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So movies have taught me that your
average 1950s teenagers were all in their 30s and as a course of
habit always getting into every kind of convoluted predicament
imaginable. Case in point: Daddy-O from 1958.
Plot
It starts with Phil (Dick Contino)
driving a truck and being cut off by a curvy blonde in a Thunderbird,
and he runs her off the road. Her name’s Jana “Jan” Ryan
(Sandra Giles), and they argue so much that its obvious they end up
together. They meet again at a restaurant/bar where Phil, “Daddy-O”
to his friends, sings to the crowd on occasion. One of Phil’s
friends, Sonny, is in a sullen and rather creepy mood (see, its
ironic because his disposition doesn’t match his name, which...eh,
you get the idea). Sonny’s in bad with a fat man named Sidney
Chillis, sort of a cross between Orson Wells wand Sidney Greenstreet
(played by Bruno VeSota). Chillis is obviously evil, and even has a
slack-jawed henchman wearing coke bottle glasses. His name’s Bruce
Green (Jack McClure) and he runs a gym and he’s incredibly
unintimidating.
Whoo, things are getting complicated.
Jan meets Phil again at the restaurant and challenges him to a race.
Loser has to buy pizza. They get separated during the race and
independently, Sonny was run off the road by Chillis and Bruce and
died. The police think Phil did it through reckless driving, but his
car doesn’t show any damage from a hit & run. Still, Phil’s
license is revoked for other traffic violations because reasons. Phil
suspects Jan, but she didn’t do it. Together they go into junior
detective mode and track Sonny’s trail to Chillis and Bruce.
Chillis offers Phil a job as a singer and errand-boy for his new club
the Hi-Note, and Phil accepts, getting a fake ID and a new car. Phil
also takes a codename (which is just his performing nickname) for his
shady deliveries. Complicated story simplified, Chillis is using Phil
to run dope for him while Phil tries to figure out the cause of
Sonny’s death. Basically it leads to a goofy climactic fight scene
in a basement filled with wine racks.
Characters
Contino is affable enough as Phil,
though in a somewhat bland way. Phil gives the impression of being a
decent guy who doesn’t think things through before acting. His
song, “Rock Candy Baby” is kind of bad, but also just catchy
enough for the refrain to worm its way into your head and remind you
how bad it is every now and then.
Jan is spunky and shoots her mouth off
a lot in the beginning. She’s also a reckless driver. Then she
morphs into a love interest/sidekick for Phil and the two have a
brief falling out when Phil starts palling around with Chillis’s
secretary for a little bit.
Bruce Green is, again, not an imposing
henchman. The absurdly thick glasses lead to that perpetual
squinty-look. You know, the kind where the nose scrunches up and the
mouth hangs open a bit. Bruce’s face is like that the ENTIRE MOVIE.
Sidney Chillis is, oddly enough, the
most interesting character. He’s smug and clearly crooked, but he’s
also a really classy and erudite guy. He gives Phil two jobs doing
what he likes (singing and driving), provides him a car, sets him up
with a fake ID, and even gets him some nicer clothes. If it wasn’t
for the whole “dope smuggling racket” he had going, he’d be a
fantastic boss.
Conclusion
Wait, before the end, I have to note
that a young John Williams did the musical score for this movie. Its
jazzy and better than a lot of contemporary music, but also not quite
the level of awesomeness that Williams would eventually reach. Still,
the music’s pleasant.
Daddy-O is ultimately another
inoffensive, forgettable teensploitation movie from the 50s. A few
interesting elements/characters and a listenable soundtrack don’t
do anything to lift it above its contemporaries. But I can’t say
that its downright terrible. Its merely forgettable.
No trailer for this, but here's Rock Candy Baby from the movie, because if I had to listen to it, you can too.
