High School Hellcats

Plot synopsis:
Joyce Martin is a transfer student at her new school. On her first day, she is sized up by the leader of the Hellcats, Connie. For her first test of initiation, Joyce is tricked into wearing slacks to school even though it is verboten by school policy. During class the teacher asks Joyce to be the blackboard volunteer, Joyce reluctantly gets up, and Miss Davis asks her why she is wearing slacks. Humiliated, she cuts class and goes to a nearby coffee shop and meets the coffee shop employee Mike, a college student who takes night classes, as he must financially support himself.
Joyce goes to a Hellcats meeting at an abandoned theater where she is officially introduced to the members of the Hellcats. Connie explains to her the premise of the group: the Hellcats are a girl gang who rule the social order of the school. If she is invited to join, she will be popular; if she fails, her life will be very rough. Joyce has passed the first test but must undergo two more before initiation. Good grades aren’t allowed and she may only date Hellcat-approved boys. Joyce agrees but she secretly begins dating Mike.
The girls meet to go shoplifting the next day. When they stop at the coffee shop afterward, Joyce is rude to Mike. Connie and Dolly tell her she should stay away from him.
The next initiation test requires Joyce to go up to Riff, who is with his girlfriend, and ask him to be her date at a dance. To the furor of his girlfriend, he agrees.
At the party, they decide to play a game of Sardines. In the dark, a scream is heard. When the lights come on, they find Connie’s body on the downstairs landing. She is dead. They agree to get out quickly and not say anything. A couple of boys drop Joyce off near her house. Mike drives by and she jumps into his car. The boys come over and try to beat Mike up but he is able to fend them off. Joyce and Mike go to his apartment. Joyce cries on his shoulder, says it was a terrible party, and eventually falls asleep in his arms. Joyce’s father is furious when she finally arrives home. Her mother defends her. Joyce says she will not follow her father’s rules.
Connie is reported missing and the police start questioning students at the high school. Dolly, now running the Hellcats, reminds them to say nothing.
Joyce visits sympathetic teacher Miss Davis, but does not tell her anything. Dolly leaves a note on Joyce's desk summoning her to a meeting that night. Mike gives her a ride to the abandoned theater. She tells him she will only be 10 minutes, just time enough to quit the Hellcats, and he waits outside for her.
Two of the Hellcats find the note and go to Miss Davis. They know that there is no meeting and they are worried that Dolly intends to teach Joyce a lesson. Miss Davis calls the police. On the balcony of the theater Dolly confronts Joyce, telling her that she pushed Connie out of jealousy because she was getting too friendly with Joyce. Dolly lunges toward Joyce with a knife but Joyce moves at the last moment and Dolly falls over the balcony to the floor below, dead. The police arrive. Mike rushes in. Miss Davis arrives. Mike takes Joyce home. Miss Davis calls Joyce’s parents to tell them what happened. She tells them that Mike is a good guy. Joyce’s parents are waiting on the doorstep. They hug Joyce. Joyce’s father pats Mike on the shoulder and they enter the house together.

Tags: murder

Review:
"High School Hellcats" doesn't quite live up to the title, but it turns out that it's a pretty good movie, especially for its time.
Where I expected lines to make me laugh out loud and a plot that exaggerated the idea of girl groups controlling each other through peer pressure, this film was actually plotted in a nice straightforward way, and lacking any sort of twist or turn, it wasn't entirely predictable either.
The script served the story without reaching for shocks to sell itself, and the acting was far from exciting, but also conveyed the proper moods and expressions for the story.It would be too much to say I liked the movie.
if you can't take film noir, you WILL hate every minute of this movie.
I LOVE HIGH SCHOOL HELLCATS.
HIGH SCHOOL HELLCATS reminded me of a more simple time, a time that I wish still existed..
So Joyce Martin (Yvonne Lime), a dumb-twit mid-year transfer student from out-of-town---way out of town---, ever so much wanting to "belong" to the "Hellcats" does just that so she can impress "Hellcats" leader Connie (Jana Lund), who has just advised her that tomorrow is slacks day.But wearing slacks to school is in violation of the school dress code.And Joyce is the only girl who shows up the next day wearing slacks.
But Joyce, gamer that she is, doesn't "give up" Connie and the Hellcats, when grilled by the teacher, and she is now "in.""In" puts her in the "victims" fast lane of activities engaged in by Connie and the Hellcats, and she immediately dumps her dependable boyfriend Mike (Brett Halsey), who is a college student working in a nearby cafe, and just full of good and dull advice, such as counseling Joyce against continuing her association with the Hellcats.
