No, this isn’t the life story of Billie Joe Armstrong. It’s a children’s movie from 1948, with a 12 year old Dean Stockwell constantly whining “I want it back the way it was!” Stockwell plays Peter, a boy shuffled around the outer limits of his extended family, until ending up in the home of his eccentric “Gramp.” The two hit it off great, especially since both are prone to fabricating tall tales and subverting authority figures. As promised, one morning the boy wakes up to discover himself a shockheaded Peter. Both he and Gramps think the other is pulling some kind of gag. The gawking and taunting from neighbors and school bullies quickly drive home the seriousness of the issue. It’s all pretty goofy and harmless until a sudden and bizarre anti-war message is thrust into the story. Ghostly war orphans appear to Peter at the height of his hair trauma, encouraging him to use his “gift” as a message of peace. This goes over with the town about as well as Peter’s punk styling, and soon he’s coerced into shaving his entire head. At the end I couldn’t figure out whether the message is for kids to stick up for their beliefs or to conform at any cost. All I know is that adults back then should have been happy Peter didn’t get pierced and inked along with the dye job.

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