After knocking over a market, Eddy Crane (Tony Travis) and the rest of his gang stop at a diner for a bite to eat. Quite unexpectedly (at least I didn't see it coming), Eddy begins singing to a little jazzy number playing on the jukebox. He's overheard by a talent agent who thinks he can make Eddy a star. Before you can say "Daddy-O", Eddy's on TV and has a recording contract lined up. But Eddy can't escape his past. While celebrating his good fortune, one of his friends, Mooney (Peter Breck), kills a bartender. Eddy's agent asks the gang to leave Eddy alone and gets stabbed for his efforts. The gang drags Eddy back down at every opportunity. Eddy's must ultimately fight for his freedom.I wonder if Paul Frees and the rest of those behind this bad idea of a movie had any concept of just what a "beatnik" was. It doesn't appear so. Calling this gang of self-centered, unintelligent, small-time hoods with a Pat Boone style crooner as its leader "beatniks" would have Maynard G. Krebs spinning in his grave. These aren't "beatniks" in the traditional sense of the word. These are not the philosophical counter-cultural bongo beaters Kerouac wrote about. If everyone involved wasn't in their 30s, I'd call them juvenile delinquents. Beatniks? I don't think so.
But beyond the misuse of "beatniks", the movie has very little to offer. Some moments in The Beatniks might be appealing in that bizarrely entertaining sort of way, but not in any traditional sense. The plot it bad, the acting is horrible, and the cinematography is as lazy as I've seen recently. In short, The Beatniks isn't a very good movie.
3/10
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