Dime with a Halo

For an independent film marketed for kids, Dime With A Halo had a lot of adult content. Even with the Code cracking at the seams, I'm not sure how this one got through.

New kid in town Roger Mobley makes friends with Rafael Perez and a gang of kids in Tijuana after his sister, Barbara Luna, and he move down from Los Angeles where the Child Welfare has threatened to take Roger away from Barbara.

Apparently everyone in Tijuana bets the races, kids included. But there are laws about the pari-mutual window cashing tickets and kids buying tickets for that matter. Rafael, Roger and three friends pool their resources and buy a $2.00 six race exacta and hit it. They win over $80,000.00 but their American friend Paul Langton doesn't show up to cash the ticket for them. Of course weeks go by and the kids get into all kinds of schemes.

What was one racy scene for 1963 was Barbara Luna finding out about it and trying to appeal to young Rafael's budding hormones to get a hold of the winning ticket. Even ten years later the scene would have been a whole lot different. With what was there, I'm not sure how this got marketed to kids.

Dime With a Halo was shot in a cheap black and white with limited production values. It's one weird film for the kiddie trade.