The Young Savages (1961) User Reviews

I was secretly glad that my name was Bell instead of Ballini

[sol1218 · 6/10 · 9 August 2005]

***SPOILERS*** 1961 motion picture loosely based on the notorious August 30,1959 Salvador Agron "Capeman killings" in New York City's Hells Kitchen. The movie has the racial backgrounds of victim and killer reversed which made the film a bit disingenuous to the movie going public back then in 1961, just two years after that terrible event. The killer Salvador Agron was Hispanic and his two teenage victims, Anthony Krezsinski and Robert Young, were white.

Three members of the white Manhattan street gang The Thunderbirds cross into Spanish Harlem on the turf of the local Puerto Rican gang The Horsemen and zero in on young and sensitive harmonica playing Roberto Escalante, Jose Perez,knifing him to death. Caught minutes after the killing are the three gang members Reardon Di Pace & Aposto, John David Chandler Stanley Kristien & Neil Nephew.

With the city D.A Daniel Cole, Edward Andrews, wanting a first degree murder conviction of the three teenage assailants, to give him a boost in the upcoming gubernatorial elections, he put's his best prosecutor on the case Asst. D.A Hank Bell, Burt Lancaster. With the three defendants claiming that they killed Roberto in self-defense their excuse falls apart like a house of cards when it's shown that he was totally blind and a threat to no one, much less themselves. It now starts to look like D.A Cole would get the first degree murder conviction that can send the three youths, all under 18, to the electric chair.

Bell who at first had no idea who the three defendants were soon realized that one of the accused killers, Danny Di Pace, is the son of a woman Mrs. Mary Di Pace ,Shelly Winters,that he was in love with years before he got married to his present wife Karin, Dina Merrill. This made prosecuting Danny very difficult and painful for him.

Slowly getting all the evidence in order and at the same time being attacked,far worse the his wife was earlier in the film, by gang members for doing his job Asst. D.A Bell finally gets to the bottom of the case. Bell finds out the real reason for Roberto's killing and it totally throws him off to what he's supposed to do in the case; get a verdict that would strap the three into the electric chair, regardless of their guilt or innocence, in order to further his boss' D.A Cole political career.

A bit ahead of it's time "The Young Savages" goes into the mental mindset of the three accused killers of blind Roberto Escalante and comes up with some startling conclusions; all three were not in full control of themselves or in what they did so a first degree murder conviction was unable to be reached by the jury. Not that they got off Scot-free for their actions and Roborto himself was anything but the innocent bystander that he was made out to be by his friends family and the liberal newspapers.

A cowardly bully with a deep inferiority complex who was the leader of the pack Arthur Reardon is given 20 to life. A mentally retarded and delusional Anthony "Batman" Aposto, who thinks that he's the Batman of comic book fame, ends up in an institution for the criminally insane until he's seen fit, by a battery of psychiatrists, to again become a member of society. It was Danny Di Pace who got off from getting heavy jail time, Danny got a year in Juvenile Hall, for just wanting to be a member of a street gang to have the family that he never knew but that involvement lead to Roberto Escalante losing his life.

Hank Bell threw away whatever future he had in the New York State D.A's office by looking at the facts and perusing Justice instead of letting the three gang member fry for the sake of his, and D.A Cole's, future in state or national politics.

Visually, emotionally, critically intense...an overlooked jewel

[secondtake · 8/10 · 13 April 2011]

The Young Savages (1961)

Released six months before "West Side Story," this elegant story of New York gang violence in the ghettos of uptown Manhattan is as powerful, and as beautiful. And the title makes clear that the movie is pointing to a new social problem, the immigrant gangs (Italian and Puerto Rican in this case). But in most ways "The Young Savages" couldn't be more different.

At the heart of it all is district attorney Hank Bell, previously Bellini, played by Burt Lancaster in what struck me as possibly the most subtle role in his career. That's an absurd thing to know for sure, and Lancaster is so good so often it's easier to just say he is terrific, but if you know him from some noir films or from "Birdman of Alcatraz" or "Judgement at Nuremberg" you might know a more overtly dramatic actor. Here he is restrained in a perfect way, his pauses and his turned head adding depth to his apparent struggle with how to get at the truth as the events and the witnesses start to swirl out of control. A virtuosic performance.

