The Violent Years
Encyclopedia
The Violent Years is a 1956 American exploitation film
starring Jean Moorhead
as Paula Parkins, the leader of a gang of juvenile delinquent high school girls. The film is notable for the input of Ed Wood, Jr. as author of its screenplay.
As a newspaperman, Paula's father has some inside information on police plans to capture the gang, so the girls are able to avoid capture with Mr. Parkins' unwitting complicity. After a make-out party with a few local gangsters, Paula and her pals agree to wreck a few classrooms — and destroy the American flag — in a public school at the behest of a female crime boss (it is implied that this is part of an anti-American Communist plot). The girls perform the job with gleeful competence until the police arrive and a deadly shootout takes place. Paula is captured and dies in the hospital giving birth to the child she conceived during the rape.
The cynical tag line "So what?" is used repeatedly by the girls to underscore their uncaring, nihilistic attitude.
and sampled by the industrial metal
band Ministry
in the song "So What" from the album The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste
.
.
Exploitation film
Exploitation film is a type of film that is promoted by "exploiting" often lurid subject matter. The term "exploitation" is common in film marketing, used for all types of films to mean promotion or advertising. These films then need something to exploit, such as a big star, special effects, sex,...
starring Jean Moorhead
Jean Moorhead
Jean Moorhead is an American actress and model. Using the name Jean Moorehead, she was Playboy magazine's Playmate of the Month for the October 1955 issue...
as Paula Parkins, the leader of a gang of juvenile delinquent high school girls. The film is notable for the input of Ed Wood, Jr. as author of its screenplay.
Plot
Paula Parkins, the spoiled daughter of a well-to-do newspaper editor, gets her kicks by organizing and directing a gang of bored young women like herself. The gang dresses in men's attire, robs gas stations, and terrorizes habitués of a local lovers' lane—even raping a young gentleman (off camera) after tying up his girlfriend.As a newspaperman, Paula's father has some inside information on police plans to capture the gang, so the girls are able to avoid capture with Mr. Parkins' unwitting complicity. After a make-out party with a few local gangsters, Paula and her pals agree to wreck a few classrooms — and destroy the American flag — in a public school at the behest of a female crime boss (it is implied that this is part of an anti-American Communist plot). The girls perform the job with gleeful competence until the police arrive and a deadly shootout takes place. Paula is captured and dies in the hospital giving birth to the child she conceived during the rape.
The cynical tag line "So what?" is used repeatedly by the girls to underscore their uncaring, nihilistic attitude.
Cast
- Jean MoorheadJean MoorheadJean Moorhead is an American actress and model. Using the name Jean Moorehead, she was Playboy magazine's Playmate of the Month for the October 1955 issue...
as Paula Parkins - Barbara Weeks as Jane Parkins
- Arthur Millan as Carl Parkins
- Theresa Hancock as Georgia
- Glen CorbettGlen CorbettGlen Corbett was an American actor, son of actress Gloria Holden, and married to actress Adrienne Ellis. He was perhaps best known for his roles as Mack Miller on The Fireball and Barney Stetson on The Violent Years .Father of actress Laurie Holden Glen Corbett (Born Larry Holden ) was an...
as Barney Stetson - Joanne Cangi as Geraldine
- Gloria Farr as Phyllis
- Lee Constant as Sheila
- I. Stanford Jolley as Judge Clara
- Timothy FarrellTimothy FarrellTimothy Farrell, real name Timothy Sperl, was an American film actor, best known for his roles in the Edward D. Wood, Jr. films Jail Bait, The Violent Years, and Glen or Glenda...
as Lt. Holmes - F. Chan McClure as Det. Artman
- Bruno Metsa as Manny
- Harry Keaton as Doctor
Production
- The screenplay, originally titled Teenage Girl Gang, was written by Edward D. Wood, Jr., the director of Glen or Glenda and Plan 9 from Outer SpacePlan 9 from Outer SpacePlan 9 from Outer Space is a 1959 science fiction film written and directed by Edward D. Wood, Jr. The film features Gregory Walcott, Mona McKinnon, Tor Johnson and Maila "Vampira" Nurmi...
. The Violent Years was the most financially successful film with creative input from Ed Wood. - Star Jean MoorheadJean MoorheadJean Moorhead is an American actress and model. Using the name Jean Moorehead, she was Playboy magazine's Playmate of the Month for the October 1955 issue...
was the Playboy Playmate for October 1955.
Response
The film was featured on an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000Mystery Science Theater 3000
Mystery Science Theater 3000 is an American cult television comedy series created by Joel Hodgson and produced by Best Brains, Inc., that ran from 1988 to 1999....
and sampled by the industrial metal
Industrial metal
Industrial metal is a musical genre that draws from industrial music and many different types of heavy metal, using repeating metal guitar riffs, sampling, synthesizer or sequencer lines, and distorted vocals. Founding industrial metal acts include Ministry, Godflesh, and KMFDM.Industrial metal's...
band Ministry
Ministry (band)
Ministry is an American industrial metal band founded by lead singer Al Jourgensen in 1981. Originally a synthpop outfit, Ministry changed its style to industrial metal in the late 1980s. Ministry found mainstream success in the early 1990s with its most successful album Psalm 69: The Way to...
in the song "So What" from the album The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste
The Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Taste
The Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Taste is the fourth studio album by industrial metal band Ministry, released in 1989 through Sire/Warner Bros. Records. The music took a more hardcore, aggressively guitar-driven direction...
.
Home media
The film was also released on DVD as part of a large box set of vintage exploitation films called Girls Gone BadGirls Gone Bad
Girls Gone Bad - The Delinquent Dames Collection , is a five disc DVD boxset showing 25 hours of campy, cult classic exploitation films from 1930 through 1965...
.