The Restless Years is a 1958 American CinemaScope melodrama directed by Helmut Käutner and starring John Saxon and Sandra Dee.

At a school dance, Melinda is taunted by a pair of popular students, Polly and Bruce, but befriended by a boy named Will who tells her that, as the son of a traveling salesman, he's lived in many different towns.

The tension between them grows when Melinda accepts an offer from teacher Miss Robson to audition for Our Town, the school play, then beats out Polly for a leading role.

Will is troubled because his dad, Ed, is constantly angling for Will to befriend the "right kids" and make connections to help his sales business.

Ed does just that, and in a very assertive manner ... he tells them all that he is taking his whole family and leaving town, and warns all of them that they had better not even think about pursuing legal charges against his son.