William Inge co-wrote this story about a young man who may have outgrown the straight-laced boundaries of his home town. After a hitch in the Navy, Bus Riley (Michael Thomas Parks) comes home to the staid Midwestern town of his birth; however, home doesn't feel quite like it used to, and Riley is looking for a new sense of purpose in his life. While his girlfriend Judy (
Janet Margolin) tries to offer him the love and understanding he needs, she just isn't enough any more, and Riley soon starts looking for thrills with Laurel (
Ann-Margret), a local floozy. Michael Thomas Parks, better known simply as
Michael Parks, first put his
James Dean-esque loner persona to work in this film; he'd get the most use out of it three years later, when he was top-billed in the briefly popular TV series
Then Came Bronson. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide