The Young One (1960)

Director:

Luis Buñuel

Writers (WGA):

Peter Matthiessen (story)
Hugo Butler (screenplay) (originally as H.B. Addis) ...

Release Date:

18 January 1961 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

An jazz musician seeks refuge from a lynch mob on a remote island, where he meets a hostile game warden and the young object of his attentions.

Plot Keywords:

Island | Lynch Mob | Clarinet | Actual Animal Killed | Tolerance

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

  (Credited cast)

Zachary Scott	...	Miller
Bernie Hamilton	...	Traver
Key Meersman	...	Evalyn
Crahan Denton	...	Jackson
Claudio Brook	...	Rev. Fleetwood

Also Known As:

Island of Shame (UK)
La joven (Mexico)
White Trash (USA)

Runtime:

Mexico:95 min | USA:96 min

Country:

Mexico | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:MA | Finland:K-16

Filming Locations:

Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico

Company:

Producciones Olmeca

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Polyester (1981)

Soundtrack:

Sinner Man

Disturbing Portrait of Racism and Pedophilia

THE YOUNG ONE may not be one of Luis Buñuel's finest films, but it is certainly one of his most disturbing and provocative. This picture distinguishes itself from typical "race problem" movies in that Travers is not the familiar "ebony saint" character popularized by the likes of Sidney Poitier. Here Travers (played with intensity by Bernie Hamilton) does not take any mess from the racist Miller -- and lives to tell about it. Miller on the other hand is one of the most vile and despicable characters ever to grace the silver screen. Not only is Miller a bigot, but a pedophile too. When Miller is not spewing racial slurs at Traver, he's trying to bed Evalyn, the recently orphaned girl next door. Daring for the time, THE YOUNG ONE will provide Buñuel aficionados and those interested in the portrayal of African American men in the early 1960's with much fuel for discussion long after the films has been shown.