Mike is the type who still wears his high school letter jacket with the "4th Runner-up, District 2-AA Science Fair" patch, and is soon yesterday's news as Joyce, dumb-twit slash victim-looking-for-love-in-all-the-wrong-places, dumps him for Rip (Martin Braddock)who knows where all the wrong places are.Rip takes her to a Hellcat-sponsored party at a mansion.
The mansion owners are vacationing out of town, but it is okay as they didn't leave any signs on the premises reading "Do Not Break In and Throw a Wild Party While We Are Gone." This lack of oversight would get them sued from here to Shanghai in the present-day world, especially if any of the breaker-inners were to suffer any harm while on the premises.The party is wild and there is some smoking, drinking, dipping (snuff not skinny) and even games played with the lights out.
Now it becomes a murder mystery movie, as everybody in the cast and several people in the audience, all have reasons for killing Connie.
And poor Joyce, the slut that brazenly wore slacks to school, heads the list..
Extremely (though unintentionally) funny "teen delinquent" movie from the 50's.
The story centers around a straight, clean cut "new kid" at the school targeted for recruitment by the gang.
So new at the school and suddenly all these neat girls want to be her friends!
One of the funniest scenes is when her parents momentarily ask each other if there isn't something a little strange about their daughter's new friends, and then casually shrug off their suspicions, despite the very obvious fact that these rather masculine girls aren't quite normal, to put it mildly.
Jana Lund is probably the best reason for seeing this film.
I thought Heather Ames had a stand-out performance as Meg. Although Yvonne Lime was very cute in the movie, the director seemed to have her overplay her role as a sweet innocent girl.
I think American International Pictures have been given a bad rap because they catered to teens..
Is it any wonder only child Joyce is drawn to the local high school girl group, the Hellcats.
The Hellcats specialize in such deep criminal depravities as smoking, drinking, wearing slacks, and shoplifting $1.98 earrings from the local five and dime.
Ma Barkers they ain't.
But eventually something serious enough does happens that it makes Joyce have second thoughts about the path she is on.Not quite funny enough to be camp, not quite bad enough to be a total waste, this is another in the series of where did the parents go wrong with their teens and thank goodness it only takes one death to turn things around.
SUSANNE SIDNEY as "Dolly Crane" - see the pun in the name - steals the movie with her misplaced values (prides herself on teaching new girls how to steal).
If ever I saw Freudian images, it was Dolly constantly playing with her knife, throwing it (which opened the credits) and gouging a tree while the "new" girl is ordered to make a date with another's girl boyfriend..
High School Hellcats is one of those films from the fifties you took a date to in a drive-in because you had other things on your mind and didn't want to miss anything good.You didn't in this film.
The local high school play will feature a better class of acting than you'll see from anyone here.
And the implied lesbianism of the gang the Hellcats isn't hard to miss.In fact the worst thing about the film is the lesbophobia implied.
A new girl in school Yvonne Lime, coming from that perennial home where the parents just don't understand her.
She gets hooked up in a girl gang headed by Jana Lund.
That doesn't sit well with Susanne Sydney the current number two.All's well that ends well as the Sandra Dee wannabe Lime ends up safely with all American boy Brett Halsey and away from that evil group of lesbians.
Dreadful acting, idiotic plot, horrible score -- a divine movie for those who love bad ones!My favorite scene: Putting Joyce through "the slacks test." Oooh!Can't wait for the DVD version ....
High School Hellcats (1958) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Film buffs owe a lot to REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE.
Not only did it deliver a great movie and a legend but it also led to countless rip-offs hitting drive-in screens and many of them, while poorly made, were at least entertaining and that's the case with this one.
After being slapped by her strict father one too many times, Joyce (Yvonne Fedderson) decides to join the Hellcats, an all female gang at her school.
Soon Joyce is doing all sorts of bad things like wearing slacks, drinking coffee and playing children's games but at one party the leader of the gang accidentally dies.
We're supposed to look at these teens as being "bad" because they drink coffee and wear slacks?
These scenes are all pretty funny just because even the Beaver would think these girls were tame when it came to doing bad things.
The entire film is pretty fun simply because of how silly, over-the-top and at times laughable it is.
I actually thought Fedderson was pretty charming in her role and I also thought Brett Halsey was good as her boyfriend.
Jana Lund was fun as the leader of the gang but it's Susanne Sidney who steals the show as the real bad girl of the gang.
