest.
Still, there are some interesting things to be found here. The movie explores some topics like rape and abortion with effectiveness that even more than 50 years later still seems a little daring. Also, Ray Danton, despite a weakly written character, acts in a really slimy way that makes him an effective villain. While this material isn't enough to make the movie worth searching for, if it happens to come on your TV, people interested in 50s movie exploitation that was done while still hampered by a production code may find the movie of some interest.
It starts off well but soon turns rotten.
planktonrules20 July 2013
Warning: Spoilers
As I began watching "The Beat Generation", I never suspected the film would eventually turn into a giant mess of a film. After all, it started off well and addressed several important issues that other films didn't dare talk about at the time--such as rape and abortion. But, somewhere along the line, the film just disintegrated--as if the second half of the film didn't even have a script. And, when it became bad, it became REALLY bad!
The film stars Ray Danton as a serial rapist. But he's different that the run-of-the-mill molester--he is very calculating and evil. Not only does he rape the women, but afterwords sets up the home where the attack took place to look as if the women had invited him in and it was consensual! And, a narrow-minded knucklehead cop (Steve Cochran) falls right into this trap and blames the first victim. But, this comes back to haunt him when the sicko later rapes the cop's wife--and Cochran is forced to face this. But, since he is still a bit of a jerk himself, the cop becomes obsessed with catching this guy and ends up nearly destroying his marriage in the process.
From the description above, the film sounds interesting--especially when the wife ends up pregnant and they don't know which man is the father--the cop or the rapist! But this is handled rather poorly--and the rest of the film is just awful. Why they had to include all the silly beatniks, I have no idea. And, some of these 'young people' were simply ridiculous--including a 55 year-old Maxie Rosenblum--who, inexplicably, starts wrestling with the cop later in the film! The ending is a mess and you just have to see it to believe it--especially when magic apparently occurs and the cop and his wife work things out and forget all their disagreements. Sloppy and not worth your time--and also not bad enough to make it good viewing for a bad movie buff.
The film stars Ray Danton as a serial rapist. But he's different that the run-of-the-mill molester--he is very calculating and evil. Not only does he rape the women, but afterwords sets up the home where the attack took place to look as if the women had invited him in and it was consensual! And, a narrow-minded knucklehead cop (Steve Cochran) falls right into this trap and blames the first victim. But, this comes back to haunt him when the sicko later rapes the cop's wife--and Cochran is forced to face this. But, since he is still a bit of a jerk himself, the cop becomes obsessed with catching this guy and ends up nearly destroying his marriage in the process.
From the description above, the film sounds interesting--especially when the wife ends up pregnant and they don't know which man is the father--the cop or the rapist! But this is handled rather poorly--and the rest of the film is just awful. Why they had to include all the silly beatniks, I have no idea. And, some of these 'young people' were simply ridiculous--including a 55 year-old Maxie Rosenblum--who, inexplicably, starts wrestling with the cop later in the film! The ending is a mess and you just have to see it to believe it--especially when magic apparently occurs and the cop and his wife work things out and forget all their disagreements. Sloppy and not worth your time--and also not bad enough to make it good viewing for a bad movie buff.
Spitting on Louis B. Mayer's grave
cbalducc21 June 2013
Warning: Spoilers
I watched "The Beat Generation" on Turner Classic Movies last night. I found it unbelievable that Metro Goldwyn Mayer, once Hollywood's most prestigious studio, would have its name attached to such a farrago of a movie. One the one hand, is a taboo-busting film about misogyny, rape, the possibility of pregnancy arising from that rape, and the possibility of abortion. On the other is a surrealistic parody of the Beatnik lifestyle. Somehow these two films were fused together into a result that, in today's slang, is a "hot mess". Look for dark and brooding Steve Cochran and Ray Danton as two types of pomaded misogynists - Cochran a cop who thinks rape victims "ask for it" and Ray Danton as a Beat-slang-quoting rapist. Mamie Van Dorn appears as a "loose" woman.
