High School Confidential [1958] [DVD]

The patriotic and paternalistic Louis B Mayer would have turned in his grave had he seen this deeply subversive, hugely exploitative MGM offering about school kids getting high on marijuana.

It also packs in gang warfare, hot-rod racing, alcoholism, plenty of sex and a note of seriousness when lead delinquent, Russ Tamblyn, turns out to be a narcotics agent. Jan Sterling plays an English teacher and that 1950s icon, Mamie Van Doren, turns up as Tamblyn's lascivious aunt.

Rock star Jerry Lee Lewis has a cameo appearance as himself and sings the title song.

Cult drama starring Russ Tamblyn. On arrival at a new high school, a streetwise student makes an immediate impact with his boorish behaviour. But his interest in the local drugs scene is not all that it seems.