Die jungen Wilden

"The Young Savages" is a social-conscience drama showcasing its star, Burt Lancaster, to good effect. Burt plays Hank Bell, a district attorney who is handed the case of three Caucasian youth gang members who murdered a Puerto Rican youth in cold blood. But is that what really happened? As Bell does a lot of his own sleuthing, he discovers, predictably enough, that things may not be as they appeared. He embarks on a bull headed quest for the "truth" of the matter.

Bell conducts himself in an unprofessional matter often enough, at least during the climactic trial, that it may lose some viewers due to lack of complete believability. But it's still a reasonably engrossing story, well told by screenwriters Edward Anhalt and J.P. Miller (based on the novel "A Matter of Conviction" by Evan Hunter) and director John Frankenheimer. Frankenheimer doesn't concern himself with being overly cinematic, concentrating mostly on just spinning this racially charged yarn. We are subject to some speechifying and philosophizing on the nature of criminal youth, and the nature of the justice system. For one thing, Hanks' wife Karin (Dina Merrill) is a bleeding heart liberal.

The main thing that really holds all of this together is an exceptional cast. Lancaster handles himself with great dignity, playing a character who considers himself fortunate to have escaped slum surroundings (partly due to his father changing the family name, which was actually Bellini). The film co-stars Edward Andrews, Vivian Nathan, Shelley Winters, Larry Gates, Telly Savalas (in his first substantial role), Pilar Seurat, and Milton Selzer, with juicy parts for the younger generation: Stanley Kristien as the defiant Danny, John Davis Chandler as the volatile Arthur, Neil Nephew as the none too bright Anthony, and Luis Arroyo as the passionate Zorro.

While not all that satisfying when all is said and done, "The Young Savages" is compelling enough to keep a viewer watching for 103 minutes.

Seven out of 10.

The sixties were John Frankenheimer's heyday:he directed three classics "birdman from Alcatraz" "the Manchurian candidate " and "seconds" ,all unqualified musts for any cinebuff.

"Young savages " is at first sight ,a more realist "West Side Story" (the Thunderbirds and the Horsemen replacing the Jets and the Sharks),but hindsight shows that ,in the end ,Frankenheimer's work is not more convincing than Wise's -which has other assets anyway- ,as far as social depiction is concerned.The script promised great things.Which counts in favor of Frankenheimer is his impartiality:he never really sides with one of the groups.Some scenes are impressive :the first meeting Lancaster/victim's mother-but the second one gets in the way-,the murder seen thru glasses -which borrows from Hitchcock's "strangers on a train" though,the pack assaulting a young boy at the pool...The magpie syndrome comes back in the scene when Lancaster's wife is assaulted in the elevator :the same thing happened to Glenn Ford's wife in "blackboard Jungle" .

Some ideas or theories are dubious indeed:because Di Pace (what a name!) has a very high IQ -which is not obvious at all,considering his behavior and his conversation-,he might possibly be less guilty than the others.Ah ... and he is also Lancaster's former sweetheart's offspring !The last confrontation Lancaster/Di Pace is supposed to be an almighty fuss:but anybody past infancy has understood the "knife trick" long before the dialog ends.

"Young savages " is not a bad movie ;it's simply politically correct to the core,which the three works I mention above are not.That said ,there are enough surprises,unexpected twist ,and good performances (of course Shelley Winters outshadows Lancaster's bland wife)to sustain interest till the end.

This is the first of the several black and white films that Frankenheimer made in the sixties, most of them excellent. Although is not as good as The Manchurian Candidate or The Train it has also his usual rigor in the construction of a plot with political implications. Lancaster has a good performance, his appointments with the members of the gangs are enough believable and the trial scene reaches an adequate climax. The film starts with the murder of a blind puertorican boy by three italians guys, members of a gang. Lancaster, who was born in little Italy and has changed his surname Bellini to Bell has to prosecute them as D.A. despite of one of the italians boys is a former gilrlfriend's son.

This was also one of the first playings of Telly Savalas and is remarkable that his performance as a cynical policeman prefigures his later successful in "kojack", although it wasn´t the most appropiate for this film.

Solid drama of racial tension and prejudice well directed by Frankenheimer and acted with feeling by the cast. Lancaster is earnest but he is put somewhat in the shade by Shelley Winters in a strong supporting performance full of sad resignation and vulnerability, when she was on her game as she is here and reigned in her inner ham they were very few actresses as good at presenting the human condition. Edward Andrews is very good as usual in a small part as an ambitious politico, another underrated and unfortunately obscure actor who was always good whether in drama or comedy. As a study on the effects of poverty on people it is sadly still a timely story.

For The Young Savages Burt Lancaster went back to his roots. The actor was born and raised in the East Harlem section of Manhattan. At that time it had not become a Latino neighborhood, it was predominantly Italian where he grew up. To this day there are still a few Italian families in the area in and around Pleasant Avenue and neighboring streets. His had to be the only WASP family in the area at the time.

In 1961 just as you see in West Side Story the neighborhood was divided with racial and ethnic tensions. But these kids don't sing and dance between rumbles. They are a hard bitten bunch of punks on both sides.

In fact that's where our story begins as three Italian kids leave their turf and go and stab a blind Hispanic youth. It's a crime that shocks the city. Ambitious District Attorney Edward Andrews sees this as a case when successfully prosecuted could make him governor. He relies on one of his best men, ADA Burt Lancaster to bring home a victory and a trip to old Sparky as they called the electric chair in Sing Sing.

Of course there's a lot more to the case than meets the eye both in the crime and in Lancaster's conflicted loyalties. He's happily married to pretty Dina Merrill from the suburbs. She's what you call a limousine liberal, one who's ideas are shaped by books instead of living the poverty she's studied in school about.

I've met many like that and it really is true many conservatives are liberals who've been mugged. When one of the gangs gives her a bad experience, she sings a different tune.

But where The Young Savages falls apart for me is the fact that Lancaster was once involved with Shelley Winters, the mother of one of the three defendants. I'm sorry, but right then and there Lancaster in real life would have recused himself from this case. Of course Winters appeals to him for old time's sake and Lancaster starts doing his own investigation and prods the police to do more on their end.

In the film also Lancaster is from that neighborhood. His character's family name of Bell was once Bellini. Many families with ethnic names of all types anglicized them or had them anglicized by immigration officials.

The film which according to a recent biography of Burt Lancaster was shot in 35 days on location in New York City. It was a project Lancaster did while waiting to do Birdman of Alcatraz. The Young Savages is notable for being Telly Savalas's big screen debut and for Lancaster using TV director John Frankenheimer on his first big assignment. Purportedly Lancaster was pretty rough on Frankenheimer, but in the end he impressed the star so that he did four more films with him including Birdman of Alcatraz. And Telly Savalas was in that one too.

Though the film is based on one horribly bad premise, the acting and directing are not bad. I had the same criticism of 12 Angry Men in which another young talented director, Sidney Lumet got his first break. The Young Savages remains a graphic look at a seamier side of New York City during the Kennedy years.