Sixteen (1972) Georgia Hixploitation Noir

"Sort of like The Beverly Hillbillies meet Nightmare Alley..." (Noirsville)

Directed by actor / director / writer Lawrence Dobkin.

As an actor Dobkin had over two hundred credits, while he had over eighty directing credits the latter mostly for various TV series / TV movies. 

If you watched TV in the 1950s & 60s you've seen him in something. He was also in a lot of TV Noir episodes and Westerns. His Noir acting credentials are in films D.O.A., Whirlpool, The Day The Earth Stood Still, 5 Fingers, Deadline U.S.A., Loan Shark, Illegal, The Killer Is Loose, Sweet Smell of Success, Portland Exposé, Transitional Noir The Cabinet of Caligari. 

Written by Curtis Brown Taylor and James E. Lowe, and based on an original story by Curtis Brown Taylor.

Cinematography was by Vilis Lapenieks (Night Tide). Music was by Jack K. Tillar and Don Wilkins, with a folky "...Like a Crow on a June Bug" very dated title song sung by Jimmy Michaels. 

Mercedes McCambridge (All The Kings Men, The Scarf, Touch Of Evil, Suddenly, Last Summer) as Ma Irtley, Ford Rainey (White Heat, The Human Jungle, 3:10 to Yuma) as Pa Irtley, Simone Griffeth as Naomi Irtley, John Lozier as Bruvver Irtley, Buddy Foster as J.C. Irtley, Beverly Powers (Breakfast At Tiffany's) as Carmelita, Peter Greene as Jake, Parley Baer (Union Station, The Fat Man, Deadline U.S.A., Pickup On South Street, Vicky) as The Reverend, and Maidie Norman as Aunt Ada. 

The catalyst of the story is the construction of a new road through the southern live oak, and shrub bottom land around Lowndes County, Georgia.

a scraper

Ma & Pa Irtley are the low rent Georgia equivalent of Jed and Granny Clampett. 

Mercedes McCambridge as Ma Irtley

Ford Raineyas Pa Irtley

Instead of striking oil while "shootin' at some food," Ma & Pa Irtley get an $8,000 dollar compensation fortune for being the owners of a piece of tannin stained swamp and bottomland that the county needs for a new road right of way. Every grifter in the county knows all about it and all are trying to get a part of it. $8,000 in 1972 is equal to $60,000 in todays dollars. 

For transportation the Irtley's have a horse drawn wagon. Our tale starts when the Irtley's head into town to collect their money. 

The Irtley's horse drawn wagon

Tannin stained Creeks

Ma & Pa Irtley instead of just an Ellie May and a Jethro - have three young-uns. Sixteen year old blonde Naomi, her slightly dimwitted brother called appropriately Bruvver, and J.C. J.C. is named after one of Ma's favorite stores J.C. Penny.  The Irtley's also have a black juju woman neighbor as part of their extended family called Aunt Ada.

Simone Griffeth as Naomi Irtley

John Lozier as Bruvver Irtley

Buddy Foster as J.C. Irtley

Maidie Norman as Aunt Ada

The Irtley's come to town to collect their money. They have been apparently the talk of the town and the surrounding countryside.

Bank Manager 

Eminent domain allows for the county to condemn their private property for public use, with just compensation to the original owner; in this case, the "public use" would be building a highway and the just compensation is $8,000. 

The "bank" is located at the back of the barber shop.

There's a humorous sequence in the bank when the Itrley's have to sign the legal papers for the country to take over their land for a highway. All members of the family have to be recorded. 

Here's where we find out the legal names of Bruvver and JC. Ma tells the lawyer that Bruvver was christened Lonnie, Lonnie Yule, Naomi she tells 'em was right out of the bible, and the youngest is J.C.  then Mr. Jenkins the lawyer for the highway department assumes aloud that J.C. is another biblical reference but Ma tells him that J.C. stands for J.C. Penny because there was a sale the week she birthed him.

When the county wants to give them a check, Ma tells them that we don't want no check, Pa says that they want "folding" money.

With pockets full of folding money Ma & Pa gets itching to spend some of it. They spend some of their  windfall at the general store. Ma looks over some new shirts. While Ma is occupied Pa heads over to the cashier and asks for some "shine." They keep it below the counter, wink, wink. The cashier puts the bottle in a paper bag.

