A group of teenagers in the Kansas City of 1957 are the subject of this film that has a feeling of a morality tale written and directed by Robert Altman. We are given a glimpse of a group of young people doing things that for the times, when the action takes place, was an affront to the ordinary folks trying to lead decent lives, only to have to face a crowd of restless youths getting into all kinds of trouble.

The gang led by Cholly were an aimless bunch of teens whose lives, if they continued the way they acted, when we meet them, they probably ended in some type of juvenile facility. Cholly was a vicious young man who saw an opportunity to take care of a naive Scotty because he represented a good person and he wanted to make him suffer for the way he was perceived.

When Scotty is told by Janice's parents to stop seeing her, he goes into a terrible ordeal. Having gone alone to the drive-in, he has the unfortunate experience of parking next to Cholly and his friends who have all intentions of getting into trouble. Upon hearing of Scotty's problems, Cholly offers to go to get Janice as though he had a date with her, and then bring her to meet Scotty. That was the start of some serious problems between the two young men. It comes to a bad confrontation, but in the meantime, it will ultimately bring Scotty and Janice together.

The film is a bit heavy handed by Mr. Altman. The picture has a look as though made for television, a medium in which the director worked for quite a while before turning to making films exclusively. The style he used in the film shows a different aspect of his genius, although viewing this movie one could not foresee the great things he would get involved later on. Watch it as a curiosity.