Trash without camp can't be recycled.
mark.waltz18 February 2016
Warning: Spoilers
The presence of Ray Danton always left me cold, sort of creeped out. He had an element of sleaze in his good looks, like someone so certain of their sex appeal to women that you know that there was perversion underneath the surface. This is a nasty drama of a serial rapist so repulsive that you long to see him castrated. Danton here plays a character nicknamed The Aspirin Rapist because he always distracts the victim as he drops in on by politely claiming a headache and asking for a pain killer. When one of the victims turns out to be the wife of the detective in investigating the case, it comes as no surprise when she ends up being pregnant. Talks about abortion might seem to be a first but a conversation with priest William Schallert made me angry in how juvenile the arguments for and against it seemed to be.
Vampira adds some obviously intentional laughs as a beatnik poet, and Louis Armstrong and Cathy Crosby sing a few songs. Unfortunately, Crosby's rendition of the Lena Horne/Judy Garland hit, "Love", is truncated with the interruption of the lame dialog. Other than these curious incidents, this is an extremely crass movie probably made independently but released by MGM. If he hadn't died a reclusive, broken man two years before, seeing his former studio release crap like this would have killed Louis B. Mayer for sure.
In addition to Danton, there's Steve Cochran as the police investigator whose wife (a very good Fay Spain) is one of Danton's victims, the dull Mamie Van Doren as a rape victim who secretly seemed to like it and Margaret Hayes as the very mature first victim. Hayes is a fascinating actress whose "B" film appearances seemed to all be aging 40's glamour girls who couldn't let go of their past. In the final scene, MGM seems to have utilized Esther Williams' old swimming pool but dramatically is a let-down. Since this seems like something that naturally played at drive-ins, I hope that some audience members had the sense to drive out.
Vampira adds some obviously intentional laughs as a beatnik poet, and Louis Armstrong and Cathy Crosby sing a few songs. Unfortunately, Crosby's rendition of the Lena Horne/Judy Garland hit, "Love", is truncated with the interruption of the lame dialog. Other than these curious incidents, this is an extremely crass movie probably made independently but released by MGM. If he hadn't died a reclusive, broken man two years before, seeing his former studio release crap like this would have killed Louis B. Mayer for sure.
In addition to Danton, there's Steve Cochran as the police investigator whose wife (a very good Fay Spain) is one of Danton's victims, the dull Mamie Van Doren as a rape victim who secretly seemed to like it and Margaret Hayes as the very mature first victim. Hayes is a fascinating actress whose "B" film appearances seemed to all be aging 40's glamour girls who couldn't let go of their past. In the final scene, MGM seems to have utilized Esther Williams' old swimming pool but dramatically is a let-down. Since this seems like something that naturally played at drive-ins, I hope that some audience members had the sense to drive out.
Fairly watchable sleaze
scsu197525 November 2022
This film has something for everyone. There is beefcake (Steve Cochran, Ray Danton), cheesecake (Mamie Van Doren, Fay Spain, Irish McCalla) and fruitcake (Jackie Coogan and Sid Melton in drag).
Cochran is a detective investigating assaults on married women by someone dubbed "the aspirin kid." We know early on the culprit is Danton, who hangs out with beatniks, spouts incoherent phrases, and hates women. One of Danton's victims is Spain, who is married to Cochran. When she discovers she's pregnant (we're not sure if the father is Cochran or Danton), we get a somewhat interesting side plot, leading to a talk with McCalla and the neighborhood priest, William Schallert, who wears a baseball cap. But let's not get too far off track.
Cochran is a bit weird himself, blaming the victims as much as the perp. His partner (Coogan) shows more than a little disgust with Cochran, although he may just be reacting negatively to Cochran's caterpillar eyebrows. Cochran chews gum a lot, just to show he can act and chew gum at the same time.
Mamie shows up about halfway through the movie, as a possible victim for Danton; but Danton sends his flunky, played by Jim Mitchum, to do the job just to confuse the fuzz. Mitchum worms his way into Mamie's apartment, and she welcomes the company. In fact, she puts up about as much resistance as Joe Frazier did against George Foreman. But before Mitchum can do anything, he is interrupted by the appearance of Mamie's husband (played by Mamie's real-life hubby at the time, bandleader Ray Anthony). Nevertheless, this incident gets reported to Cochran, who spends the rest of the movie on Mamie's tail. I wonder why. Danton and Mitchum manage to snag Cochran and Mamie, and take them back to their beatnik bungalow. Mamie convinces Mitchum to help her escape. During a bizarre climax, Cochran is shot at six times by Danton, who misses every time. Then Cochran is taken down by former boxer Slapsie Maxie Rosenbloom, but manages to break free. Cochran subdues Danton while the two are underwater, Danton in scuba gear, Cochran in a dress shirt.