The themes are hot topic issues layered with good old fashioned love and loyalty. Mostly we have first and second generation immigrant trying to define themselves, to stake out a place in the city, and to fend off competing immigrant groups and sometimes invade their territory. Bell's own Italian-American background makes him understand the problems of youth violence from the inside, but he has avoided being identified as Italian, and even his wife doesn't quite accept him as an immigrant, but wants to see him as more like her, a Vassar girl. Which he is not, even if sometimes he passes as a Yankee or as an old stock New Yorker.

Much of the movie is that wonderful quite and deliberate investigation of the crime, the facts, the witnesses, the evidence. And we see this through Bell's eyes. The last long section is pure courtroom drama, and it's as good as courtroom dramas get, gutsy and tense. In the biggest sense, real justice is achieved, even at the expense of some reputations or expectations around the D.A. (who of course is supposed to always want and get the death penalty). By the final turns of events, you see the story is really about a single man who struggles against his own bias and does the right thing, and does it well. Director John Frankenheimer once again pulls off a movie with social significance that doesn't forget it's roots in theatrical drama.

Cinematographer Lionel Lindon is an old pro, starting with some 1940s boilerplate movies sprinkled with some gems ("The Blue Dahlia" is a great one) and then scores of television shows. And the next year, 1962, he shot "The Manchurian Candidate" which succeeds partly for its amazing visual pizazz. Here, there are both moments of beauty and of cacophony. The fight scenes, and the dazzling murder that starts the movie off, are mini-masterpieces. But even quiet moments are given anxiety and drama by shooting at sharp angles or by moving in close. It's quite a beautiful experience to watch this, even as the events are tumultuous.

Burt Goes Home

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 13 August 2008]

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.

west side angst

[blanche-2 · 6/10 · 20 April 2013]

Post-World War II, there was a rise in juvenile delinquency, and this was mirrored in films such as "Blackboard Jungle," "Rebel without a Cause," "High School Confidential," and "Knock on Any Door." Antiheroes like James Dean and Marlon Brando became popular, and sexual threats like Elvis Presley invaded music. To adults, the kids were out of control.

"The Young Savages" from 1961 is another film looking at the rise in delinquency, this one starring Burt Lancaster, Shelley Winters, Dina Merrill, and Telly Savalas (in his film debut). Directed by John Frankenheimer, the film is an attempt to get at the psychological reasons behind the murder of a Puerto Rican boy in Harlem.

Lancaster plays DA Hank Bell aka Bellini before his father changed it. He grew up in the neighborhood depicted. Now there is an ethnic division, the Italians versus the Puerto Ricans, with gang activity on both sides - West Side Story sans music.

Hank Bell is to prosecute the juveniles accused of the stabbing, and one of them is the son of a woman (Winters) whom he once dated. She tells him her son could not have been involved in any murder and begs him to look into it. In real life I think he would have had to give the case to someone else, but here, he tries to find out what really happened. Along the way, he learns some things about himself.

Like "Knock on Any Door," "The Young Savages" endeavors to show what's behind the tragedy. Merrill is Karin, Hank's suburban life, with the liberal philosophy of one who doesn't actually deal with juveniles. She's a far cry from Hank's old girlfriend from the neighborhood - Hank has reinvented himself and has a debutante type for a wife. Partly from guilt, partly from "there but for the grace of God," Hank throws himself into the case, endeavoring to see both sides, to the complete annoyance of his superiors.

Good movie with an intense performance by Lancaster. The film is notable also for being Telly Savalas' first film, playing a police detective with shades of Kojak. The juveniles - Stanley Kristien, Neil Nephew, Luis Arroyo, Jose Perez, and Richard Velez, are all excellent.

Though somewhat derivative, this is a good film -- Burt Lancaster's production company was associated with quality films, and this is one of them.

Solid and still timely

[jjnxn-1 · 7/10 · 16 May 2013]

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.

