Richard Chatten This title will be familiar to most viewers who have heard of it as the film debut of Jack Nicholson in the title role, second billed to veteran TV and 'B' movie tough guy Harry Lauter; here representing the law. Although Roger Corman is billed as Executive Producer (and has one line as a TV cameraman (after which all we see of him for the rest of the film is his right hand resting on the side of the camera), the film is a United Artists release rather than one of AIP's quickies, with slightly bigger production values; a mixed blessing in the face of TV director Justus Addiss's lethargic direction.Corman regulars Leo Gordon (who co-wrote the script) and Bruno Ve Sota (who the same year directed 'The Brain Eaters') fill out the economy-sized crowd who have gathered to ogle; and Gordon generously gives Ve Sota one of the script's best lines, "Teenagers, never had 'em when I was a kid!" The basic situation dates back at least as far as Jean Gabin in 'Le Jour se Lève' (1939), and was probably more immediately inspired by the siege at the end of 'Rebel Without a Cause'. Nicholson doesn't actually get that much screen time, as much of the action taking place back in the diner and in the forecourt. The script flits from character to character, including Gordon's own wife Lynn Cartwright, who gives an attractive performance as waitress Julie, united with Ruth Swanson as Nicholson's mother in her contempt for poison maiden Carolyn Mitchell who started all the trouble in the first place by ditching Nicholson for obnoxious alpha male bully Brett Halsey. (Swanson sums her up as "selfish, vulgar, cruel...rotten!!")The film's unsung hero is Jordan Whitfield as Sam, the black dishwasher who keeps his head throughout the crisis. That we don't see him get his due as Hero of the Hour at the film's conclusion is one of several issues left unresolved (including the ultimate fates of both Nicholson and Halsey) when the end credits roll.

tavm So after watching this movie, another curiosity was sated: I got to see Jack Nicholson's first film and find out if it was any good. Well, it's not too bad and since it's only an hour, not too much time was wasted watching it. Nicholson certainly does well when he becomes desperate enough to hold up a woman with a baby and a middle-aged black man hostage after shooting at a couple of punks who beat him up at the beginning of the movie. Roger Corman was the executive producer only here so there's not much of his creative hand in the finished product though it was interesting seeing his cameo when he briefly talks to the TV reporter before he was going on the air to broadcast the standoff. So on that note, The Cry Baby Killer is worth a look for any Nicholson completists.

preppy-3 Jack Nicholson's film debut. He plays a teenage kid who shoots two other guys (off screen) and panics. He thinks he's killed them (he hasn't) so he gets some hostages and holes up in a room. Soon the police have the place surrounded and order him to let the hostages go and give up. But he's scared and doesn't know what to do.Basically this could be a pretty good half hour TV show...but this is stretched out to 75 minutes! The script is bland and very by the numbers. All the characters are clichéd and I saw every line of dialogue coming. This would be a thoroughly forgotten little movie by now if it weren't for Nicholson. Seeing him so young is fascinating in itself and seeing him doing his best with such subpar material is interesting. Unfortunately he's NOT the whole movie. There are long stretches when he's not even on screen which are more than a little boring. The acting by everybody is no more than OK but nobody could make this script interesting. So worth seeing if you're a Nicholson fan but it's a pretty bad film. A 3.

Danny Blankenship After all these years it's finally a treat to watch this B film classic from 1958 "Cry Baby Killer". It's very special because it's Nicholson's first film appearance, and a must see for any die hard fans of Jack. The film is pretty low key and stays simple with it's plot and the acting is straight forward, and Nicholson does good work for a newcomer even though his voice and many words are spoken with a soft slow draw accent. At it's time Roger Corman really done this film short in time length, yet the concept and plot of 1958 was a little ahead of it's time with the hostage taking and media circus developing which would be so common in many later action and adventure films. Nicholson in his first film debut plays loner and rebel type teenager Jimmy Wallace who is defeated in a brawl with thugs resulting in his girl leaving him. Jack's character Jimmy like so many of his later anti-hero type characters develops the big chip on the shoulder and the feeling for macho acts takes place. Then Corman's direction pulls out all the drama and stops when Jimmy is next in a brawl he grabs for a gun panics and shoots, leading him to take cover in a storeroom with a mom and her baby setting up a long standoff! Good suspense for 1958 is added by showing police interrogation and media interviews and flashing cameras the type of circus film lovers would later so commonly see in the 80's and 90's. So the direction and plot line was for 1958 ahead of it's time, good job by Roger Corman. All in all nothing great, yet for a 1958 film the plot and acting is decently good and a real treat to see since it's Jack's first actual screen time a must see for Nicholson enthusiast.