There is a movie in here somewhere, trying to get out. But there are just too many characters and too many useless scenes, padded out with non-actors. Dick Contino (sans accordion but avec guitar), musclebound Woo Woo Grabowski (who looks stoned), and Vampira (who recites poetry with a white mouse on her shoulder) play beatniks. Personally, I preferred Vampira sporting her three-inch waist in "Plan 9 From Outer Space." Louis Armstrong sings a few songs. British character actor Paul Cavanaugh, whose career (if he had one) peaked in the 1940s, has a small bit as Danton's father. McCalla's non-acting ability is wasted as Coogan's wife (and who is gonna believe that match-up?). She sports a short, brunette, Italian-type haircut for some unknown reason. Then again, maybe she was just trying to disguise herself. She also keeps her clothes on, which is a major disappointment. Spain is decent, but talks so softly I had to keep adjusting the volume. Danton is slimy as always, and moves about by gliding and leaping, as if he were auditioning to play Legs Diamond - oh, wait a minute. Cochran stands out, as he seems to be fighting off some inner demons, and sees himself as nutty as Danton. Mamie is Mamie, and the director had the good sense to film her in tight white outfits every chance he could get. Thank you.
The most revolting scene in the movie is when the cops go undercover to snag a lover's lane bandit. Coogan and Melton get the privilege of pretending to be dames. They are the ugliest broads in film history. We won't argue here how Melton could ever get a job on a police force. Suffice it to say, after seeing these two trying to look like women, I gave up cross-dressing, much to my wife's relief.
Cochran is a detective investigating assaults on married women by someone dubbed "the aspirin kid." We know early on the culprit is Danton, who hangs out with beatniks, spouts incoherent phrases, and hates women. One of Danton's victims is Spain, who is married to Cochran. When she discovers she's pregnant (we're not sure if the father is Cochran or Danton), we get a somewhat interesting side plot, leading to a talk with McCalla and the neighborhood priest, William Schallert, who wears a baseball cap. But let's not get too far off track.
Cochran is a bit weird himself, blaming the victims as much as the perp. His partner (Coogan) shows more than a little disgust with Cochran, although he may just be reacting negatively to Cochran's caterpillar eyebrows. Cochran chews gum a lot, just to show he can act and chew gum at the same time.
Mamie shows up about halfway through the movie, as a possible victim for Danton; but Danton sends his flunky, played by Jim Mitchum, to do the job just to confuse the fuzz. Mitchum worms his way into Mamie's apartment, and she welcomes the company. In fact, she puts up about as much resistance as Joe Frazier did against George Foreman. But before Mitchum can do anything, he is interrupted by the appearance of Mamie's husband (played by Mamie's real-life hubby at the time, bandleader Ray Anthony). Nevertheless, this incident gets reported to Cochran, who spends the rest of the movie on Mamie's tail. I wonder why. Danton and Mitchum manage to snag Cochran and Mamie, and take them back to their beatnik bungalow. Mamie convinces Mitchum to help her escape. During a bizarre climax, Cochran is shot at six times by Danton, who misses every time. Then Cochran is taken down by former boxer Slapsie Maxie Rosenbloom, but manages to break free. Cochran subdues Danton while the two are underwater, Danton in scuba gear, Cochran in a dress shirt.
