First released in 1957 and filmed on a $63,000 budget in Kansas City, The Delinquents tells the story of Scotty White (Tom Laughlin).

Scotty is eighteen.  He’s not a bad kid.  He’s just a bit directionless and he’s got a slight rebellious streak.  Today, Scotty would not be considered to be that wild of a teenager but, by the standards of 1957, he’s dangerous.  He’s a criminal.  He’s a rebel.  He’s an outsider.  He’s a degenerate.  He’s a delinquent and it doesn’t matter how in love he and 16 year-old Janice (Rosemary Howard) may be, Janice’s parents don’t want Scotty anywhere near their daughter.  She’s too young to date, they say.  Scott’s got a bed reputation, they say.  Scotty is set to soon leave for college and he’s got his entire future ahead of him.  But it doesn’t seem like much of a future without Janice as a part of it.

Poor guy!  Is it any surprise that he ends up hanging out with two legitimate delinquents, Cholly (Peter Miller) and Eddy (Richard Bakalyan)?  At first, Cholly and Eddy seem like great friends to have.  They even come up with a scheme to allow Scotty to spend some time with Janice.  (The plan doesn’t work, of course.  But it’s the thought that counts.)  However, when the police show up to bust a wild delinquent party, Cholly and Eddy suspect that Scotty might be a rat!  When their attempts to get Scotty drunk enough to confess fail, they end up driving a passed out Scotty into the country so they can dump him on the side of the road.  However, they decide to stop to rob a gas station first.  Believe it or not, this leads to even more trouble.

It also leads to the question of why they couldn’t have waited to rob the gas station until after they got Scotty out of the car.  Watching The Delinquents, I came to suspect that many of the characters just weren’t that smart.  Seriously, how difficult is it to be a delinquent in Kansas City?  But as dumb as Cholly and Eddy were, Scotty was even dumber because he continually got outsmarted by the both of them.  Maybe Janice’s parents had a point about him….

The Delinquents is pretty much a standard youth-in-trouble exploitation film, one that owes more than a little bit of debt to Rebel Without A Cause.  The main reason why anyone would watch the film is because it was not only the directorial debut of Robert Altman but also the acting debut of Tom “Billy Jack” Laughlin.  And let’s give credit where credit is due.  Though I doubt either one of them would have claimed this film as an example of their best work, there is some obvious talent to found in The Delinquents.  Laughlin gives an appealing performance, even though Scotty’s an idiot.  And Altman keeps the action moving and even manages to come up with some visually striking sequences, like the opening jazz performance and the “wild” delinquent party.  Viewed today, The Delinquents is an interesting preview of what was to come for both Altman and Laughlin.  Though the plot is nothing special and it’s hard not to laugh at the portentous narration (which was apparently added by the studio and without Altman’s knowledge), The Delinquents is an energetic exploitation film and a reminder that even Kansas City had its mean streets.