My research has led me to identify these films that constitute the "universe" of American feature films about youth, released theatrically, for home video, or streaming. There are likely to be some mistakes and omissions, so I am always happy to have further input from anyone else. The criteria for inclusion are: 1) feature films made and released in the U.S., which 2) significantly portray at least one character between the ages of 12 and 20, and 3) are verifiable with viable external reviews.  Films about college-aged characters are not included unless they distinctly feature teenagers. Other films excluded: documentaries, made-for-TV movies (unless they achieved widespread recognition through home video or streaming), animation, and pornography intended for the adult market.

​

U.S. Teen Films Before 1980

​

Blindness of Virtue, The (1915)

Gloria’s Romance (1916)

Seventeen (1916)

Parentage (1917)

Debtor to the Law, A (1919)

Price Woman Pays, The (1919)

 

Pollyanna (1920)

Sheltered Daughters (1921)

Short Skirts (1921)

House of Youth, The (1924)

Freshman, The (1925)

Mad Whirl, The (1925)

Don Juan’s 3 Nights (1926)

Godless Girl, The (1928)

Harold Teen (1928)

Our Dancing Daughters (1928)

Patsy, The (1928)

Road to Ruin, The (1928)

 

All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)

Wild Boys of the Road (1933)

Wolf Dog, The (1933)

Little Men (1935)

Midsummer Night’s Dream, A (1935)

Pace That Kills, The (1935)

Devil is a Sissy, The (1936)

Every Sunday (1936)

Marihuana (1936)

Reefer Madness (1936)

These Three (1936)

Three Smart Girls (1936)

Tough Guy (1936)

Assassin of Youth (1937)

100 Men and a Girl (1937)

Captains Courageous (1937)

Dead End (1937)

Beloved Brat (1938)

Boys Town (1938)

Child Bride (1938)

Crime School (1938)

Judge Hardy’s Children (1938)

Juvenile Court (1938)

Little Tough Guy (1938)

Love Finds Andy Hardy (1938)

Nancy Drew– Detective (1938)

Reformatory (1938)

That Certain Age (1938)

Angels Wash Their Faces (1939)

Angels with Dirty Faces (1939)

Babes in Arms (1939)

Boys’ Reformatory (1939)

Call a Messenger (1939)

On Dress Parade (1939)

What a Life (1939)

 

Andy Hardy Meets Debutante (1940)

Boys of the City (1940)

East Side Kids, The (1940)

Escape (1940)

Little Nellie Kelly (1940)

Mortal Storm, The (1940)

Strike Up the Band (1940)

Young People (1940)

Bowery Blitzkrieg (1941)

Life Begins for Andy Hardy (1941)

Life With Henry (1941)

Miss Annie Rooney (1942)

Hitler’s Children (1943)

Lassie Come Home (1943)

Andy Hardy’s Blonde Trouble (1944)

Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)

Since You Went Away (1944)

Youth Runs Wild (1944)

I’ll Be Seeing You (1945)

Kiss and Tell (1945)

Courage of Lassie, The (1946)

Junior Prom (1946)

Margie (1946)

Yearling, The (1946)

Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer, The (1947)

Cynthia (1947)

Love Laughs at Andy Hardy (1947)

Smart Politics (1948)

Bad Boy (1949)

City Across the River (1949)

Kiss for Corliss, A (1949)

Knock on Any Door (1949)

Little Women (1949)

 

Father of the Bride (1950)

Our Very Own (1950)  

So Young, So Bad (1950)

On the Loose (1951)

Place in the Sun, A (1951)

Girls in the Night (1953)

It Came From Outer Space (1953)

Man Crazy (1953)

Problem Girls (1953)

Fast and the Furious, The (1954)

Blackboard Jungle (1955)

East of Eden (1955)

Rebel Without a Cause (1955)

Running Wild (1955)

Teenage Crime Wave (1955)

Teenage Devil Dolls (1955)

Crime in the Streets (1956)

Girl Can’t Help It, The (1956)

Hot-Rod Girl (1956)

Love Me Tender (1956)

Rock Around the Clock (1956)

Rock, Pretty Baby (1956)

Rock, Rock, Rock! (1956)

Shake, Rattle, and Rock! (1956)

Tea and Sympathy (1956)

Teenage Rebel (1956)

Unguarded Moment, The (1956)

Delinquents, The (1957)

Dino (1957)

Don’t Knock the Rock (1957)

Dragstrip Girl (1957)