There is a movie in here somewhere, trying to get out. But there are just too many characters and too many useless scenes, padded out with non-actors. Dick Contino (sans accordion but avec guitar), musclebound Woo Woo Grabowski (who looks stoned), and Vampira (who recites poetry with a white mouse on her shoulder) play beatniks. Personally, I preferred Vampira sporting her three-inch waist in "Plan 9 From Outer Space." Louis Armstrong sings a few songs. British character actor Paul Cavanaugh, whose career (if he had one) peaked in the 1940s, has a small bit as Danton's father. McCalla's non-acting ability is wasted as Coogan's wife (and who is gonna believe that match-up?). She sports a short, brunette, Italian-type haircut for some unknown reason. Then again, maybe she was just trying to disguise herself. She also keeps her clothes on, which is a major disappointment. Spain is decent, but talks so softly I had to keep adjusting the volume. Danton is slimy as always, and moves about by gliding and leaping, as if he were auditioning to play Legs Diamond - oh, wait a minute. Cochran stands out, as he seems to be fighting off some inner demons, and sees himself as nutty as Danton. Mamie is Mamie, and the director had the good sense to film her in tight white outfits every chance he could get. Thank you.
The most revolting scene in the movie is when the cops go undercover to snag a lover's lane bandit. Coogan and Melton get the privilege of pretending to be dames. They are the ugliest broads in film history. We won't argue here how Melton could ever get a job on a police force. Suffice it to say, after seeing these two trying to look like women, I gave up cross-dressing, much to my wife's relief.
Unsavory Excess, Exploitation Style
melvelvit-123 March 2014
Warning: Spoilers
This MGM-released (!) opus from the late '50s is rife with unsavory excess and a pretty sick puppy from the fertile mind of that renowned horror & sci-fi scribe, Richard Matheson. As a classic example of Albert Zugsmith-style exploitation, it's got a little bit of everything but some of the playfulness (that "let's all go to the moon" number and the "drag stakeout", for example) diluted what could have been a solid little thriller. Still, despite the nonsense, there's more than enough perversity, violence, and duality to satisfy the avid noirista.
Robotic Ray Danton actually proves to be quite chilling as a vicious Be-Bop "Svengali" who gets his kicks serially raping housewives and has the same problem Susan Cabot did in Roger Corman's SORORITY GIRL (a perfect second feature) in that he's just a spoiled rich kid who's got everything but a parent's love. Steve Cochran's a misogynistic cop who's wife (Fay Spain) is beaten and raped by Danton and when she finds herself pregnant, Cochran goes all out to nail the creep.
The rapist is called "The Aspirin Kid" and gets into women's homes by pretending to be a friend of their husband's but once inside he feigns a headache and when they go get him a glass of water for his aspirin, he strikes. He drags them to the bedroom and the camera lingers on the door while the viewer hears the slapping, beating, pleading, and screaming going on inside. And as if that wasn't enough, the bruised and swollen faces of the victims brings it all home, as well.
Mamie Van Doren doesn't miss a beat as "Mrs. Alteras", a voluptuous hot-to-trot divorcée who almost becomes a victim -and no doubt would have loved it. Danton gets one of his minions to do a "copy-cat" rape to throw the police off and when the guy (Jim Mitchum, Bob's look-alike son) is just about to attack Miss Mamie, her ex-husband (Van Doren's real-life husband, bandleader Ray Anthony) bursts in. Mamie whispers to Jim to give her a call when her "ex" isn't around and ends up having a very "special" relationship with her would-be rapist. Cochran thinks she knows the perp's identity and asks her out; she's willing ....but when she finds it's not sex but information he wants, she clams up. Her reaction to the fact her young stud may be "The Aspirin Kid" is basically "So what?"
What's reely amazing, however, is the social issues this exploitation shocker attempts to tackle: misogyny, rape, abortion, disaffected youth, even God. It's also a low-rent version of Fritz Lang's THE BIG HEAT with tough cop Cochran out for revenge when his home-life is torn apart (Fay Spain has the Jocelyn Brando role) and Miss Mamie plays the good/bad Gloria Grahame part. Cochran loves his wife but hates all women because of his first wife and Mamie is exactly the kind of woman he despises. This becomes a journey of discovery for Cochran, who gets his epiphany in a "mirror image": when Steve and Danton face off, it predicts the scene in PSYCHO when Gavin and Perkins stare at each other over the motel reception desk. Cochran thinks all women are tramps (Danton calls them "filth") and he believes the housewives "asked for it" until it happens to his wife. There's no truly evil people in this film; even the rapist breaks down and cries, begging to die. Cop Jackie Coogan's happy home-life provides the voice of reason as does Fay Spain's best friend, Irish McCalla -along with a priest (!) to discuss the abortion issue. Mamie Van Doren and her young stud are ambiguous at best, neither good nor bad (probably both) but come around when confronted with a grim life-or-death situation and end up on the "right side of the street". Unlike most film noir, there's even a happy ending all the way around except for Mamie and Mitchum -nothing really happens to them.
