A Vingança do Foragido

I believe this was William Bendex's (TV's "The Life of Riley") last film role. He had lost weight as he was dying of cancer. Virginia Mayo and Rory Calhoun were the parents of a son (Preston Pierce in his first film role) who is estranged from his dad, and the leader of a teenage bunch of want-a-be "Manificent Seven" characters.

Like the Manificent Seven, each has a skill. Knife thrower, etc. Ryan O'Neill's younger brother is one of the gang members. By today's standards, these kids really aren't all that wild. The script might be more to blame than the cast. (All those guest stars that pop up are a distraction.)

I've taped parts of "Young Fury" off of broadcast TV, but haven't been able to find a decent copy by searching the internet. The movie poster is available in different sizes, and a friend was able to buy a 35mm version of the "Young Fury" trailer. This is almost as exciting as the movie, except the sound was poor.

I'd be interested in buying a DVD, just for "Young Fury's" diverse cast.

A.C. Lyles took bits from High Noon, The Gunfighter, and The Wild Ones and mixed them together real well to come up with one of his better B westerns that employed some of Hollywood's beyond their prime players. Rory Calhoun and Virginia Mayo star as a gunfighter and his wife in Young Fury.

But the title comes from the group of young punks who come into Calhoun's town and take it over just like Marlon Brando and his gang did a century later. And they're led by Preston Pierce who is his Calhoun's son.

Rory left them when Pierce was just a toddler and Mayo gave him up to be raised by her brother who died and the kid was left to fend for himself. He doesn't know Mayo who runs the saloon is his mother and she prefer he not find out.

These punks are the least of Rory's worries. He's got the surviving members of his old gang led by John Agar out to get him for turning them in. And a town that rolled over for Pierce's hellion ain't likely to provide much in the way of assistance.

The usual complement of aged players populate this A.C. Lyles western that we normally expect. This was the farewell performance of William Bendix and Young Fury was released posthumously in his case. You can see he was in great distress due to his illness. I also think that some scenes were rewritten to cover Bendix up, personally I think Richard Arlen was given some of his lines.

Young Fury climaxes with a nice gun battle that was right out of High Noon. Exciting enough to please any western fan.

A group of young thugs rides into the town of Dawson and take it over. When the cowardly sheriff is unable to restore control, the parents of the leader must take action. The leader's father is an infamous ex-gunfighter, and he straps his guns on one more time.

Rory Calhoun might be the leading star in this A. C Lyles western, but it's his wayward son -Preston Pierce- and his motley crew who take more of the film time with their anti-social shenanigans, which can get tedious. Preston Pierce can be annoying. There's a good story in here, but I didn't connect with it and found it merely watchable, at least once. There's a saloon fight that is fairly violent for it's time, and the finale is action packed. Calhoun and Virginia act well.

The general plot is OK but there are too many implausibilities. Apparently oblivious to the extended fusillade as the gang rampage, the townsfolk continue their humdrum activities until they're surprised by a face-to-face confrontation. (The hoodlums' revolvers seemed to be at least 12-shooters.)

One is used to instant romances in films, especially in Westerns, but that between Tige and Sally was particularly unconvincing. Rather than coming over as sweet, she would have been better portrayed as a more of a wanton - one of the saloon girls, perhaps. When the sheriff returned to town after being ignominiously run out, he seemed to bear no animosity; it was even more so with Biff, who continued as a gang member after his very bitter fight with Tige.

Lon Chaney was effective as the bartender. I didn't recognise Virginia Mayo in her mid-forties; she did well as the slightly brassy saloon-owner. It was sad to see William Bendix's very brief appearances in his last film.

The most impressive acting was Rory Calhoun's as he crouched down in the wagon in the final shoot-out, his facial expressions contrasting with the traditional stoicism of the Western hero in a tight situation.

This film focus on the life of young Tige McCoy, his mother Sara and father Clint McCoy. Clint left Sara when Tige was a very young boy. Sara was the "town flirt" and sent her son to live with her brother, he died and Tige found himself in a gang of young gun-slinging hoodlums that tries to take over the town. Clint comes back to town with the Dawson gang after him - two day ride away. This gives Clint time to talk to Sara and his son Tige before the Dawson gang arrives. What Tige doesn't know is that Sara is his mother - he thinks his father simply abandoned them and she passed away. In the climatic end, there is one heck of a shoot out but will the young gang help Clint? There is a great cameo by Lon Chaney who plays the bartender, Ace.

Really a good film - I found the story quite interesting and heartwarming. Really a good cast.

8/10