Provocative-for-the-time B-film, with a memorable performance by winsome Susan Oliver as a tough young woman in a woman's prison. This film is more watchable than most B/W B-films of the 1950s, and concludes with a gripping, shocking climax. Watch this on video as a fun escape/indulgence on a rainy Saturday afternoon with a steaming cup of Suisse Mocha...
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vmcdavidson22 August 2000
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Susan Oliver's movie debut has her in a reform school, where the Jean Inness character is convinced that she and the other women in charge are just going through the motions, while Sally Brophy thinks they have to do something to save these young women. Meanwhile, we watch the young women in a script that pitches itself halfway between MADCHEN IN UNIFORM and LADY IN A CAGE, but without any sexuality or overt violence.
The script by Dalton Trumbo and Sally Stubblefield (who had worked in a reform school) makes the point that the inmates are still essentially children, even if they are hiding and caring for one of their babies. There's something unengaged about the performances, that distance the real issues. That may be deliberate, intended to reflect that the young women do not view the reform school as more than a waiting time, and they will re-enter the world with no change. If so, that makes this a tragedy, but it also means that there is no change, and hence no story. -
Uriah4324 November 2015"Betsy Abel" (Melinda Plowman) is a teenage girl who has given birth to a baby outside of wedlock and because of that she is sent to a female boarding school until such time as a judge orders otherwise. While there she meets several other young women who have similar problems with society in general. One particular young lady goes by the name of "Green Eyes" (Susan Oliver) who has only a month or so until her release. As it so happens, Green Eyes has a boyfriend who visits her at the gate during curfew and together they plan on building a life together when she finally gets out. In the meantime though, another girl named "Cuckoo" (Norma Jean Nilsson) does something totally reckless which creates huge problems for everyone. Now rather than reveal any more of this movie I will just say that this was a fairly interesting drama which managed to illustrate a certain societal mindset that was prevalent during this period of time in the United States. Not all of it is flattering. Be that as it may, while the movie poster may indicate otherwise, this particular film isn't strictly focused on Susan Oliver's character as much as it is about several other people as well. The drama and the acting are both decent and as a result I have rated this movie accordingly. Slightly above average.
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gobbob20 December 2000Moving story of a group in a home for wayward girls who find an illegal opportunity to be a family. A new girl, Betsy and a new staff member, Miss Wilson find that they and the rest of the girls in the home, have a lot in common. Miss Wilson finds herself at odds with her employers.
The love scenes with the chain-link fence, not replicated by any as far as I know, is not to be missed.
Greened-Eyed Blond is at times a tear jerker, especially if you have a soft spot. As well as a warning for all teenage girls and the establishment! -
I guess this 1957 film was a wake up call for many families who were in the midst of either raising teenage children, or more importantly being teenage children, especially if you were of the female persuasion. I realize that teenagers in the 1950's were more likely to incur an unexpected pregnancy compared to children in the past half century are due to the advances in sex education, and acceptance of women being on the pill (without shame) and men purchasing rubbers over the counter as easy as they can buy a package of gum and/or a chocolate bar.
Nonetheless I recognize the need even in today's society for shelters for young ladies to exist not as much to be imprisoned as this film seems to depict but to protect these young ladies who may have had a one night affair that got them into a bit of a jam, or been associated at a very young age with someone who was a bad influence on them.
The acting in this film was superb, and the (then) 25 year old actress Susan Oliver who plays the green-eyed blonde was certainly a mature leader of this wayward ban of unwed mothers and juvenile delinquents with mental problems or criminal pasts. I won't include any spoilers but I must say on a personal note I did find the storyline a bit hard to relate to even though the circumstances these young ladies found themselves in are very real, even in todays standards.
I give the film a respectable 6 out of 10 IMDB rating. -
danielacadien23 July 2019It was a good movie t'il the end which made basically no sense.