A prosecutor stunningly played by Burt Lancaster investigates a murder case but he learns that it's all far more twisted than it first appeared

[ma-cortes · 7/10 · 29 December 2015]

This is an original classic picture , being very worthy in its intention and including faith in American justice . It is set in N.Y. C. where gang leaders lead his groupies on a reign of terror through the streets and slums . These dangerous gangs are called the Horsemen and the Thunderbirds . After three adolescents hoods stab a blind Puerto Rican boy , upright assistant DA Hank Bell (Burt Lancaster) is tasked with prosecuting the criminal case . He's looking for evidences for first degree killing for all three of the teenagers , even 15 year-old Danny DiPace , son of his old sweetheart , Mary DiPace (Shelley Winters who played his former lover , she was actually former lover in real life) . Bell grew up in the neighborhood and investigates the convictions along with Lt. Gunderson (Telly Savalas) . He learns that Escalante may have pulled a knife and was really one of the chiefs of the Puerto Rican gang that fought usually with their Italian opponents . Bell's spouse is upset at the prospect that he's seeking the death penalty for teens and he thinks she's just a liberal living in her own little perfect world . Meanwhile , Hank attempts to find out motivation for killing on the three misfit boys . As he gathers more proofs against his superior , the General prosecutor Daniel Cole (Edward Andrews) . However , he starts to see that it is all far more complicated than it first suggested . Ring leader results to be a young psychopath Arthur Reardon (John Davis Chandler) , a baddie who doesn't seem human . The attorney starts investigating with no results and the bands pull off his owns objectives , leading to an ever higher tension at the justice court .

It is a violent and strong movie by its time about gangs of cruel teens who terrorize the neighborhood , executing a terrible murder and a prosecutor assistant who is determined to do his job and starts to discover that the facts in the case aren't exactly as they seem to be , despite resistance from his superiors . Tough as well as thoughtful entertainment , set in the thunderous sixties . Well-remembered violent drama from the early 60s in which teenager gangs terrorize the entire streets and surroundings executing crimes and violence at random . Interesting script , screen-written by Edward Anhalt , based on the novel "A Matter of Conviction¨ by Evan Hunter . This entertaining as well as thought-provoking film contains thrills , intense drama , upsetting scenes , and with quite convincing , studious atmosphere . In fact , due to the film violent content had great notoriety and important impression as well as some problems with censorship . Very good acting , as always , by Burt Lancaster as a district attorney who pursues justice , investigating the racially charged case of three teenagers accused of a killing . Lancaster had never before worked with a director as Frankenheimer who used such innovative camera angles . He grew to trust John Frankenheimer, and they made four more films together . In fact , Lancaster was forced by United Artists to make four films for low salaries in the 1960s , all of them directed by Frankenheimer : The Young savages (1961 ), The birdman of Alcatraz (1962), The Train (1964) and Seven Days in May (1964) rather than his normal fee , because of cost overruns at his production company , Hecht-Hill-Lancaster, for which he was personally responsible . Acceptable acting by Dina Merrill ; however , Dina said that the treatment she received from director John Frankenheimer on this picture nearly drove her out of the business , as he literally told her at the end of a days' filming that she was the worst actress he'd ever worked with . It displays a very nice as well as memorable support cast , such as Edward Andrews , Shelley Winters , Larry Gates , Telly Savalas , Stanley Adams , Leonardo Cimino , Milton Selzer and unforgettable John Davis Chandler as nasty teen.

Evocative cinematography in Black and White by Lionel Lindon . The picture was well directed by John Frankenheimer and achieved great success . John used strange camera movements , aiming upward and camera on the floor . Lancaster had never before worked with a filmmaker who utilized such innovative camera angles . In fact , Lancaster was startled and dismayed to see these rare work means . At the beginning John worked for TV and turned to the cinema industry with The Young Stranger (1957) . Disappointed his with first feature film experience he came back to his successful television career directing a total of 152 live television shows in the 50s . He took another opportunity to change to the big screen , collaborating with Burt Lancaster in The Young Savages (1961) and Birdman of Alcatraz (62) ending up becoming a successful director well-known by his skills with actors and expressing on movies his views on important social deeds and philosophical events and film-making some classics as ¨The Manchurian candidate¨, ¨Seven days of May¨ and ¨The Train¨ and ; in addition , including some great car races as ¨Grand Prix¨ and ¨Ronin¨ . Rating : Better and average and well worth seeing . The flick will appeal to Burt Lancaster fans . Above average for its thrilling premise as well as hard-hitting entertainment and had the youthful ripping up the seats on its first release .