It's easy to see the "noir paranoia" here; compare the misunderstood title youth in REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE and THE WILD ONE with the "herd mentality" of THE BEAT GENERATION (tellingly, the earlier films' titles refer to individual rebels, while the other is all-encompassing) and the later Italian Giallo would do the same thing to hippies that BEAT does to beatniks: they're either fools or followers murderous sociopaths can use to "blend in" and hide behind.
A "must-see" in many ways.
Robotic Ray Danton actually proves to be quite chilling as a vicious Be-Bop "Svengali" who gets his kicks serially raping housewives and has the same problem Susan Cabot did in Roger Corman's SORORITY GIRL (a perfect second feature) in that he's just a spoiled rich kid who's got everything but a parent's love. Steve Cochran's a misogynistic cop who's wife (Fay Spain) is beaten and raped by Danton and when she finds herself pregnant, Cochran goes all out to nail the creep.
The rapist is called "The Aspirin Kid" and gets into women's homes by pretending to be a friend of their husband's but once inside he feigns a headache and when they go get him a glass of water for his aspirin, he strikes. He drags them to the bedroom and the camera lingers on the door while the viewer hears the slapping, beating, pleading, and screaming going on inside. And as if that wasn't enough, the bruised and swollen faces of the victims brings it all home, as well.
Mamie Van Doren doesn't miss a beat as "Mrs. Alteras", a voluptuous hot-to-trot divorcée who almost becomes a victim -and no doubt would have loved it. Danton gets one of his minions to do a "copy-cat" rape to throw the police off and when the guy (Jim Mitchum, Bob's look-alike son) is just about to attack Miss Mamie, her ex-husband (Van Doren's real-life husband, bandleader Ray Anthony) bursts in. Mamie whispers to Jim to give her a call when her "ex" isn't around and ends up having a very "special" relationship with her would-be rapist. Cochran thinks she knows the perp's identity and asks her out; she's willing ....but when she finds it's not sex but information he wants, she clams up. Her reaction to the fact her young stud may be "The Aspirin Kid" is basically "So what?"
What's reely amazing, however, is the social issues this exploitation shocker attempts to tackle: misogyny, rape, abortion, disaffected youth, even God. It's also a low-rent version of Fritz Lang's THE BIG HEAT with tough cop Cochran out for revenge when his home-life is torn apart (Fay Spain has the Jocelyn Brando role) and Miss Mamie plays the good/bad Gloria Grahame part. Cochran loves his wife but hates all women because of his first wife and Mamie is exactly the kind of woman he despises. This becomes a journey of discovery for Cochran, who gets his epiphany in a "mirror image": when Steve and Danton face off, it predicts the scene in PSYCHO when Gavin and Perkins stare at each other over the motel reception desk. Cochran thinks all women are tramps (Danton calls them "filth") and he believes the housewives "asked for it" until it happens to his wife. There's no truly evil people in this film; even the rapist breaks down and cries, begging to die. Cop Jackie Coogan's happy home-life provides the voice of reason as does Fay Spain's best friend, Irish McCalla -along with a priest (!) to discuss the abortion issue. Mamie Van Doren and her young stud are ambiguous at best, neither good nor bad (probably both) but come around when confronted with a grim life-or-death situation and end up on the "right side of the street". Unlike most film noir, there's even a happy ending all the way around except for Mamie and Mitchum -nothing really happens to them.
It's easy to see the "noir paranoia" here; compare the misunderstood title youth in REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE and THE WILD ONE with the "herd mentality" of THE BEAT GENERATION (tellingly, the earlier films' titles refer to individual rebels, while the other is all-encompassing) and the later Italian Giallo would do the same thing to hippies that BEAT does to beatniks: they're either fools or followers murderous sociopaths can use to "blend in" and hide behind.
A "must-see" in many ways.
