High School Confidential (1958)

Starring: Mamie Van Doren, Diane Jergens, Russ Tamblyn, Jan Sterling, John Drew Barrymore

Directed by: Jack Arnold

RS: 3.5of 4 Stars

1958 Drama

This classic cult teen-sploitation flick from 1958 has it all: gangs, drugs, drag-racing, actors in their late twenties playing teenagers, a bleach-blond nymphomaniac and perhaps the world's first Elvis impersonator. Plus any film that kicks off with Jerry Lee Lewis pounding out the theme song on the back of a truck just has to be smokin'. The coolest jive line -- "Tomorrow is a drag, Pops/The future is a flake" -- essentially makes Johnny Rotten's cry of "No future" in "God Save the Queen" redundant.