Eighteen and Anxious (1957)

Four Boys and a Gun (1957)

Hot Rod Rumble (1957)

I Was a Teenage Werewolf (1957)

Motorcycle Gang (1957)

No Time to Be Young (1957)

Peyton Place (1957)

Rock All Night (1957)

Rock Baby, Rock It (1957)

Sorority Girl (1957)

Teenage Doll (1957)

Untamed Youth (1957)

Young and Dangerous (1957)

Young Don’t Cry, The (1957)

Young Stranger, The (1957)

Andy Hardy Comes Home (1958)

Blob, The (1958)

Carnival Rock (1958)

Cry Baby Killer (1958)

Dragstrip Riot (1958)

Earth vs. the Spider (1958)

High School Confidential! (1958)

Hot Car Girl (1958)

Hot Rod Gang (1958)

Live Fast, Die Young (1958)

Reluctant Debutante, The (1958)

Restless Years, The (1958)

Sing, Boy, Sing (1958)

Space Children, The (1958)

Stakeout on Dope Street (1958)

Summer Love (1958)

Teenage Caveman (1958)

Teenage Monster (1958)

Unwed Mother (1958)

Beat Generation, The (1959)

Beatniks, The (1959)

Blue Denim (1959)

Crime and Punishment U.S.A. (1959)

Daddy-O (1959)

Diary of a High School Bride (1959)

Ghost of Dragstrip Hollow, The (1959)

Gidget (1959)

Go, Johnny, Go (1959)

Rebel Set, The (1959)

Riot in Juvenile Prison (1959)

Summer Place, A (1959)

T-Bird Gang (1959)

Take a Giant Step (1959)

Teenagers from Outer Space (1959)

 

Teenage Zombies (1960)

High School Caesar (1960)

Platinum High School (1960)

This Rebel Breed (1960)

Too Soon to Love (1960)

Where the Boys Are (1960)

Bloodlust (1961)

Choppers, The (1961)

Explosive Generation, The (1961)

Gidget Goes Hawaiian (1961)

Parent Trap, The (1961)

Splendor in the Grass (1961)

Susan Slade (1961)

West Side Story (1961)

Wild Youth (1961)

All Fall Down (1962)

David and Lisa (1962)

Lolita (1962)

Married Too Young (1962)

Night of Evil (1962)

Wild Guitar (1962)

Beach Party (1963)

Crawling Hand, The (1963)

Sadist, The (1963)

Take Her She’s Mine (1963)

Bikini Beach (1964)

Horror of Party Beach, The (1964)

Muscle Beach Party (1964)

Ride the Wild Surf (1964)

Surf Party (1964)

Teenage Strangler (1964)

Under Age (1964)

Beach Ball (1965)

Beach Blanket Bingo (1965)

Beach Girls and the Monster, The (1965)

Billie (1965)

How to Stuff a Wild Bikini (1965)

I Saw What You Did (1965)

Ski Party (1965)

Winter à Go-Go (1965)

Out of Sight (1966)

Wild Wild Winter (1966)

Teenage Mother (1967)

Head Mistress, The (1968)

Hooked Generation, The (1968)

Maryjane (1968)

Mini-Skirt Mob, The (1968)

Wild in the Streets (1968)

Hell’s Belles (1969)

Last Summer (1969)

Learning Tree, The (1969)

Sterile Cuckoo, The (1969)

 

End of the Road (1970)

Hard Road, The (1970)

R.P.M. (1970)

Weekend with the Babysitter (1970)

Carnal Knowledge (1971)

Harold and Maude (1971)

Last Picture Show, The (1971)

Summer of ’42 (1971)

Runaway, The (1972)

Stepmother, The (1972)

To Find a Man (1972)

American Graffiti (1973)

Breezy (1973)

Exorcist, The (1973)

Jeremy (1973)

Lords of Flatbush, The (1974)

Our Time (1974)

Teacher, The (1974)

Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The (1974)

Cooley High (1975)

Night Moves (1975)

Carrie (1976)

Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane, The (1976)

Ode to Billy Joe (1976)

Taxi Driver (1976)

I Never Promised You a Rose Garden (1977)

Saturday Night Fever (1977)

Grease (1978)

Halloween (1978)

Pretty Baby (1978)

Little Romance, A (1979)

Manhattan (1979)

Over the Edge (1979)

Rich Kids (1979)

Rock ‘n’ Roll High School (1979)

Wanderers, The (1979)

Warriors, The (1979)

​