The Beat Generation
Encyclopedia
The Beat Generation is a film by MGM
starring Steve Cochran
and Mamie Van Doren
, with Ray Danton
, Fay Spain
, Maggie Hayes
, Jackie Coogan
, Louis Armstrong
, Vampira
, and Ray Anthony
. It is a sensationalistic interpretation of the beatnik
culture of the "Beat Generation
" (and is sometimes considered one of the very last films noir
to be produced.) The movie was also shown under the title This Rebel Age.
The director
was Charles F. Haas
. Richard Matheson
and Lewis Meltzer are credited with the screenplay.
The case of 'The Aspirin Kid' is assigned to two detectives, Culloran and Baron. Culloran is a twice married man who's first marriage has made him suspicious of women. They have a suspect, a Beatnik called Arthur Jester who fits a description of 'The Aspirin Kid' but his alibi checks out.
Knowing that the cops are on to him, Arthur Garrett turns the tables by going after Culloran's wife, Francee. This enrages the detective. He also begins to treat the pregnant Francee differently after her assault, causing her to turn to his partner Baron for advice.
Garrett persuades Jester to try to throw Culloran off the track by committing a similar attack on a woman named Georgia Altera at a time when Garrett couldn't possibly be involved. But the cops know that Garrett is their man. Jester and Altera fall for each other.
At a party near the beach, the deranged Culloran attempts to capture Garrett. After an elaborate scuba-diving chase sequences, Culloran captures and beats up Garrett coming close to killing him before Baron intervenes. Culloran comes to his senses and returns to Francee, who gives birth.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
starring Steve Cochran
Steve Cochran
Steve Cochran was an American film, television, and stage actor, the son of a California lumberman. He graduated from the University of Wyoming in 1939...
and Mamie Van Doren
Mamie Van Doren
Mamie Van Doren is an American actress and singer; who rose to popularity as Universal Pictures's version of 20th Century Fox's Marilyn Monroe....
, with Ray Danton
Ray Danton
Ray Danton , also known as Raymond Danton, was a radio, film, stage, and television actor, director, and producer whose most famous role was The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond...
, Fay Spain
Fay Spain
Fay Spain was an American actress in motion pictures and television. She was born in Phoenix, Arizona.-Theater apprentice:...
, Maggie Hayes
Maggie Hayes
Maggie Hayes is an Irish actress, originally from Downpatrick, County Down, Northern Ireland.-Selected filmography:* Christopher and His Kind* Nightclubbing* Cherrybomb* Rapunzel* Buy Borrow Steal* Seacht* Maru* Powers* Making Waves...
, Jackie Coogan
Jackie Coogan
John Leslie Coogan , known professionally as Jackie Coogan, was an American actor who began his movie career as a child actor in silent films. Many years later, he became known as Uncle Fester on 1960s sitcom The Addams Family...
, Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....
, Vampira
Maila Nurmi
Maila Nurmi was a Finnish-American actress who created the campy 1950s characterVampira. She portrayed Vampira as TV's first horror host and in the Ed Wood cult film Plan 9 from Outer Space...
, and Ray Anthony
Ray Anthony
Ray Anthony is an American bandleader, trumpeter, songwriter and actor.- Biography :...
. It is a sensationalistic interpretation of the beatnik
Beatnik
Beatnik was a media stereotype of the 1950s and early 1960s that displayed the more superficial aspects of the Beat Generation literary movement of the 1950s and violent film images, along with a cartoonish depiction of the real-life people and the spiritual quest in Jack Kerouac's autobiographical...
culture of the "Beat Generation
Beat generation
The Beat Generation refers to a group of American post-WWII writers who came to prominence in the 1950s, as well as the cultural phenomena that they both documented and inspired...
" (and is sometimes considered one of the very last films noir
Film noir
Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...
to be produced.) The movie was also shown under the title This Rebel Age.
The director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
was Charles F. Haas
Charles F. Haas
Charles Friedman Haas was an American film and television director. He was born in Chicago, Illinois....
. Richard Matheson
Richard Matheson
Richard Burton Matheson is an American author and screenwriter, primarily in the fantasy, horror, and science fiction genres. He is perhaps best known as the author of What Dreams May Come, Bid Time Return, A Stir of Echoes, The Incredible Shrinking Man, and I Am Legend, all of which have been...
and Lewis Meltzer are credited with the screenplay.
Plot
"The Aspirin Kid" is wanted by the law. He is so known because apparently he uses the ruse of faking a headache and asking women for an aspirin, wherepon he robs them (and worse). He acts like a Beatnik as a disguise. At the start of the film Arthur Garrett (Garrett is the name Ray Danton tells his victims) is picked up by Detective Culloran after he nearly hits him. Garrett gives the name Stan Hess to the detective (He makes up the alias whilst looking into the backseat of the car and discovering the detective's address).The case of 'The Aspirin Kid' is assigned to two detectives, Culloran and Baron. Culloran is a twice married man who's first marriage has made him suspicious of women. They have a suspect, a Beatnik called Arthur Jester who fits a description of 'The Aspirin Kid' but his alibi checks out.
Knowing that the cops are on to him, Arthur Garrett turns the tables by going after Culloran's wife, Francee. This enrages the detective. He also begins to treat the pregnant Francee differently after her assault, causing her to turn to his partner Baron for advice.
Garrett persuades Jester to try to throw Culloran off the track by committing a similar attack on a woman named Georgia Altera at a time when Garrett couldn't possibly be involved. But the cops know that Garrett is their man. Jester and Altera fall for each other.
At a party near the beach, the deranged Culloran attempts to capture Garrett. After an elaborate scuba-diving chase sequences, Culloran captures and beats up Garrett coming close to killing him before Baron intervenes. Culloran comes to his senses and returns to Francee, who gives birth.