The Violent Years (1956)

The Violent Years is a 1956 American exploitation film directed by William Morgan and starring Jean Moorhead as Paula Parkins, the leader of a gang of juvenile delinquent high school girls. The film is notable for having an uncredited Ed Wood as the author of its screenplay. It was released in 1956 on a double bill with the German import Conchita and the Engineer (aka Macumba).

Director – William Morgan

Writer – Edward D. Wood Jr. (uncredited)

Cast –
Jean Moorhead as Paula Parkins
Barbara Weeks as Jane Parkins
Arthur Millan as Carl Parkins
Theresa Hancock as Georgia
Glen Corbett as Barney Stetson
Joanne Cangi as Geraldine
Gloria Farr as Phyllis
Lee Constant as Sheila
I. Stanford Jolley as Judge Clara
Timothy Farrell as Lt. Holmes
F. Chan McClure as Det. Artman
Bruno Metsa as Manny
Harry Keaton as Doctor

Watch “The Violent Years” (1956)

Plot

The gang’s core members—besides Paula—are Georgia, Phyllis, and Geraldine (“George”, “Phil”, and “Gerry” for short).

(The film implies that Sheila is in league with the Communist Party and their anti-American movement.) 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.