Eighteen & Anxious With A Bonus Feature

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I’m not much for the hot rod B-Movies of the 1950’s. I mean, I love them for their footage, but they are just sooo poorly done that it’s hard for me to appreciate them for just the hot rods. There is, however, always an exception to the rule.

And what is that exception? Teen Age Thunder.

Teen Age Thunder was directed by Paul Helmick and released in 1957. It’s about your typical teenage boy that’s pissed at his parents, likes fast cars, and is desperate to get in his girlfriend’s pants. The story is predictable and the writing is nothing to… well, write home about…

But this movie has the best production value of any in the genre. The acting is decent, the scenes (lighting and audio) are produced at a real Hollywood level, and it all comes together to form a movie that you don’t have to be embarrassed about while watching. It’s actually pretty damned good.

The weird thing is, however, this movie was never advertised like others in the genre. For instance, “Hot Rod Girl” (released one year earlier) got a full theatrical release and was marketed in just about every major newspaper despite the fact that it had a budget of only around $36,000.

Meanwhile, Teen Age Thunder had a budget of just under $50,000, was a limited release, and was only marketed as a bonus feature and mostly in porn theaters. Check it out:

This got me curious and I fell down a rabbit hole of silver screen rumor and innuendo. Weird forums abound with stories about James Cagney’s love life, Lauren Bacall’s nasty temper, and… Well, all sorts of shit. But I could never really get much about the director of the film – Paul Helmick.

Then, I hit pay dirt. I think. In a poorly produced fan ‘zine produced in 1974 called “Monsters in the Attic,” writer Paul Barrow said this:

“Marquette Productions is one of the strangest stories in Hollywood. Between 1957 and 1958, the company produced three films – The Brain from Planet Arous, Teenage Thunder, and Teenage Monster. Each were done at a level only obtainable by the largest production companies of the time, but no one has ever figured out where the money came from. The Founder, Jacques Marquette, never had more than a dime to his name and has never come clean.”

From there, I researched Jacques (his real name is actually Jack) and found that he passed in 1999. After he made his three movies in the 1950’s, he spent much of the rest of his life as a simple camera man – never giving a real explanation of how he was able to produce such high-end movies.

To be fair though, I’ve watched both Teen Age Monster and The Brain from Planet Arous… I’m not sure I would categorize them in the same breath as I do Teen Age Thunder. But, I’m not much for monster movies.

As far as old hot rod movies go, however, Teen Age Thunder is an absolute must watch. And guess what? You are in luck as I’ve sourced the entire flick for you:

You didn’t have anything going on this morning, right?