Il selvaggio e l'innocente

An Audie Murphy western from 1959. Murphy plays a fur trapping rube sent by his family into town to ply his wares. On his journey he comes in contact w/a family of bumpkins led by a scheming father (Strother Martin) out to steal his furs but when caught, he offers up his daughter played by Sandra Dee. Once in town, Murphy, who prides himself on his decency & book smarts, finds himself constantly undermined by drunk cowboys, dance hall ladies & even the sheriff who provides his unwelcome companion to become the newest member of the establishment he owns. Running a slim ninety minutes or so, this intriguing tale wins many points for taking its time carving out the episodic nature of this story as our hero gains wisdom & experience in the face of the casual barbarity of the town's denizens. One of Murphy's best. Also starring Jim Backus (Thurston Howell the 3rd from Gilligan's Island) who plays the general store owner who is at constant odds w/his wife.

This is a good example of why older Westerns, pretty much before 1965, were grittier and more credible than the ones that showed modern day dorks in the old West.

The movie seems light hearted, yet mixes in the grit just the way it fits in real life, in ways uncomfortable. Audie Murphy plays a very real character, a backwoods nineteenth century trapper who ventures into the big city. His "good eyesight" becomes critical as the film continues. Indeed, good eyesight is something of great value in the old West, and it makes the two main male characters what they are.

The supporting characters are also very believable for nineteenth century characters. A great diversion from the usual garbage that made you think more that the actors were playing video games off set. Fortunately, there has been a resurgence of the reality and grit that made the fifties great.

The "mood" comes across very clear and works great. The old West city struggles between civilization and savagery, as we see in the way the store owner played by Jim Backus behaves. The store owner depicts pretty much the status quo of the town.

This film has a lot going for it, particularly in believable character motivation.

Solid acting. Hooked from the first scene. C'mon man. It's a sweet story. If you hate this, then I know who you are.

I really should have given it a 5 of 10, but it just felt good to watch.

This movie reminds me of some of the Elvis movies where they surrounded him with great character actors. Audie was famous years before Elvis, but in a different way. I would not be surprised if Audie was a hero of Elvis.

Anyway, this is a vehicle movie made for Audie, and it works fine. Audie is a good actor, and you will always get what you expect from one of his movies. Sandra Dee is good as well; she conveys much with her pouty face without ever saying a word.

Worth watching.

Write something about Audie Murphy is a pleasure, a have almost all your pictures at a very special spot in my collection, he made a fortune on those B-westerns, earned much more money that some many famous actors, his charisma brought to him countless followers like myself, in another fantastic performance Audie plays a jerk trapper who is charge from his priceless uncle to sell all furs, in the middle he gets almost a gift a young blonde girl, trying out find a job to her on the crowed town, there he stays enchanted by a woman which shall see has an "Easy Life", a matter of fact that he actually wasn't civilized enough to understand how works a modern city on west, he has funniest moments to share us, Sandra Dee was gorgeous in this role, plays a perfect young innocent girl from the countryside, the chemistry is quite noticed, all viewers stayed anxious practically the entire movie for the best endind!!!

Resume:

First watch: 2019 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 7.25