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bkoganbing22 July 2019Some decent performances are in a slightly ridiculous drama about one of the inmates of a juvenile girl's prison kidnapping her own baby and how the rest of the inmates try to keep the secret and take care of the infant.
I don't think I have to elaborate on the difficulties of keeping the presence of an infant a secret. They tend not to cooperate. Even with one of the new staffers Sally Brophy finding out and promising to be discreet.
Jean Inness is find as the head of the institution in a part where she could be a regular Nurse Ratched. Susan Oliver makes an early appearance as one of the teen inmates.
But really, a secret baby? -
The title to this film is odd, as it's NOT the story of one girl but of a group of teens who are incarcerated in a juvenile residential home. The title character is played by Susan Oliver....a 'teen' who was 25 at the time the film was released!
The story is an odd one as at first it seems like an exploitation film (the scene with 'Cuckoo' and the window is classic exploitation fodder) and then backs off from this. And, overall, I am not exactly sure what the message really was in this film. In fact, that there is no message...no moral...that does make the film unique...but also unsatisfying as well. An odd little film. -
Wayward girls were everywhere in the 1950's and beyond, clamoring for their own identity and desperate to rebel against authority, whether it be their own parents or the staff of the detention center they are forced to attend in this sordid B movie. New arrival Melinda Plowman has given birth to a baby which the other girls immediately take to (particularly title character Susan Oliver), eventually taking charge and taking care of the child in secret. So the audience is supposed to believe that the staff has no idea that for days, these young ladies are feeding and changing the child, nurturing its every need, that is until the well meaning new arrival staff member Sally Brophy discovers the child, turning it over to administrator Jean Innes.
Not even funny enough to be considered amusing trash, this teen angst drama just lays there like a baby needing to be changed, and there's really no point to the whole messy situation because there is never any real moral and certainly no genuine point to the goings on. None of the None of the characters are really fleshed out, and most of the major characters are just complete cliches with the plot predictable and majorly dull. The acting is often melodramatic and unbelievable, and the direction slow with a cheapened technical level of filmmaking where the photographer, director and editors seem desperate to get their work done so they can move on. Not surprised by the plot twist at the end either as this sort of thing was commonplace in movies like this. -
jcravens4230 September 2020There is so much to say about this movie: that it is focused on teen pregnancy in a frank way that was never done in 1950s film or literature and portrays the teens in a respectful way, that it has black actresses treated as equal to everyone else in terms of character and a strong, positive black father character, that it addresses the mental health challenges of "troubled" teen girls, that it includes statutory rape by step fathers and on and on. Yes, it's a B movie and has all that comes with that: exaggerated performances, low rent production values and lots of stereotypes. The parents of the main character are almost too horrible and extreme to be believed - unless you are a social worker or teacher and then, yeah, you know these kind of people really do exist, even now (leaving a baby in the back seat of a car, referring to the baby as "it", and on and on). But it's extraordinarily thoughtful for 1957 - that is probably thanks to Dalton Trumbo. Not sure about the title, as this is Betsy's story, not "Green Eyes". Buddy's mom aversion to her son isn't condemned the way it would be in a movie now. The guide to infant care that the girls read from is hilarious - it always has an answer to every question! But be prepared for very, very disturbing behavior by "cuckoo" - if you are horrified by even the mention of animal abuse, don't watch this. As for the ending... no spoilers, but WHAT THE HELL?!?!
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arel_121 July 2004I used to catch this film fairly regularly back in the days when local TV stations ran the Late Show, the Late-Late Show, the Omigosh Are YOU Still Up? Show etc. instead of infomercials (**sigh...**) "Gone With the Wind" it's not, but I found it surprisingly memorable anyway and would like to find it on VHS or DVD someday. a lot of the movies I saw in those days--well, I don't remember having seen them until I see them again on AMC or Turner, or on the bargain-basement video rack at Wal-Mart. for some reason, "The Green-Eyed Blonde" stuck (I can even remember the downbeat theme music!) I've never seen it in any company's video catalog, though... (***SIGH...***)