Curfew Breakers (1957)

Police Lieutenant Lacey, with aid from Coach Bettger, heads a crack-down on dope-peddling to high-school athletes. One kid dies from an overdose, two more kill a gas station attendant in an aborted hold-up attempt to get money to buy dope, and a third dies in a fall in a condemned empty building while fleeing from the law. With the aid of some outraged students, the dope pusher is brought to justice.

The title "Curfew Breakers" is spliced into the title credits of this early 50s crime/drug/JD film originally called "Narcotics Squad," a title still seen in the credits. Starring the distinguished film and stage actor Paul Kelly, in one of his final roles, the film has a great shadowy yet naturalistic look to it, a "dragnet"-style narration in parts (common in post-dragnet 50s crime films), and hard-boiled performances from all. It harkens back to such 30s narcotics crime films as Cocaine Fiends, yet also foreshadows High School Confidential in some ways (although I'm not claiming it influenced HSC). Parents discuss drug issues with concerned school authorities (shades of Reefer Madness), overaged highschool students act tough and use dope, and hardboiled police officers are on the trail, led by the steel-jawed Kelly. The two musical sequences are quite interesting, the first featuring a Jimmy Cavallo/Mike Pedicin-styled jive combo with a rubberfaced, mushmouthed frontman, the second featuring the band's female drummer howling a bluesy tune. I'd love to know who these performers are. Anyone know? Overall, this is a satisfying 1950s drug-crime melodrama.