what parents allow 14-15 year kid to wait at a bus stand all night long?

When I saw this movie at a Drive-in, I was 17. As a latch-key kid in the 60's,I came home every day to an empty house and the house stayed that way till 8pm or later. By the time I was 16,I was working 3 jobs ,all of which required me to come home past 11PM in the dark,after taking a bus and then walking 12 blocks. I regularly went downtown on the bus at night before my mother got home. The bus was always filled with other kids. Susy said Gloria should stay there all night IF SHE HAD TO. However she didn't expect Sam to take all night. She was desperate and that's just what she said to the little girl to emphasize what she must be willing to do.

"what parents allow 14-15 year kid to wait at a bus stand all night long?"

OK, this is just funny.

The answer is "Bad ones." Which is what Gloria has, and that fact was established before her character even makes an entrance.

Also, she isn't waiting around a bus stand: she's taking a cab to the Port Authority Bus Terminal. The Port Authority Bus Terminal is more like a large airport, or Grand Central Station. There will be a lot of people there-- hundreds, even late at night, traveling, there will be beat cops, places to eat, newsstands, pinball arcades, "5 & dimes" (aka, bodegas, or convenience stores). There'd be a Cinnabon, if Cinnabon had been around then. Gloria is not just at a 5x8 bus stop shelter.

And, Gloria is supposed to be about 12, but the actress playing her is about 14. Julie Herrod originated the role on Broadway, and is in fact the only member of the Broadway cast in the film. She played the role for two years on stage before making the movie.

I was thinking the same thing! She should have sent her to the police station if anyplace. What the hey was Sam supposed to do! Not only that how did she meet up with him since Rout sent him back to ny as soon as he got to asbury park.

The actress playing Gloria was eleven years old when the movie was made. In the 1960s, children had much more freedom than they do today, including going places alone, and going outside at night. In addition to that, Gloria's parents were both away from home, and didn't seem to take much responsibility for her, anyway.