High school teacher gets in trouble when he tries to teach a class in sex education.High school teacher gets in trouble when he tries to teach a class in sex education.High school teacher gets in trouble when he tries to teach a class in sex education.
Stephen Dunne
- Bobby Herman Sr.
- (as Steve Dunne)
Judee Morton
- Charlene
- (as Judy Morton)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaAccording to the Arizona Republic newspaper of August 22, 2014, two days of filming occurred at Mesa High School in Mesa, Arizona. About 350 students got to play extras in the film. Making his Hollywood debut as an extra was a 17-year-old David Geffen, the future music and film producer.
- GoofsThe first time William Shatner enters the classroom, a microphone is visible at the top of the frame for a full ten seconds.
- Quotes
Mrs. Katie Sommers: What do you mean "prove" your love?
Janet Sommers: Well if you don't know, maybe you'd better ask DAD!
- ConnectionsFeatured in American Masters: Inventing David Geffen (2012)
Featured review
Very dated but also very interesting
Progressive teacher Peter Gifford (William Shatner) allows the students in his class to write essays about anything they want. Most write about sex and their feelings about it. One student tells her mother, other parents find out, go crazy about their kids talking about sex in school (this WAS 1961) and order the principal (Edward Platt!!!) to fire Gifford. He does but the students led by Bobby (Billy Grey), Dan (Lee Kinsolving) and Janet (Patricia McCormack) decide to fight back. But will they win?
This film is laughably dated but still is not bad at all. The kids naivety is actually pretty interesting and the parents overreaction is convincing. This could have become a camp classic but competence at every level makes it work. The acting is pretty good--this is before Shatner became full of himself and it's amusing to see McCormack all grown up from "The Bad Seed". However Billy Grey is TERRIBLE in his role. And look for a young Beau Bridges in a few scenes. It's well-written (and based on a true incident) and I really liked how the students fought back in a non-violent fashion. Also well-directed in stark black & white. It also treats the teenagers (and parents) with respect. The ending was a little TOO goody-goody but still worked.
Worth seeing as a (I think) pretty accurate look at teen life back in 1961. Recommended.
This film is laughably dated but still is not bad at all. The kids naivety is actually pretty interesting and the parents overreaction is convincing. This could have become a camp classic but competence at every level makes it work. The acting is pretty good--this is before Shatner became full of himself and it's amusing to see McCormack all grown up from "The Bad Seed". However Billy Grey is TERRIBLE in his role. And look for a young Beau Bridges in a few scenes. It's well-written (and based on a true incident) and I really liked how the students fought back in a non-violent fashion. Also well-directed in stark black & white. It also treats the teenagers (and parents) with respect. The ending was a little TOO goody-goody but still worked.
Worth seeing as a (I think) pretty accurate look at teen life back in 1961. Recommended.
helpful•143
- preppy-3
- Sep 20, 2004
- How long is The Explosive Generation?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Frühreife Generation
- Filming locations
- Mesa High School, Mesa, Arizona, USA(Mason High School)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 29 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.66 : 1
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Top Gap
By what name was The Explosive Generation (1961) officially released in Canada in English?
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