Wow
BandSAboutMovies13 March 2024
Warning: Spoilers
At once an exploration of the Beats and one of the last original film noir movies, The Beat Generation is about the police looking for Stan Hess (Ray Danton), a serial rapist known as the Aspirin Kid because he goes to married women's homes, acts like he has a headache and then attacks them while their husband isn't home. He meets a cop named Culloran (Steve Cochran) who doesn't realize he has the man everyone is looking for in his car. The cop and his partner Baron (Jackie Coogan) think that the real rapist is beatnik Art Jester (James Mitchum). How wrong he is, learning that when Hess assaults his wife and makes her pregnant, nearly ending his marriage while Jester falls for a gangster's wife, Georgia Altera (Mamie Van Doren).
Directed by Charles F. Haas, who also made the Van Doren movie Girls Town, The Beat Generation has plenty of beatnik moments, like Maila Nurmi - Vampira - has a white rat walking all over her ghostly skin while freestyling a poem. Louis Armstrong is also on hand and recorded the theme song.
Irish McCalla was going to be the lead, but was told there was a rape scene and she'd have to do more for the European version, but the assault would be in good taste. She decided to take a smaller part.
This was written by Richard Matheson, who based it on a true story, saying it was "about a guy who would meet salesmen and talk to them on the road, learn all about their houses, where they were during the day, what they did; then he would go and attack the wives while the salesmen were still on the road. I wrote it as a police procedure film."
There's also a wrestling beatnik. That's Slapsie Maxie Rosenbloom, who used to slap people in boxing matches. Despite all the silliness, this is a much darker movie than you'd think.
Directed by Charles F. Haas, who also made the Van Doren movie Girls Town, The Beat Generation has plenty of beatnik moments, like Maila Nurmi - Vampira - has a white rat walking all over her ghostly skin while freestyling a poem. Louis Armstrong is also on hand and recorded the theme song.
Irish McCalla was going to be the lead, but was told there was a rape scene and she'd have to do more for the European version, but the assault would be in good taste. She decided to take a smaller part.
This was written by Richard Matheson, who based it on a true story, saying it was "about a guy who would meet salesmen and talk to them on the road, learn all about their houses, where they were during the day, what they did; then he would go and attack the wives while the salesmen were still on the road. I wrote it as a police procedure film."
There's also a wrestling beatnik. That's Slapsie Maxie Rosenbloom, who used to slap people in boxing matches. Despite all the silliness, this is a much darker movie than you'd think.
Bad camp
jakob136 June 2016
Warning: Spoilers
A festival celebrating the Beat Generation in New York, runs from 3 to 8 June. The conceit of the organizers is to honor the late Beat Poet Allan Ginsberg, who were he alive, would turn 90 on 3 June. The film 'The Beat Generation', some 57 years old, is a haunted house that creaks. It a pair of whiskers that covers a detective story of a serial killer, who's 'Beat'. Even when the film flared across screens in America, it was obvious that Hollywood's knowledge and use of the Beats and the rage among the middle class youth, expressing a muted discontent and restlessness of the early Cold War repression of liberal thought and the starch collars of the Eisenhower years, found expression, albeit half understood, and the stereotypes are stultifying and cardboard like. Scenes from 'Bell, Book and Candle; and yes 'Funny Face' had scenes in smoked filled 'cafes', deeply set in indolence and utter boredom, and bongo playing. It was the time of daddy-o and the use of jazz expression to convey 'ennui'. The film featuring Steve Cochran, Mamie Van Doren and Ray Danton, is a pastiche of the Beats. At one point Danton quotes Schopenhauer, about the perfidy of the female sex, to justify his penchant for killing women, as a revolt against his oft married father who weds younger women even younger than Danton. (In fact, Danton is physically too old for the part; he's wooden throughout the film). This B film was a come down for Cochran. He had two years before starred in Antoninio's 'Il grido', but upon his return he had this script to pay his bills. Mamie Van Doren is fluff and buxom and eye candy. No Kerouac, no Ginsberg, no Cassidy, no William Burroughs...nothing of the Beat Generation. In sum, we have an exploitation film, which is hardly convincing, and maybe evoked yawns and groans. I suspect he didn't draw a big gate and was made cheaply. Overall, it is low camp at its best, a curiosity piece best left to gather dust.
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