The movie opens with a young woman fending off an attempted rape. In the process the would-be rapist accidentally falls off a cliff to his death. Circumstantial evidence places 16-year-old delinquent Silver at the scene and she is sent to Girls Town, a rehabilitation village run by a group of nuns. There she lives with Serafina and some experienced juvenile delinquents. Trouble and misunderstandings ensue. Troublemaker Fred saw the cliff incident from a distance and realizes it was actually Silver's sister, Mary Lee, who was there. Fred blackmails Mary Lee into being his partner in deadly "hands-off drag racing," then prepares to take her to Tijuana to sell her into the slave trade. Silver finally wins the respect of her Girls Town friends, and finally they rescue Mary Lee. A subplot involves Serafina swooning over famous singer Jimmy. During the film he sings "Lonely Boy", "It's Time to Cry", "Girls Town Blues", and "Ave Maria". A scene set in a nightclub features The Platters singing "Wish It Were Me".
According to MGM records the film earned $375,000 in the US and Canada and $500,000 elsewhere, resulting in a loss of $65,000.
Censorship
When Girls Town was first released in Italy in 1960 the Committee for the Theatrical Review of the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities imposed the removal of the scene in which Silver is showering while singing "Hey Mama" because it was considered to be offensive to decency. The official document number is: 32004, it was signed on 1 June 1960 by Minister :it:Domenico Magrì|Domenico Magrì.
''Mystery Science Theater 3000''
Girls Town was featured in episode #601 of Mystery Science Theater 3000. The episode debuted July 16, 1994, on Comedy Central. The episode featured the debut of the Umbilicus, a tube / tether connecting the Satellite of Love, where Mike Nelson and his robot pals watched the movie, with Deep 13, where the evil scientists who sent him the movies worked and lived. The episode was ranked #72 on the Top 100 list of episodes as voted upon by MST3K Season 11 Kickstarter backers. Writer Jim Vogel ranked the episode much higher, placing it at #20. Vogel laughs at the casting of Mel Torme as the movie's antagonist, although he appreciates Mamie Van Doren's :wikt:pulchritude|pulchritude, even if she was years older than the juvenile delinquent she was supposed to be playing. Vogel calls the movie "one of the more inherently watchable dramas ever featured on the show". The MST3K version of Girls Town was included as part of the Mystery Science Theater 3000, Volume XXXIX DVD collection, released by Shout! Factory in November 21, 2017. The other episodes in the four-disc set include The Amazing Transparent Man and . The fourth disc, titled "Satellite Dishes", collected non-movie segments from MST3K episodes that are unlikely to be collected on DVD.
