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The Cry Baby Killer
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Joe Addis
Written by	Leo Gordon Melvin Levy
Produced by	Roger Corman David Kramarsky David March
Starring	Harry Lauter Jack Nicholson Carolyn Mitchell
Cinematography	Floyd Crosby
Edited by	Irene Morra
Music by	Gerald Fried
Distributed by	Allied Artists Pictures Corporation
Release date	August 17, 1958 (1958-08-17)
Running time	61 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

The Cry Baby Killer is a 1958 teen exploitation film produced by Roger Corman that marked Jack Nicholson's film debut. The film was out of print and difficult to find until 2006, when it was issued on DVD for the first time by Buena Vista Home Entertainment as part of its Roger Corman Classics series.

Plot

After Jimmy Wallace is beaten by Manny Cole and his friends over Carole, Jimmy confronts him and challenges him to a fight outside the café; during a struggle, Jimmy grabs a gun from one of Manny's friends and two gunshots ring out. A nearby police officer corners Jimmy, who then rushes into a room and takes a worker and a mother with her baby hostage. After a prolonged and tense hostage situation, Carole begs Jimmy to come out, who then does, surrendering himself to the police and releasing the hostages.

Cast

• Harry Lauter as Police Lt. Porter
• Jack Nicholson as Jimmy Wallace
• Carolyn Mitchell as Carole Fields
• Brett Halsey as Manny Cole
• Lynn Cartwright as Julie
• Barbara Knudson as Mrs. Maxton
• William A. Forester as Carl Maxton
• John Shay as Police Officer Gannon
• Ralph Reed as Joey
• Bill Erwin as Mr. Wallace
• Ed Nelson as Rick Connor
• Smoki Whitfield as Sam
• John Weed as Police Sgt. Reed
• Frank Richards as Pete Gambelli

Production

Corman later claimed that The Cry Baby Killer was the first film that he produced that didn't return a profit, although he said that it earned back its budget from TV rights. Corman also said that he'd been abroad during preproduction while much of the script was changed by the producer. Corman returned to Hollywood 2 days before filming began and tried to reverse the changes, but was only partially successful.

See also

• List of American films of 1958

References

1. Ed. J. Philip di Franco, The Movie World of Roger Corman, Chelsea House Publishers, 1979, page 16–17.

External links

• The Cry Baby Killer at IMDb
• The Cry Baby Killer at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
• The Cry Baby Killer at the TCM Movie Database
• The Cry Baby Killer at Rotten Tomatoes

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• v
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• 1958 films
• 1958 directorial debut films
• 1950s American films
• 1950s crime thriller films
• 1950s English-language films
• 1958 independent films
• Allied Artists films
• American black-and-white films
• American crime thriller films
• American independent films
• Films about hostage takings
• Films about juvenile delinquency
• Films produced by Roger Corman
• Films scored by Gerald Fried
• Teensploitation
• English-language crime thriller films
• Crime thriller film stubs