Boys Beware (1961)

Boys Beware
DirectorSid Davis
Budget$1,000

Plot

The film start being narrated by a police detective on his way to a school meeting to discuss the issue of sexual predators who attempt to lure adolescent males.

Teenage Jimmy Barnes was supposedly playing baseball and did not feel like walking home, so he decided to "thumb" a ride. A few moments later, a car pulls up and Jimmy enters the car of a stranger named Ralph. Jimmy and Ralph start a conversation while on the way to Jimmy's house. They arrive at his house and Jimmy gets out of Ralph's car. The following day, Ralph appears in his car waiting for him. Jimmy noticed that it was the same car and decided to ride once again. Instead of going straight to Jimmy's house, they go to a drive-in and the stranger bought him a Coke. Jimmy and Ralph hang out near a pond with ducks; both are later seen fishing on a dock. Jimmy and Ralph reveal their names when they pull out their lunch. Jimmy then eats a sandwich, while Ralph pulls out a deck of "pornographic pictures", to the curiosity of Jimmy. The narrator states that Ralph was a homosexual predator interested in young boys. Later, Jimmy is taken to a hotel with Ralph, presumably to be molested, and later reports the crime. The perpetrator is arrested; Jimmy is put on probation.

Unsuspecting boy Mike is seen playing a game of basketball with a group of friends while ignoring a man watching them. The group decides to leave, but Mike decides to stay and practice. The man then joins Mike, which Mike believes is better than playing alone. Mike then decides to leave, and the stranger offers him a ride home. Mike accepts the offer and enters the vehicle. Mike is supposedly killed that night, having "traded his life for a newspaper headline". The narrator states unlike Ralph, who was grooming Jimmy, other sexual predators could be violent and can resort to murder to cover their tracks.

Little boy Denny is tricked into entering a man's car while he and his friend sort out newspapers. The car leaves, and Denny's friend writes down the license plate number. Denny's friend is later delivering papers and talks to Denny's mother, who is seen watering her lawn and tells her of the situation and the license plate number. Denny's mother decides to go inside and call the police. Right after Denny's mother called the police, the car is quickly spotted, and the stranger is arrested.

Teenage Bobby waits in a beachside restroom where he and his friends were changing. Bobby's friends decide to head home together, while Bobby decides to take a "shortcut" under a pier (where he faces the risk of being stuck). As Bobby walks to the shortcut, he notices a man, who was seen at the restroom, follows him. Bobby then waves to his friends and runs to join them believing that it is better to be with his friends than to be alone.

Cast

Wikipedia

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