oh so cool

[non_sportcardandy · 8/10 · 9 November 2003]

Overall the film is not an 8 but the cool parts just won't allow me to give it a lower score.When it was first released I was in junior high school and there existed a non-conformist society within a society.These non-conformists wore long dark coats(trench coats ?) and small brimmed dress hats.My older brother used this kind of dress,I thought it looked so cool.The best I could do was a hand-me-down off white coat that had been balled up in the closet.My big head size ruled out using a hat,instead of looking like a teenage gangster I probably resembled a juvenile Colombo.In the film the gang called the Horsemen dress in the coat and hat style,I really could relate to this cool look.Real gang members are used for some parts of the movie.The viewer sees a style of dress that really existed at the time,for me it's history preserved.The slang and look of the young people are what I like about this movie.Among them are Zorro,Pretty Boy,Gargantua and Batman.The outstanding one and for me the scene stealer of the movie is Arthur Reardon one of the accused murders played by John Chandler.Although only involved in violence twice in the movie he goes about it gleefully as it escalates.A complex person he grins telling how he wanted to live on a farm but his parents put him out on the streets to play with bad boys.Most of the time he is sneering giving indication many things in the world annoy him.His character would have no trouble fitting into a current movie. Soundtrack is very good and in one scene sets the viewer up for seeing Diavolo for the first time.The back of his jacket is something else,be ready for it they only show it for a second. The big finale court trial is unbelievable,a fairytale.About the most realistic scene involving Burt Lancaster is when he is at home talking to his wife and reflects on changing his name from Bellini to Bell.Probably especially after one of the Italian gang members yells..What's the matter you ashamed of being a W--?.This is not a Burt Lancaster movie/story,changes were made to fit his image.When asked by a gang member..Do you know why I stomped him? Lancaster gives the correct answer to show his so called tough up bringing.In the book Lancaster's character can't give the answer and is more meek.The character in the movie still has to take a backseat to the young persons maybe all the way to the trunk.Look for the emphasis on poverty,one gang leader lives in a crowded apartment with people laying around. It looks like a combination flop house/sweat shop where sleeping is done in shifts.My favorite touch is a rooster pecking around on the stairwell INSIDE the apartment building(a housebroken slum rooster?)

Being in a gang is the name of the game.

[michaelRokeefe · 6/10 · 17 May 2002]

John Frankenheimer directs this intense story of three teenage killers in New York City's Spanish Harlem and the idealistic DA(Burt Lancaster)given the job to prosecute them. Young gang members trying to protect their turf see no use in cooperating with the law. Lancaster plays the part as if he were Jack Webb. (That is meant to be a compliment). This movie also gives Lancaster the chance to work with Shelley Winters. (Wink, wink) Also in the cast are Dina Merrill, Chris Robinson, Edward Andrews and the debut of Telly Savalas. Very little actual violence, but some pretty good drama.

The other side of West Side Story

[canario · 8/10 · 5 January 1999]

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.

Frankenheimer's Second Feature Film Entertaining With Mixed Results

[CitizenCaine · 7/10 · 6 April 2009]

During this period, many juvenile delinquent films were released following the Hollywood success of The Blackboard Jungle with Glenn Ford in 1955. The cycle continued into the sixties when the juvenile films often turned soft or zany, such as the beach films. The delinquency films returned to a more hardcore approach with the advent of the motorcycle films from the mid sixties to the early seventies. John Frankenheimer was a director to be reckoned with from the fifties through the mid sixties.

