I remember seeing the trailer for Three O'Clock High and then seeing the ad in the newspaper. Luckily my best friend and I went to see it the week it opened because it wasn’t in the theater very long. For years afterwards we would try and champion the film and when we would convince people to watch it, they almost all walked away as a fan. So I am hoping to convince you to watch it by talking about it in a podcast. This episode does have some spoilers, but the movie is still great if you know the ending. Still, it might be a good idea to watch it first.
I start the episode talking about one of my many brushes with bullies over the years. This one was a little bit more interesting in retrospect, but maybe not too uncommon? Then I move on the film itself. I discuss the plot, its production, the stars of the film, its reception and much more.
This film was popular at the video store as a rental, mostly because everyone at the store would champion it. I personally rented it multiple times and was pretty excited when I finally got my own copy.
If you like the movie or some other movie that you don’t think people know about or watch enough, I encourage you to try and champion it. My suggestion? Buy them a copy of the film on some sort of physical media. Even if they don’t have the means to play it, it will act as a visible reminder that you will constantly hound them until they do.
Listen and download Three O'Clock High Podcast
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Production Notes
This is the 331st episode of the Retroist Podcast and episode 6 of the new season. Thanks for sticking with me or trying out the show.
While this film is available to stream, I recommend picking up a physical copy. This is the type of film that could easily disappear from streaming services.
Bullies was always treated as just part of life when I was growing up. Its been nice to see pushback against it as a concept over the last few decades.
This episode had some more retro audio in it, but I cut it out for length and also because the material seemed more unconnected than I planned.
I should have mentioned that this movie has some qualities of a western with a shootout at 3 instead of high noon.
I would have liked to clarify the change of characters based on deleting scenes to give the film a better flow in a more elegant way than I did. I thought it was nice when I recorded it, but after editing and listening back I am less satisfied. It works, but could be better said.
Bonus Clipping should be up on Patreon tomorrow.
Music on the show is, as always, by Peachy.
Thanks for listening to the show and I hope you have a great weekend.
This was such an impactful movie to my friends and I back then. I definitely need to give it a re-watch.
Loved that movie! Casey Siemaszko was picking up some moves for his role as Charley Bowdre AKA “the pugilist” in Young Guns.