Audie Murphy never took an Oscar home, but he was an adequate actor. Some roles gave him more leeway to experiment, while others confined him to formulaic roles. Nevertheless, Murphy is thoroughly convincing as a wet-behind-the-ears young man named Yancy who has spent his entire life in the mountains with his trapper uncle and Native American wife. A rugged frontiersman and a crack shot with a rifle, he knows nothing about social customs. He knows nothing about women, prostitution, and little about the outside world. Co-writer & director Jack Sher and "Joe Butterfly" scenarist Sy Gomberg have fashioned a solid, unpretentious, offbeat western that happily doesn't cast Murphy as a gunfighter. Instead, he plays a man out of touch with reality when he get his first taste of city life on the frontier. Murphy does a good job of playing a naïve young man. "The Wild and the Innocent" isn't a town tamer western, a cavalry western, a revenge oater, or a wagon train chronicle. This Universal-International release could qualify as a coming-of-age saga. After Yancy's uncle is attacked by a bear one evening, Yancy must ride out by himself to sell their pelts. The owner of the General Store in the nearest town is leaving when Yancy catches him and he recommends that Yancy sell his furs in Casper. This means that he must ride two extra days. He encounters a liquor salesman, Ben Stocker (Strother Martin of "Cool Hand Luke"), when he is told to go to Casper. Stocker is a low-down, no-account, scoundrel, and he is responsible for driving the General Store manager away. Stocker has a good-looking daughter, Rosalie (Sandra Dee of "Gidget," who he tries to pawn off on Yancy. Yancy refuses all of Stocker's proposals, but Rosalie slips away from her terrible father. She wants to ride with Yancy and get herself a job in Casper. Initially, Yancy wants nothing to do with her, but eventually he lets her join him. Rosalie is as naïve about life as Yancy.
When the two arrive in Casper, and they learn some important lessons about life and love. The town of Casper is ruled by the Town Marshal, Paul (Gilbert Roland of "The Bad and the Beautiful"), who owns and operates a bordello. He learns about Yancy's arrival after a rowdy cowpoke, Chip (Peter Breck of "Shock Corridor"), tries to rough him up, and Yancy baptizes Chip in a horse trough. Chip sloshes up out of the horse trough and tries to shoot Yancy, but his gun is too wet to fire. These two have a running feud throughout "The Wild and the Innocent" and they clash later during a dance on Independence Day. Chip challenges Yancy to a gunfight, but Yancy prefers to bodily attack Chip. Incredibly, Yancy stomps on Chip's hand and breaks it when the young galoot tries to shoot him. Meantime, Paul takes an interest in Rosalie and wants her all to himself. Yancy lays his eyes on a prostitute, Marcy (Joanne Dru of "Red River"), and he becomes infatuated with her. They get together, but Yancy wants her, but he must learn the hard way about the social stigma surrounding prostitution. Basically, Yancy is a man of considerable resource but no guile. While all this is going on, Rosalie gets a job in a whore house, but she doesn't want to work there. Eventually, Paul and Yancy clash. Yancy learns that Paul made the citizens breathe easier after he took over the duties of town marshal. Yancy topples Paul from power as the town boss, decides to leave Casper, and finds himself pursued by Rosalie. The opening and ending scenes serve as book markers. Jack Sher does a solid job of staging the bullet-riddled action. "The Wild and the Innocent" ranks as one of Murphy's better movies.
When the two arrive in Casper, and they learn some important lessons about life and love. The town of Casper is ruled by the Town Marshal, Paul (Gilbert Roland of "The Bad and the Beautiful"), who owns and operates a bordello. He learns about Yancy's arrival after a rowdy cowpoke, Chip (Peter Breck of "Shock Corridor"), tries to rough him up, and Yancy baptizes Chip in a horse trough. Chip sloshes up out of the horse trough and tries to shoot Yancy, but his gun is too wet to fire. These two have a running feud throughout "The Wild and the Innocent" and they clash later during a dance on Independence Day. Chip challenges Yancy to a gunfight, but Yancy prefers to bodily attack Chip. Incredibly, Yancy stomps on Chip's hand and breaks it when the young galoot tries to shoot him. Meantime, Paul takes an interest in Rosalie and wants her all to himself. Yancy lays his eyes on a prostitute, Marcy (Joanne Dru of "Red River"), and he becomes infatuated with her. They get together, but Yancy wants her, but he must learn the hard way about the social stigma surrounding prostitution. Basically, Yancy is a man of considerable resource but no guile. While all this is going on, Rosalie gets a job in a whore house, but she doesn't want to work there. Eventually, Paul and Yancy clash. Yancy learns that Paul made the citizens breathe easier after he took over the duties of town marshal. Yancy topples Paul from power as the town boss, decides to leave Casper, and finds himself pursued by Rosalie. The opening and ending scenes serve as book markers. Jack Sher does a solid job of staging the bullet-riddled action. "The Wild and the Innocent" ranks as one of Murphy's better movies.