HIGH SCHOOL HELLCATS is a silly movie but fans of the genre should get some kicks out of it..
Released in 1958, "High School Hell Cats" is a 1950's teenage exploitation flick about a new girl at a high school (Yvonne Lime) who joins a group of 'bad girls' called the Hellcats.
The Hellcats get bad grades, steal earrings and meet at a dilapidated movie theater on the other side of town.
Jana Lund plays the arrogant leader of the Hellcats and Susanne Sidney her jealous chief follower.While there are lame, laughable elements to "High School Hellcats" it's entertaining simply as a period piece.
Many environments (work, school, etc.) have a group led by a pompous moron, like Connie (Lund).
As a side note, it's interesting to observe how widely-accepted smoking was back then (notice how the principle "good" characters all smoke).The movie runs 69 minutes and was presumably shot in Southern California.GRADE: C.
A new girl at high school is coerced into joining a girl's gang, even as her dad harshly judges her social life.I guess this is cut-rate AIP's female answer to The Blackboard Jungle (1955).
Can't say the same about lead actress Lime (Joyce) whose sweet innocence rivals a spoonful of sugar, making her a highly unlikely gang member.
Can't help thinking the scene that works best is Joyce's surfside cuddle with hunky Mike.
Then too, notice how skirts are required school attire for the girls.
Yes, and "High School Hellcats" falls into that genre.
Acceptance by one's peers is a big motivator for teens and a good way to start off a film about one who is led astray.
(see "Rebel Without a Cause")Joyce (Yvonne Lime) is just such a girl.
Even Shakespeare would tell you that such an act of effrontery must be followed by a fall.One should not expect too much from this 50s drive-in fare, and not much is what the viewer gets.
And, the supposedly climactic ending turns out to be an in-film product placement for the phone company, who wants to sell more extension phone lines.
****SPOILERS*** This gang of high school Tomboys-girls in boys clothing-have new girl in school pretty and sensitive Joyce Martin, Yvonne Lime, go bad by dressing herself up in slacks as well as stealing other girls boyfriends and shoplifting in order to join their exclusive club the Hellcats.
The Hellcats lead by what seem like a closeted lesbian Connie Harris, Jana Lund, gets Joyce to attend a party at a deserted house, the owners are on vacation in Florida,to have a good time only that Connie ends up , when the lights are turned off, falling down a flight of stairs leading to the cellar and dies from a cracked skull.Trying to cover up Connie's unfortunate death the Hellcats and their "Boyfriends" at the party are sworn to secretary by Connie's second in command Dolly Crane, Suzanne Sydney, but it's Joyce who's suspected by Dolly of having done Connie in by her wanting to take over command of the Hellcats!
It's Joyce secret boyfriend, that she keeps from Dolly and the Hellcats, the sweet and sensitive soda jerk at the local diner Mike Landers, Brett Halsey, who wants her to leave the Hellcats before she may well end up like its late leader Connie Harris.
Things turns sour when Connie's body is found by the owners of the house, who just returned from vacation, and everyone at the fatal party is interrogated by the police.
It soon when the truth slowly comes out to who killed or shoved Connie down a flight of stains that ended up killing her!****SPOILERS**** It's no surprise that second in command of the Hellcats Dolly Crane did in her leader Connie Harris in order not only to over over the organization but in her suspecting that she'll soon drop her as her #1 squeeze for the very cute as well as sexy Joyce Martin!
And even worse she's now planning to off Joyce before she finds out and tells the police who Connie's killer-Dolly-really is!
Showing just how ridiculous she really is Dolly plans to murder Joyce in the Hellcat's secret headquarters, an empty movie house, but falls flat on her face in doing it.
Not in just falling down the movie balcony when rushing a terrified Joyce and also getting herself killed in the process.
Even the staunchest of movie buffs won't recognize any of the players here unless you've got stuff like "Dragstrip Riot" or "Hot Car Girl" in your film library.
The major tip off that the characters here were playing for keeps was when Connie Harris (Jana Lund) successfully suckered Joyce Martin (Yvonne Lime) into wearing a pair of slacks to school!!!
For those of us who lived through the era, the picture offers a nice trip down memory lane with the prices down at the Campus Coffee Shop where hunky Mike Landers (Brett Halsey) earns a few shekels while taking night classes and living in his own apartment.
