Α powerful, shocking -and forbidden- story about the grip, tyranny and control of the State over the educational institutions, against all reasonable theories of knowledge: the film reveals the way socialist bureacracy and corrupted ‘’justice” strangle the free voice of all who dare protect the classic liberal, philosophical approaches. It is a perfect example of independent movies banned from official authorities in authoritarian regimes. THE GREAT STAR OF THE MOVIE IS PAUL HENREID (the double or doppelganger of the philosopher Albert Camus): Henreid was of Jewish descent & Slovakian-Bohemian-Greek roots, a strongly anti-Nazi Austrian whom the Nazi regime had declared an "official enemy of the 3rd Reich". In Hollywood, he protested against the excesses of the House Committee on Un-American Activities. For that, he was blacklisted from the major studios -for 5 years before the blacklist was lifted- as a "communist sympathizer" because of his opposition to McCarthyism and his support to the rights under the 1st Amendment. Ηenreid was also the head in charge of production of SO YOUNG, SO BAD (it was agreed that Danziger Bros would take the credits)! 2 interesting notes here: Edward Danziger had studied law and in World War II he had worked on the Nuremberg Trials where he was a prosecuting counsel for the Nazi crimes as the head of the legal section (2nd US Army headquarters. Harry Danziger was Commander of a tank squadron in North Africa and in Italy (where he won a MEDAL FOR VALOUR). In 1956, the American brothers converted a wartime aero-engine testing factory into a studio with shooting facilities: they sold it in 1965 to buy the Cartiers Jewelers of Paris in 1969! SO YOUNG, SO BAD is based on an idea by the American -of Austrian & Polish descent- screenwriter director Bernard Vorhaus after he read a newspaper article about abuses at a women's reformatory. Together with the American actress and author Jean Rouverol (who actually belonged to the Communist Party of the USA) they visited several institutions to gather ideas about the writing of the screenplay but the studios were not interested for their script: Vorhaus and Rouverol were blacklisted before the final release of the film. The movie was filmed by Bernard Vorhaus in Connecticut, Manhattan, Yonkers & Long Island (NEW YORK): the School for Girls -depicted in the movie- is a fictional institution but filming took place on a Jewish home for blind & elderly people in upstate New York. To dwell in the same story, it is worth mentioning that the second –uncredited- director of the film was Edgar Georg Ulmer (an extremely educated Jewish-Moravian & Austrian-American art director, production designer and writer whose father was a soldier of the Austro-Hungarian army killed in battle during World War I). Edgar G. Ulmer worked in Vienna as a stage actor/set designer -educated in architecture and philosophy- and first visited USA in 1923. After 1936, he was exiled from the major Hollywood studios. On a first level: Vorhaus was born in New York City and was a graduate of Harvard University but, in 1936, he was accused by the Nazi regime for"anti-Nazi activities" (maybe because he worked with pro-Communist organizations against the Nazis). During the McCarthy "Red Scare" era, Vorhaus was classified by the FBI as "prematurely antifascist" which was "proof" of his Communist sympathies (!) After the hearings conducted by the House Committee on Un-American Activities, he became a victim of the Hollywood blacklist in 1951 and worked under the pseudonym of Piero Musetta. On a second level: Jean Rouverol was just starting her carrer in 1950, collaborating with Bernard Borhaus in SO YOUNG, SO BAD: she was an American stage actress who turned to be a playwright and screenwriter who joined the Communist Party in 1943. Her career was interrupted after the investigations by the House Committee into Communist influence in Hollywood. To avoid prison, in 1951 she flew to Mexico where she lived for 14 years under FBI surveillance, labeled as “subversive” and “dangerous revolutionary” by the government and blacklisted by the Hollywood movie studios. Οn a third level, even more instructive is the story of the unknown, uncredited screenwriter of SO YOUNG, SO BAD: Josef (Joseph) Than -οf Moravian descent- was an Austrian screenwriter and film producer. Due to his Jewish faith, it was forbidden for him to work in Berlin as a writer and a production manager after 1933. In 1934 he left for Vienna but, after the annexation of Austria in 1938, he left for Paris and -drafted into the French labor service- he was awarded the CROIX DE GUERRE (Cross of War). In 1941, after escaping Nazi-occupied France, he left to the USA. Finally, there are 2 noteworthy interpretations –or, ways to read- the title SO YOUNG, SO BAD: a) meaning typically ‘’they are so young but so bad”, b) meaning ironically ‘’it is too bad they are so young". Cinematography by Don Malkames.