Shame of a Nation: Juvenile Delinquents and Exploitation

Abstract

British crime cinema’s sensational, censor-baiting treatment of delinquency in the 1950s and 1960s was catnip to the self-styled guardians of morality (in both the popular and serious press, prissily condemning such shock tactics while simultaneously exploiting sensationalism to massage sales). But this manufactured outrage did little harm to the filmmakers’ bottom lines; to some degree, it acted as a useful promotional tool. Such condemnation was read by cinema audiences as a promise of tempting sex and violence; it became, in fact, a key exploitation element which helped in targeting a crucial cinema-going demographic in terms of age. Such films, in fact, were often aimed at young adult audiences looking for taboo-busting fare. There was a synergistic crossover with the equally disreputable pop music of the day (finessed by the use of popular singers in British crime films, usually as alienated teenagers, though this was also the era of squeaky-clean pop from the distinctly unthreatening Cliff Richard, subsequently famous for his Christian proselytising). The intimations of teenage moral torpor helped stoke new levels of alarm among politicians and the press. Intriguingly, the more perceptive viewer might have spotted a corollary between the shock tactics of the filmmakers and other elements freighted into the edgy, confrontational scenarios; for instance, more committed, sensitive treatment of such themes as homosexuality.