High School Big Shot is a 1959 film starring Tom Pittman, in his final film role, as Marv Grant, a smart high school student whose plans for getting a college scholarship are threatened by his alcoholic father played by Malcolm Atterbury, and his relationship with the most popular girl in school. Filmed in 1958 under the title Blood Money, it was released by executive producer Roger Corman as a double feature with T-Bird Gang in his first Filmgroup release.[1]
Marv Grant (Pittman) is a high school student who lives with his deadbeat, alcoholic father. At school he begins dating the attractive Betty Alexander (Virginia Aldridge), who eventually manipulates him into writing her English class term paper for her. Marv does this, but the subterfuge is easily uncovered by the professor. Betty fails the class, and the professor withdraws his recommendation from Marv's college application, without which Marv has no chance of earning a scholarship. In anger, Betty throws Marv over and returns to her old boyfriend, Vince, revealing that she had only been using Marv from the beginning.
At his part-time job at the docks, Marv overhears his boss plotting a drug transaction worth $1 million cash. The money will be kept in the office safe prior to the deal. In despair, Marv plots to steal the money, with the help of safecracker Harry March and Sam Tolman, to cure troubles with his father and Betty and he secures $550,000 of the take for himself. He tells Betty about the pending robbery to entice her to marry him, and she apparently accedes. In reality she secretively tasks her boyfriend, Vince, to steal the money from Marv.
Marv and his associates steal the money, but things then go horribly wrong when it's discovered Marv's father has hanged himself, then Vince and two accomplices intervene and shoots Sam, and he is horrified. When Betty arrives on the scene soon afterwards, Vince accuses her of making him do this, and he kills her, too. Vince's accomplices flee, but the police soon arrive where they shoot Vince and the drug importer. Marv is arrested and the money falls into the water, being lost.
The film was financed by Roger Corman who was particularly impressed by the performance of Tom Pittman in the lead.[2]
In February 1959 Filmgroup announced they would release ten films. Their first movies were High School Big Shot (1959) and T-Bird Gang (1959) produced by Stanley Bickman.[3]
Reception and legacyedit
Mystery Science Theater 3000edit
In 1994, the film was featured in a sixth-season episode of the movie-parody series Mystery Science Theater 3000 alongside the 1954 short film Out of This World. The main topics of ridicule were Marv's wimpy demeanor, huge lips and awkward appearance, his father's pathetic alcoholism, and the overall bleak nature of the film. There was also a running gag involving Tom Servo singing "Don't Pay the Ferryman" whenever characters reached the car ferry, leading to Mike Nelson throwing him across the theater out of frustration.
The ending in particular prompted the writers to dub it "one of the most depressing films we've ever seen" and include a skit where the characters of the show "kill" each other with water guns to mock the fact that most of the major characters were killed in a brief moment of time, nearly one after the other.
The episode was available on DVD by Shout Factory on March 28, 2017 alongside the original unriffed film as a special feature.[4][5]
High School Big Shot is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive
The official MST3K treatment on Shout! TV
April 10, 2024
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High School Big Shot is a 1959 film starring Tom Pittman in his final film role as Marv Grant a smart high school student whose plans for getting a college scholarship are threatened by his alcoholic father played by Malcolm Atterbury and his relationship with the most popular girl in school Filmed in 1958 under the title Blood Money it was released by executive producer Roger Corman as a double feature with T Bird Gang in his first Filmgroup release 1 High School Big ShotOne sheet for High School Big ShotDirected byJoel RappWritten byJoel RappProduced byStanley BickmanStarringTom PittmanVirginia AldridgeHoward VeitMalcolm AtterburyCinematographyJohn M Nickolaus Jr Edited byCarlo LodatoMusic byGerald FriedDistributed bySparta ProductionsFilmgroupRelease dateJune 21 1959 1959 06 21 Running time69 minutesCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglishHigh School Big Shot was featured on an episode of the comedy series Mystery Science Theater 3000 Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Production 4 Reception and legacy 4 1 Mystery Science Theater 3000 5 See also 6 References 7 External linksPlot edit source source source source High School Big ShotMarv Grant Pittman is a high school student who lives with his deadbeat alcoholic father At school he begins dating the attractive Betty Alexander Virginia Aldridge who eventually manipulates him into writing her English class term paper for her Marv does this but the subterfuge is easily uncovered by the professor Betty fails the class and the professor withdraws his recommendation from Marv s college application without which Marv has no chance of earning a scholarship In anger Betty throws Marv over and returns to her old boyfriend Vince revealing that she had only been using Marv from the beginning At his part time job at the docks Marv overhears his boss plotting a drug transaction worth 1 million cash The money will be kept in the office safe prior to the deal In despair Marv plots to steal the money with the help of safecracker Harry March and Sam Tolman to cure troubles with his father and Betty and he secures 550 000 of the take for himself He tells Betty about the pending robbery to entice her to marry him and she apparently accedes In reality she secretively tasks her boyfriend Vince to steal the money from Marv Marv and his associates steal the money but things then go horribly wrong when it s discovered Marv s father has hanged himself then Vince and two accomplices intervene and shoots Sam and he is horrified When Betty arrives on the scene soon afterwards Vince accuses her of making him do this and he kills her too Vince s accomplices flee but the police soon arrive where they shoot Vince and the drug importer Marv is arrested and the money falls into the water being lost Cast editTom Pittman as Marv Grant Virginia Aldridge as Betty Alexander Howard Veit as Vince Rumbo Malcolm Atterbury as Mr Grant Stanley Adams as Harry March Louis Quinn as Samuel TallmanProduction editThe film was financed by Roger Corman who was particularly impressed by the performance of Tom Pittman in the lead 2 In February 1959 Filmgroup announced they would release ten films Their first movies were High School Big Shot 1959 and T Bird Gang 1959 produced by Stanley Bickman 3 Reception and legacy editMystery Science Theater 3000 edit In 1994 the film was featured in a sixth season episode of the movie parody series Mystery Science Theater 3000 alongside the 1954 short film Out of This World The main topics of ridicule were Marv s wimpy demeanor huge lips and awkward appearance his father s pathetic alcoholism and the overall bleak nature of the film There was also a running gag involving Tom Servo singing Don t Pay the Ferryman whenever characters reached the car ferry leading to Mike Nelson throwing him across the theater out of frustration The ending in particular prompted the writers to dub it one of the most depressing films we ve ever seen and include a skit where the characters of the show kill each other with water guns to mock the fact that most of the major characters were killed in a brief moment of time nearly one after the other The episode was available on DVD by Shout Factory on March 28 2017 alongside the original unriffed film as a special feature 4 5 See also editList of American films of 1959 Jam Handy the production company responsible for the 1954 promotional short film featured on the episode Out of This WorldReferences edit p 27 Ray Fred Olen The New Poverty Row Independent Filmmakers as Distributors McFarland Ed J Philip di Franco The Movie World of Roger Corman Chelsea House Publishers 1979 p 137 Roger Corman Sets 10 to Nourish Filmgroup Variety 18 February 1959 p 3 MST3K Volume XXXVIII Shout Factory Mystery Science Theater 3000 Volume XXXVIII DVD Review The Digital BitsExternal links editHigh School Big Shot at IMDb nbsp MST3K episode at IMDb High School Big Shot is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive The official MST3K treatment on Shout TV Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title High School Big Shot amp oldid 1217498171, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
