ANNE FRANCIS AND ANNE JACKSON BREAKOUT IN 'SO YOUNG, SO BAD'

Anne Francis in SO YOUNG, SO BAD Year: 1950 Rating: ****

A decade after CASABLANCA, nice guy Paul Henreid was still somewhat of a box office draw, or at least a recognizable name... and he took a risk to work for a low-budget production company that, yet another decade past, made the British teenage-girl-reform-school vehicle SO EVIL, SO YOUNG, basically a remake of the American SO YOUNG, SO BAD that's far superior, particularly since Henreid's psychologist character is pushed up front...

In most teen-prison programmers, the friendly shrink contrasting to the abusive warden/guards is peripheral: as most of the action takes place with the girls and their captors... which still happens here, but since the motivating plight's in check with Henreid (alongside pretty/uptight social-worker Catherine McLeod), there are less soapy elements and more character-driven suspense relying on how to stop the in-house tyranny...

Enid Rudd in SO BAD, SO YOUNG

Which isn't easy, taking up the entire 90-minute emotional rollercoaster for the troubled young girls, led by cocky blonde bombshell Anne Francis, seeming like a chain-smoking film-noir femme fatale replete with seductively-manipulative attitude, contrary to token naive/innocent-girl Rita Moreno, whose fate is highly predictable (imitated all the way up to GIRL INTERRUPTED), being the prime target for butch-bully chief-nurse Grace Coppin...

Meanwhile the most controversial pair are early examples of implied lesbianism in intensely rough-and-tumble Anne Jackson, in constant protection mode for comparably lithe, kindhearted Enid Rudd (whose shared backstory flashback is ahead of its time)... And Jackson, like Francis, is as genuinely tough and edgy as any prison-flick male...

Anne Francis in SO YOUNG, SO BAD

Making Paul Henreid's patiently-affable-vs-bad-attitude psychological struggle two-fold, battling the formidable powers-that-be while trying to make the legitimately troubled girls into productive human beings...

Including a pivotal real-time sequence where an escaped Anne Francis warms to the baby she had had that, in a more mainstream vehicle, could have warranted an Oscar nomination: in fact the entire SO YOUNG, SO BAD (despite the usually campy sub-genre/title) is a much better movie than expected: a "woman in chains" melodrama with a real heart (involving genuine personal investment) and best yet, an active brain. 

Rita Moreno with Anne Francis and Anne Jackson in SO BAD, SO YOUNG

Anne Francis in SO YOUNG, SO BAD

Anne Jackson and Enid Rudd in SO BAD, SO YOUNG

Anne Francis in SO YOUNG, SO BAD with Anne Jackson

Anne Francis and Cecil Clovelly in SO YOUNG, SO BAD

Anne Francis in SO YOUNG, SO BAD

Paul Henreid and Catherine McLeod in SO BAD, SO YOUNG

Anne Francis in SO YOUNG, SO BAD

Rita Moreno in SO BAD, SO YOUNG

Rita Moreno in SO BAD, SO YOUNG

Enid Rudd in SO BAD, SO YOUNG

Anne Jackson in SO BAD, SO YOUNG

Anne Francis in SO YOUNG, SO BAD

Anne Francis in SO YOUNG, SO BAD

Anne Jackson in SO YOUNG, SO BAD

Enid Rudd in SO BAD, SO YOUNG

Anne Francis in SO YOUNG, SO BAD

Rita Moreno in SO BAD, SO YOUNG

Anne Francis in SO YOUNG, SO BAD

Rita Moreno in SO BAD, SO YOUNG

Catherine McLeod in SO BAD, SO YOUNG

Anne Francis in SO YOUNG, SO BAD

Grace Coppin in SO YOUNG, SO BAD

Anne Jackson in SO YOUNG, SO BAD

Anne Francis in SO YOUNG, SO BAD with Anne Jackson

Anne Jackson and Paul Henreid in SO YOUNG, SO BAD

Anne Francis in SO YOUNG, SO BAD

Anne Francis in SO YOUNG, SO BAD

Anne Francis in SO YOUNG, SO BAD

Anne Francis in SO YOUNG, SO BAD

Anne Francis in SO YOUNG, SO BAD

Anne Francis in SO YOUNG, SO BAD

Anne Francis in SO YOUNG, SO BAD

Mike Kellin in SO YOUNG, SO BAD

Paul Henreid and Catherine McLeod in SO BAD, SO YOUNG