In this German Rebel without a Cause, a group of teenaged protagonists from well situated middle-class families reject their authoritarian fathers, products of the Nazi era. The sons knock around the streets, smoke, pick up girls, form small gangs, and fall into crime. The film’s most revealing scenes focus on the relationship between one of the boys and his family. The screenplay, co-authored with well-known journalist Will Tremper, creates an authentic portrait of juvenile delinquency and provides a much looser sexuality than comparable American films of the period. Its two young leads, Horst Buchholz and Karin Baal, soon became major German stars.