In The Young Savages, his second feature film, Frankenheimer directs Burt Lancaster as a crusading assistant district attorney who later finds himself second-guessing himself when prosecuting three Italian gang members for stabbing a blind Puerto Rican boy to death. The role is beneath Lancaster, and it becomes one of his standard portrayals of an intense character in growing conflict with himself over ethical issues. His performance is good, but toward the end of the film in the courtroom scene, Lancaster's character seems to take an about face in relation to his position as a prosecutor and from his earlier get tough approach; as a result, his concluding courtroom speech rings hollow and makes him sound like a political mouthpiece for the screenwriter. The film also glosses over the ethical dilemma of Lancaster prosecuting the son of a former girlfriend.

The icy Dina Merrill represents the book-learned liberal faction of society insulated from facing the social problems the establishment attempts to come down on. Shelley Winters is always good, this time as an Italian mother with a son she's disconnected from. Edward Andrews is good as Lancaster's amoral, political boss. Telly Savalas appears in only his second feature film as a rough and tumble police lieutenant, a precursor to his Kojack persona. Luis Arroyo, the one time pitcher from the Yankees at the time, is Zorro (the Puerto Rican gang leader).

The Young Savages attempts to do too much in one film, depicting juvenile delinquency as a social problem with varied causes seemingly to be studied and understood. Also the four main characters of Lancaster, Merrill, Winters, and Andrews appear to symbolize the various factions of society with a vested interest in delinquency as an issue; of course a couple are misguided. Neither gang is depicted as all good or all bad. The gang members appear to be acting a bit exaggerated in the film, which may have seemed necessary for the film to make its point, but today the performances simultaneously seem dated, tame, and, in the case of John Davis Chandler, over-the-top.

Frankenheimer's early films, as did his early television work, move quickly with tense, emotionally packed scenes. He was also innovative with camera angles and stop action close-ups. The Young Savages benefits immensely from on location shooting in East Harlem neighborhoods where Lancaster grew up himself. The screenplay is based on Evan Hunter's novel: A Matter Of Conviction, the title deliberately ambiguous perhaps. This is probably Frankenheimer's weakest film from his first decade of directing. *** of 4 stars.

Courage is the ability to hide one's fear - justified

[dijroosevelt · 9/10 · 17 August 2004]

I have seen this movie some 40years ago in India.Now,when i enlisted this in My movies column of IMDb,i felt as if meeting an old friend after a long time.I think the effective story telling technique is the secret of making this movie unforgettable.

The story is based on the psychology of teenagers.It is true that some of our teenagers tend to act as if they are very brave and courageous though they are not actually.Unfortunately they have learned to think that criminal activities only can prove their brevity in the society.The hero is a good natured teenager from a decent family,but lies utterly that he is a criminal.This is a psychological disorder.This movie tells us how children brought up in good families remain good even when they are forced to commit criminal acts by their bad associates and at the same time expect the society to admire them as brave knights.Murder in the swimming pool,blind gangster playing harmonica before getting killed and the mother of the accused convincing Burt Lancaster that her son is innocent are some of the scenes i still remember.

This was the first BurtLancaster movie i have seen.A complicated psychological theory explained in an extraordinary manner.Burt Lancaster proves he is an outstanding artiste.This movie is an excellent example for high quality screenplay,direction and acting.

Wild side story

[dbdumonteil · 24 August 2003]

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.

East Side Story

[wes-connors · 7/10 · 13 November 2014]

Over the opening credits, three teenagers swagger into New York City's Spanish Harlem, with trouble on their minds. In broad daylight, they viciously stab to death a blind 15-year-old harmonica player. The perpetrators are revealed to be members of the "Thunderbirds", an Italian street gang. This victim was a member of the "Horsemen", a rival Puerto Rican gang. Due to the victim's blindness and young age, district attorney Edward Andrews (as Daniel "Dan" Cole) decides to seek the death penalty. He has an eye on the Governor's office. Tough guy prosecutor Burt Lancaster (as Hank Bell) is assigned the case...