They all see a poster for the county fair in Valdosta on the next weekend. The plan is to take the Trailways bus to the county fair and have a fun time.

They all head back to the cabin with groceries and new goodies. When they get their a fire and brimstone preacher is there at their place already trying to figure a way to get some of Ma & Pa's money.  

Parley Baer as The Reverend

However the old Reverend is a reformed boozer and he becomes more fixated on Pa's bottle of hooch than the money or saving souls.

Pa giving him a swig doesn't help and eventually Ma has to chase him off the porch with a mop. 

Once the reverend is gone, things settle back to normal. Pa sits on the porch and starts whittling on a wooden chain that he's been working on, and the kids all do their respective chores. 

Now it ain't ever made clear if Bruvver and Naomi are fraternal twins or if Bruvver is a year older or a year younger. 

All we know for certain is that Naomi is 16. They are both, regardless, pretty naive. We watch as they do their chores and then when finally finished they go hopping a skipping off  down the road and through the "tullies" to the ol' swimming hole.

We watch as they navigate the terrain sometimes hand in hand, down through the small iron stained creeks, under a railroad concrete box culvert, and down to the ruins of an old mill sitting aside an old tannin stained mill pond. There they nonchalantly strip off their clothes till they are both buck nekkid and go skinny dippin'.  

Now paraphrasing some quotes from The Beverly Hillbillies, for the Irtley's it may go like this....

Ma Irtley: Naomi done popped the buttons off her shirt again.

Pa Irtley: Naomi carries herself proud with her shoulders throwed back.

Ma Irtley: It ain't her shoulders that have been poppin' these buttons.

Yea that's right Naomi has some nice knockers and Bruvver man is starting to notice them. 

 Skinny Dipping - How Noir of them?

This "budding" awareness of each other is a bit of foreshadowing for what's to come. 

Before they head to the fair Naomi and Bruvver head to Aunt Ada who gives them both a charm neckless to ward off evil.   

So the Irtley's head off to town in their new "store bought" clothes, notably Naomi in a new blue dress and Pa actually wearing a tie. They ride through the tunnels of live oak with hanging Spanish moss. They are going to catch the Trailways to Valdosta for a long evening at the Capitol City Show's Carnival.

The bus ticket agent has to hang an orange triangle below the bus stop sign so the bus driver knows there's passengers to pick up.

When they get to the fair grounds Ma & Pa pair off and the kids are running around wild, and of course lucky charms or not it all goes Noirsville.

Noirsville

Beverly Powers as Carmelita

Peter Greene as Jake

This is basically a Noir coming of age story. Both of the Irtley kids lose their virginity to the unscrupulous carny's. They make back to the holler ok, but its left pretty murky whether or not both have come out the wiser. 

The last shot of Naomi and Bruvver man running off excitedly hand in hand to the old swimming hole makes one wonder if they are just going to still go innocently swimming or going to now experiment with their new found knowledge of tab "A" going into slot "B." How Noir is that? A 6.5-7/10. 

This would be a great on a double bill with Spring Night, Summer Night (1967) another similar Hixploitation Noir. 

From IMDb - TheFearmakers Mar

Simone Griffeth in a remake of STATE FAIR

If you see on the trivia section how much this exploitation borrows from the classic semi-musical STATE FAIR, that's because I wrote that, and this...

In the 1945 classic, a hick family goes to a fair where the virginal teenage sister falls for an exciting and confident older fella, while big brother falls for a pretty woman who works as an entertainer there... at the fair...

Trade in a singer for a stripper, and a newspaperman for a motorcycle daredevil and here it is: What's basically a remake, and all the exploitation relies on the gorgeous titular SIXTEEN year old sister played by Simone Griffeth, an extremely gorgeous girl... as was Jeanne Crain, by the way...

Not bad for what anyone would consider bad with the low budget and all... Has the pace of a drive-in flick, and some nudity and sex to wake up the audience, as intended, who went for just that...

The setup has the family getting a nice payday, and the townspeople trying their best to separate them from it...

SIXTEEN did have more tiers than just the teenage blonde, but wound up with pretty much her and her only. After all, it's HER movie. Although there is more action with the stripper, trying to pry into the family money while, also like STATE FAIR, has a jealous boyfriend. Seriously, this IS a remake, no matter what it says, or doesn't say.