With those prices I couldn't quite figure out how the Family Expense Diagram in Miss Davis's (Rhoda Williams) class broke out food at thirty per cent of the family dollar and rent only twenty per cent.The stand-out character here has to be Susanne Sydney as Dolly Crane, the would be leader of the Hellcats if only she could figure out a way to bypass Connie.
Hellcat Meg (Heather Ames) offers an intriguing insight into Dolly's personality when she tells Joyce - "I don't think she's got all her marbles".
Well I don't know about you but this was good for my annual fix for movies of this genre, one which sort of defies any kind of classification.
One thing you have to admit though, film makers of an earlier era never missed out on an opportunity to hawk a commercial product if they had the chance.
Ain't gonna pull no punches.
With two of the "High School Hellcats" giving truly horribly grating performances and the third just bland, this piece of melodramatic trash had me remembering the line of Eve Arden in "Mildred Pierce" about Veda where she realizes she now knows why the alligators eat their young.
Jana Lund and Susanne Sidney are the #1 and #2 leaders of a group of nasty teenage girls who bully newcomer Yvonne Lime into becoming a part of their gang, that is if she can pass all of their tests.
Lime, a seemingly passive type, seems to fall for their promise of a gang to belong to, even though she seems sensitive and bright and comes from a good home.
Why she has left her former school is never explained, but she's the Sandy of "Grease" to the "Rizzo" and "Marty" Pink Lady types of Lund and Sidney.
They start the film by bullying their male substitute teacher (in a Home Economics class!) then try to initiate Lime into fitting in with them by getting her to show up to school the next day in slacks, a big no-no for young ladies in 1958.
They soon have her shoplifting, going out only with the boys that they approve of (even though Lund and Sidney are rather sadistically butch) and going to a party that results in one of the hellcat's sudden deaths.The problem with quickly written movies like this is that they never take the time to create real people, just types, and not any type grounded in reality.
Lund, who dominates the first part of the film, and Sidney, who dominates the last part, are vile in every single way, and the way they bellow their lines makes the melodramatic acting of the women in prison movies seem subtle in comparison.
Don Shelton and Viola Harris, as her troubled parents, only get a few elements written in their characters to explain why Lime would agree to become part of such a vile gang, even though after a scene where Shelton slaps her, he does get to show instant regret.
Brett Halsey as the nice boy who dates Lime behind the backs of her vile girlfriends, does a decent job in creating his characterization.
This movie begins with a new student in high school by the name of "Joyce Martin" (Yvonne Lime) being informed by the leader of an all-female gang known as the Hellcats that Joyce will have no prospects in her new school unless she joins them.
"Connie Harris" (Jana Lund) then tells her that in order to join her gang Joyce will need to pass three specific tests first.
Although she is somewhat ambivalent about the gang, Joyce desperately wants to fit in and so decides to go through the initiation.
However, her ambivalence is further put to the test by a new boyfriend named "Mike Landers" (Brett Halsey) who voices his concern to her about them.
Unfortunately, her father, "Roger Martin" (Don Shelton) isn't the best parent in the world and his actions tend to drive her more and more into the Hellcats direction.
Now, rather than reveal any more of this movie and risk spoiling it for those who haven't seen it, I will just say that this film was clearly dated to a unique era in American history and as a result seems almost out-of-sync with our current society today.
Those girls are beasts....they trick the new girl into ....WEARING SLACKS TO SCHOOL!!!!
This is a film that might have shocked some viewers back in 1958, but seen today it just seems laughable.
It's supposed to be an exposé about wicked high school girls, but it never is particularly wicked...just silly.The film begins with a new girl in school, Joyce, being asked to join a gang at school.
Almost all of the gang members look and dress like young débutantes and their idea of being tough was downright silly.
As part of the hazing, the leader of the 'Hellcats' picks out three really bad things to make this new girl do--to prove she's tough.
The first involves having her come to school...wearing pants!!!
Then, they have a wild party where they all have a tiny bit of alcohol to drink...and then play blind man's bluff--during which the leader ACCIDENTALLY DIES!!!!
The only thing moderately evil that even occurs is when the dead girls' friend, Connie flips out during the last five minutes of the movie threatens to 'shut up' Joyce...just like she did the gang leader!!!
Actually, this final twist wasn't bad...but the rest of this was just stupid...and great for laughs.I think a better title would be "Debutantes Run Amok...just a teeny, tiny bit".
And like most teenage exploitation films of the era, it both blames problems on bad parents AND has actors in their twenties (and possibly older) play teens.
I highly recommend it...if you like bad, bad films.