We learn Lancaster moved out of the poor neighborhood and married wealthy Vassar socialite Dina Merrill (as Karin), after dating pitifully sympathetic Shelley Winters (as Mary). Left behind, Ms. Winters raised impressionable blond Stanley Kristien (as Danny Di Pace), one of the knife-wielders. Rounding out the trio are seemingly psychotic John Davis Chandler (as Arthur Reardon) and illiterate head-banger Neil Nephew (as Anthony "Batman" Aposto). While investigating the murder, Mr. Lancaster begins to question the death penalty he is directed to pursue...

Based on "A Matter of Conviction" by "Blackboard Jungle" novelist Evan Hunter, this film asks us to look at a handicapped Hispanic teenager's killers as individuals with problems of their own. That's quite daring. This is, of course, the first step in actually changing things and helping prevent violence. Director John Frankenheimer handles the task well. After your initial revulsion, you're with him. Going for a weird balance of realism and showiness, Mr. Frankenheimer introduces the killers with choreography. For the actual crime, he becomes aloof, shooting it through reflection while a young woman screams. Finally, we become intimate with the characters...

While we're asked to understand the killers and contemplate their action, Frankenheimer does not dismiss their flaws. We see these more fully in two subsequent attacks. In a public swimming pool, young Rafael Lopez (as Jose) is terrorized while dozens of tightly-attired onlookers cavort. Frankenheimer may have gone overboard with the towel-swatting background twosome, but the foot in young Lopez' face is effective. The young actors play this scene admirably. There is also a nail-biting close-up attack on Ms. Merrill in an elevator. Her character is given an edginess Merrill rarely saw in her movie scripts, but the role isn't fully developed. Even less is gleamed from Ms. Winters, who mainly sits and emotes. The most obvious dramatic moment ("He's your son!") never happens and it all ends too easily.

******* The Young Savages (5/24/61) John Frankenheimer ~ Burt Lancaster, Stanley Kristien, John Davis Chandler, Neil Nephew

sincere, but rather muddle headed and unrealistic

[cherold · 4/10 · 5 January 2006]

This is one of those social conscience movies that were popular in the 50s and early 60s. This is not an especially good example of the genre. It follows prosecutor Burt Lancaster's investigation into a gang killing. The movie seems to be designed around a series of points the screenplay wants to make about the nature of slums and gangs and whether the death penalty is a good thing and that sort of thing, but it approaches all this in an unconvincing, mechanical manner. While the movie isn't all bad throughout, and seems vaguely interesting most of the way through, the trial at the end is so utterly absurd that it ruined what little momentum the movie had going. This is standard Hollywood law, in which Lancaster exhibits fairly incompetent prosecutorial behavior in his quest for "the truth." The movie is sincere and has good credentials, so it looks like it should be a good movie, but it really isn't.

Imperfect, but generally entertaining.

[Hey_Sweden · 7/10 · 7 September 2015]

"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.

A liberal fantasy to be sure

[JasparLamarCrabb · 6/10 · 28 November 2013]

A liberal's fantasy film though it tries mightily to pretend it isn't. Burt Lancaster is a NYC D.A. investigating the stabbing of a blind Puerto Rican boy in Spanish Harlem. The gang members who may or may not have been responsible include the son of Lancaster's childhood girlfriend. Director John Frankenheimer tries mightily to show both sides of the coin with this film, but in the end, cops out with what is tantamount to a "happy ending." This may have had more to do with the famously liberal Lancaster's leftist leanings than with Frankenheimer's filmmaking choices. Nevertheless there is some very good acting, not only by Lancaster, but by Shelley Winters, Vivian Nathan, Pilar Seurat (as the dead boy's sister) and Telly Savalas as Lancaster's highly cynical, Greek chorus associate. David Amram provided the inflammatory music score and Lionel Lindon did the shot on location cinematography.

Imagine West Side Story minus the music and the dancing...

[bmacv · 6/10 · 22 November 2002]

John Frankenheimer's The Young Savages unfolds in a Manhattan made fearful by the new phenomenon of brutal gang warfare between the arriving Puerto Ricans and older ethnic groups – Italian and Irish – who live in the same slums and consider them their rightful turf. It starts out with real flair for moviemaking and floats a lot of provocative ideas along the way, but when it's over you wonder what the hell it was all about. It gets progressively weaker, squandering away its most promising themes, and finally grinds to a halt in a long courtroom sequence that, despite the obligatory histrionic outbursts, stays dramatically dead.

