"Not Wanted" is clearly an exploitation film intended to scare the crap out of young ladies. It's not as over the top of sleazy as most of the exploitation movies--more well intentioned yet dumb. Now as far as the dumb goes, it's hard to properly ascribe blame, as the production had two directors--Elmer Clifton and Ida Lupino. Lupino took over the film after Clifton had a heart attack and you wonder what his original vision had been as well as hers. Why? Because I want to know who to blame--especially for Sally Forest's bizarre overacting.

The film begins with an obviously mentally disturbed lady, Sally (Sally Forest),impulsively stealing a baby! At the police station, after she's been caught, you see a long extended flashback to show how she's gotten to this state. Sally wanted a musician and foolishly ignored every possible warning side. Ultimately, she gets pregnant and goes to a home for unwed mothers so that she can have the baby...and she ultimately gives it up for adoption. But there is MUCH more in between...including some really fine scenes as well as Sally inexplicably fainting repeatedly (this is NOT what happens when you are an unwed mother),some overacting as well as a sloppily inserted bit of stock footage of a Caesarian. Overall, one of the most uneven films I've ever seen---some is very well done, the rest is pretty crappy. Who's to blame, I have no idea but sadly instead of being a good film about teen pregnancy, it's one where you are shocked at how brain dead the main character behaves.

Sally Forrest's mother harps on her constantly, so when she develops a crush on piano player Leo Penn, she follows him to the big city. Sally gets a job at an all-service gas station run by Keefe Brasselle. He likes her a lot, but it isn't until Penn blows town, saying no promises had been made, that Sally gives Brasselle a chance. She's happy for the first time, but discovers she is pregnant by Penn.

It's a powerful and moving film about unwed mothers, with a definite message to offer, and Miss Forrest gives a fine performance as the young girl trapped in a situation she does not know how to deal with. All the situations in which she is happy hark back to carefree childhood: at an amusement park, riding the merry-go-round, or playing with Brasselle's immense model train layout. It is the adult world which she is incapable of dealing with.

It was co-written, co-produced and co-directed (uncredited) by Ida Lupino, her first time wielding the megaphone. Director Elmer Clifton's career had been in free fall for a quarter of a century. One of D.W. Griffith's acolytes, he was the first director to cast Clara Bow in a major role. A couple of years later, his leading lady on a film for Fox was injured on set and, his career left him working for Poverty Row producers. Of course, this film was intended for that market, but with a good script and sympathetic directors.... it's hard to tell who directed what at this distance, after Clifton had a heart attack, and Miss Lupino took over the uncredited directing. I think it highly likely that Miss Forrest's performance was aided immeasurably by Miss Lupino, but it lacks the semi-stylized notes that her other movies of this period showed.

In any case, the movie, as it exists, is a fine one. Perhaps it is enough to admit that, note that film is less an individual auteur's work and more a highly involved collaboration. The finished result allowed Clifton's career to end well -- although others of his films were released later, this is the last he worked on -- an provided Miss Lupino the credentials to make some entertaining and didactic movies.

Ditsy and naive teenager Sally Kelton (a sound and appealing performance by Sally Forrest) falls for sullen and rootless itinerant piano player Steve Ryan (smoothly played by Leo Penn). Steve runs out on Sally, but only after he impregnates her first. Ashamed and abandoned, Sally checks into a home for unwed mothers and gives her baby up for adoption. Directed with commendable taste, restraint, and sensitivity by Elmer Clifton and Ida Lupino (who also co-wrote the thoughtful script with Paul Jerrico),this engrossing and affecting drama thankfully avoids any heavy-handed preachiness or lurid sensationalism considering its subject matter. Instead this film displays a genuine compassion for its wayward, yet still sympathetic protagonist while illustrating the strict mores of the era as well as serving as an effective cautionary tale on the perils of falling for the wrong person. Moreover, it's exceptionally well acted by an able cast: Forrest brings a winningly scatterbrained charm to her character, Penn makes for a suitably moody louse, and, best of all, Keefe Brasselle delivers an excellent, engaging, and delightfully energetic portrayal of helpful and goodhearted disabled nice guy war veteran Drew Baxter. Henry Freulich's stark black and white cinematography makes artful use of fades and dissolves. The score by Leith Stevens does the dramatic trick, too. Worth a watch.