William Morgan, born in London, made his mark as a director with The Violent Years (1956), a film that delves into the chaotic lives of delinquent teenagers. His work captures the raw energy and social commentary of the era, reflecting the anxieties surrounding youth culture in post-war America. Morgan's background in film editing provided him with a unique perspective, allowing him to craft a narrative that is both engaging and provocative, making The Violent Years a notable entry in the canon of exploitation cinema.
The Violent Years
Paula Parkins, the spoiled daughter of well-to-do newspaper-editor Carl and socialite Jane, gets her kicks by organizing and directing a gang of bored young women like herself. The gang's core members -- besides Paula -- are Georgia, Phyllis, and Geraldine ("George", "Phil", and "Gerry" for short). 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. Paula obtains inside information, from her father, regarding police plans to capture her gang; thus, ironically, the girls avoid capture with Carl's unwitting complicity. After a make-out party with local gangsters, Paula and Company agree to wreck classrooms — and destroy the American flag — at a local public high school, at the behest of crime boss Sheila. (The film implies that Sheila is in league with the Communist Party and their anti-American movement.) The girls perform said job with gleeful competence until the police arrive and a deadly shootout takes place. Gerry and Phil are fatally shot while fleeing the wrecked school; Paula herself guns down one of the cops. Seeking refuge from the police, George and Paula return to Sheila's, where they report their wrecking of the school. But Sheila, who never had any intention of paying the girls, attempts to have them arrested as "loose ends"; as she reaches for the phone, Paula shoots and kills her. A highway patrolman notices the girls driving Sheila's car and wearing clothes from her wardrobe. In the heat of the ensuing car chase, the girls crash their car through a store's plate-glass window; George is killed and Paula is hospitalized. Because Paula is a minor and therefore ineligible for the death penalty, the judge sentences her to life imprisonment without possibility of parole. However, Paula gets a reprieve of sorts...dying from the complications of giving birth to a child she accidentally conceived during her make-out party with Sheila's fellow mobsters. The judge who delivered Paula's conviction also denies Jane and Carl custody of their granddaughter, based on the neglectful way they raised Paula. The cynical tag line "So what?" is used repeatedly by the girls to underscore their uncaring, nihilistic attitude. A newspaper publisher's daughter suffers from neglect by her parents. She and her friends turn to crime by dressing up like men, holding up gas stations, raping young men at gunpoint, and having makeout parties when her parents are away. Their "fence" gets them to trash the school on request of sinister un-American clients, and they run afoul of the law, apple pie, and God himself. Paula Parkins is the teenage daughter of wealthy parents who can't seem to make time for her, so she looks for thrills as the leader of her all girl-gang who rob and rape young men. A wealthy teenager leads an all-girl gang from petty thrills into armed robbery, assault, and murder while her distracted parents remain blind to the danger under their roof.