In its energetic, dialogue-free opening, three young gang members invade Puerto Rican territory and stab a blind boy to death. They claim self-defense, but it turns out the knife the victim was wielding was a harmonica. The case plays big in the press, and prosecutor Burt Lancaster gets the job of sending the three to the electric chair.

But there are complications. One of the accused is the son of a woman (Shelly Winters) Lancaster used to date; he hails, you see, from these same mean streets and changed his name from Bellini to Bell. And his wife (Dina Merrill), who's what was in that era called a Limousine Liberal, staunchly opposes the death penalty (at least until she's menaced in an elevator by a pair of young hoods).

As Lancaster delves into the case, he finds discrepancies. Winters' son, it seems, is no racist (or at best not a homicidal one). The victim served as a sort of arms-courier to his sighted brethren, and the star witness for the prosecution, his grieving sister, turns out to be a 16-year old hooker. This is bad news for Lancaster's boss, opportunistic District Attorney Edward Andrews, who wants the case to be his launching pad to the governor's mansion. But Lancaster, visibly suffering the pangs of conscience, decides to pursue The Truth.

It's far from one of his best roles. He gets no chance to unleash the furled energy that was so much a part of his screen presence; and when he's worked over by a gang on a subway car you don't believe it – this is a man who could scatter those punks away with one sweep of his paw. Merrill has her moments but stays confined to what's really a sub-plot, while Winters' saintly part does her in – heavy earnestness, of the sort that would win her Oscars, did her in as an actress, too.

Probably the script can be held to blame for the wishy-washy impression the movie leaves. Characters espouse various positions on the issues involved, but it's never clear whether they're being advanced seriously or being held up to ridicule. Everything is played too safe to be satisfying. And another movie of the same year, with the same setting and the same themes, would totally eclipse The Young Savages, which now seems like West Side Story minus the music and the dancing.

Those who don't live by the law will fry by the law.

[mark.waltz · 10/10 · 30 December 2015]

The streets of Manhattan take a real beating in this vivid depiction of true events that make the original Dead End Kids and the Jets and Sharks of West Side Story seem trivial. Those two looks at the lives of New York City tough are excellent time capsules but this takes real life and turns it into one of the great social dramas of all time, a true sleeper if there ever was one.

Looking at the elevated Metro North near 110th Street (my neighborhood) is a far cry from the location footage in a handful of films using the same shots of the stone underpasses. Shots of all over Manhattan give a dark and eerie look at the harsh world that had most of the country petrified of the image of America that it gave the rest of the world.

"Hatred has killed my son", the mother of a murdered blind Puerto Rican boy attacked by American hoods exclaims. Accused of pulling a knife, the deceased boy himself is accused of accelerating the crime against him, although it appears that even his own screaming sister didn't make an attempt to pull him into the tenement as the bigoted white teens approached as if they were preparing to slaughter a chicken for dinner.

"Take a look. San Juan's polluting the water", one of the monster teens complains before the gang tries to drown a young Puerto Rican boy. The same kid testifies on the behalf of one of them who came to his rescue. Of course, the older Puerto Rican teenagers mistook what he did, and it is only the belief of that white boy's mother (Shelley Winters) that indicates to assistant D.A. Burt Lancaster (her old beau) that he might be innocent.

In a major comparison with the song "Gee Officer Krupke", one of the Italian American gang members describes his life much like one of the West side Jets did the same year on film, as did the original novel and original Broadway production of both stories. Each group viciously insults the other with no stone unturned in the hateful racial slurs against each of the other is used.

Of course, there is a political subplot with D.A. Edward Andrews hoping for higher office by winning this case, giving the analogy of votes bought by blood rather than promises of justice. Telly Savalas is a rather vicious detective while Dina Merrill plays Lancaster's upper-crust wife who finds the hard way the ugliness of the street.

