1970—1980: Ten Golden Years of Teen Films

By Noreen Sobczyk

In the 50s and 60s, the word “teenager” had long been part of the American lexicon, but it wasn’t until rock and roll came along that the generation gap began to widen exponentially. Music was a major delineating factor separating the generations, and as teenage culture began to blossom, a target marketing audience was born. Rock and roll was all the rage and some films caught a ride on the teen bandwagon via the medium of music. Who can forget Elvis cashing in on his fame with some of his similarly-plotted films?

Marlon Brando in The Wild One

There was a brief glut of sanitized beach-themed films, but it’s not surprising that save for a small number of movies, few non-musical films of that time period were created for—and aimed directly at—teenagers. The cultural tide started to turn in the late 50s and 60s with juvenile delinquents becoming a more common media topic. Surely the success of films like Rebel Without A Cause and The Wild One (with stars well beyond their teens) alerted Hollywood that young people were hungry for film fodder on which to sup. The Graduate dealt with the transition into adulthood, but not teens in general. Even the cult classic movie Riot on Sunset Strip was basically a propaganda film with groovy clothes. Television was common by this time, but programming catered mainly to families. And although tame by today’s standards, Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In (which featured adults but discussed youth culture) was considered positively shocking for its time.

Enter the seventies with its After School Specials and a proliferation of made-for-TV movies, and the teenage experience was ready to expand. Not only were movies and TV shows made especially for teens, but unlike previous decades, many characters were actually played by age-appropriate actors. Issues that young people faced were dealt with honestly in some cases, exaggerated to cringe-worthy heights in others, and sometimes used to frighten (not unlike decades preceding them). Sometimes these films were nothing more than teen exploitation. Some of these films still stand up today, while others need to lie down and moan softly to themselves. Some are commercially available and others must be found on the Internet via trading or auction sites.

Were these films Oscar-worthy? Perhaps not, but they meant a lot to kids at the time. In an age before cable and VCRs, it seemed to take forever to see a beloved film for the second time. Somehow that rarity burned specific images into young minds, images that remain even today. Perhaps you remember Scott Baio hitting his brother’s head with an oar while high in Stoned? Or John Travolta stepping over the threshold of his Plastic Bubble? Or Robby Benson smoking a joint in his closet in The Death Of Richie, a closet way more hardcore than Greg Brady’s den. Viewing something geared towards a younger audience, or merely featuring teen actors, was all the more special for its rarity. This unique time period, with its lack of instant gratification, created almost guaranteed nostalgia. The acting may occasionally be stilted, or the value may be purely kitsch, but nevertheless these are teen films that are beloved or, at the very least, remembered by many.

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