These Dangerous Years ** (1957, Frankie Vaughan, George Baker, Carole Lesley) – Classic Movie Review 11,915

George Baker is the lead actor in These Dangerous Years (1957), though it is an attempt to make a film star of singing sensation Frankie Vaughan.

Director Herbert Wilcox’s 1957 film These Dangerous Years [Dangerous Youth] stars Frankie Vaughan as Dave, a Liverpool street-tough ruffian, who is conscripted in the British armed forces. Helped by the kindly minister (George Baker), he finds a new set of values in the tough, rigorous world of the army after being bullied by nasty Simpson (Kenneth Cope) who prompted the death of his pal Smiley (Ray Jackson).

The result is a clichéd, sermonising melodrama that is well meaning though hard to swallow. But it is lifted by a hammy but heartfelt performance by the then new singing sensation Vaughan in one of his best screen roles. The stalwart performances by the welcome old faces are a plus too.

Also in the cast are Jackie Lane, Katherine Kath, Eddie Byrne, Kenneth Cope, Ray Jackson, Thora Hird, Robert Desmond, David Lodge, John le Mesurier, Reginald Beckwith, Richard Leech, Ralph Reader, Eric Morley, Marjorie Rhodes, Lloyd Lamble, Michael Ripper, Martin Boddey, John Breslin, Victor Brooks and David Gregory.

RIP George Baker (1931–2011). His films include The Intruder (1953), The Dam Busters (1955), The Ship That Died of Shame (1955), The Woman for Joe (1955), The Feminine Touch (1956), A Hill in Korea (1956), The Extra Day (1956), These Dangerous Years (1957), No Time for Tears (1957) and The Moonraker (1958). But he is best known on TV as Tiberius in I, Claudius, and Inspector Wexford in The Ruth Rendell Mysteries.

© Derek Winnert 2022 Classic Movie Review 11,915

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