A definite forgotten gem, this is one of the quintessential social horror stories that had been exploding off screen since the end of the second world war. It isn't the artistic triumph of "West Side Story", but it does not sugar-coat anything. This isn't about the Puerto Ricans being made the unwelcome intruders; They are equally presented as young savages as well with clues dropped here and there, adding shocking facts to each of the revelations. A great predecessor to John Frankenheimer's later masterpiece "The Manchurian Candidate", this ends up being just equally as important and for many people who remember these violent years, much more identifiable.

good acting but ludicrous courtroom scene

[wwc-johnb · 6/10 · 28 November 2013]

As with all Frankenheimer/Lancaster productions, this is a taut story with first-rate acting. But the outlandish courtroom scenes really let it down.

Lancaster's district attorney is more the defense than a prosecutor as he paints the boys as poor, misunderstood victims that society drove to stab the Hispanic blind boy. It would be safe to say that his days as a prosecutor would be over. In fact, there might even be disbarment procedures on the horizon.

Frankenheimer should also have consulted with some attorneys to see what actually goes on during a trial. For example, the lab report clearing DePace would have been available to the defense as part of discovery, not something that would be sprung by the prosecutor during cross examination. Similarly, the judge arbitrarily changes DePace's charge from murder one to third degree assault during sentencing, after the jury has already come back with a verdict. Did the jury convict on murder or not?

This film puts me in mind of the later Birdman of Alcatraz. This is another taut, well-acted F/L effort in which the life of killer Bob Stroud is completely fabricated to make him appear to be a misunderstood innocent beaten down by the prison system, rather than the conscious less sociopath he was in reality. They even went so far as to get the real bird man a special parole hearing. Fortunately, when asked what he would do if he got out, Stroud answered that he'd kill again because there were too many out there who needed killing. Oops, never mind.

Pure burt!

[coffeemann · 8/10 · 20 October 2019]

What an amazing movie! Why it didnt get the recognition it deserved at the time in beyond me. Burt lancaster coming off his oscar win for elma gantry shines in this intense full of emotion action drama! Most of the movie is an investigation piece like youd see in law and order! And the last 20 minutes an explosive court room drama! This film will touch any immigrant growing up in neighborhoods where racism existed. This will touch any boys who grew up with bad friends and did things just to find some friendship but knowing you shouldnt. And most importantly see the good in people. Trying to seek justice and help lost teenagers who have lost their way in society due to their up.bringing or neighborhood.. What an amazing movie!!

The white middle-class male fights back to prove his moral superiority.

[skanz · 18 August 2015]

This is quite an entertaining film, and quite slickly done. The opening scene follows three youths that you just know are up to no good. They pull out knives and attack a blind Puerto Rican boy innocently playing a harmonica on his front porch with his sister. A clear case of premeditated murder. The assistant DA is going after the death penalty until he does some digging. It turns out the blind boy is a general in a Puerto Rican gang, and regularly pimps out his 16yo sister for $.

This revelation seems to change the mind of the ADA, apparently the blind boy wasn't so innocent after all. Why was this important? It did not change the fact that the 3 went to his house with the specific intention of killing him. If anything it provides motivation. Somehow the blind boy's involvement in gangs meant his life was less valuable. While he has the boy's sister on the witness stand the ADA asks her how she earns money, reminding her she is under oath. The admits she is a hooker. "A prostitute?" the ADA wants clarification."Yes, a prostitute..." The defense attorney objects, but the ADA says he is leading somewhere. But he doesn't- he just lets the jury know she has been a prostitute since the age of 14. The jury is shown wide-eyed. Somehow this is relevant? He asks her if she was coerced into it by an older man. Apparently not, they needed money when her mother got sick. He asked what her mother thought about her being a prostitute, she said the mother wished she had died. Remember this is a witness for the prosecution. This pure 'slut-shaming' at it's best. Moral condemnation.

He then goes on to show one of the 3 attackers is mentally challenged, another didn't actually stab the boy, and the third tries to dominate out of fear. essentially he does the defense attorneys job for him. The reasoning given in the film is he wanted to expose THE TRUTH. That truth being that what seems a simple case of good vs evil is more complex- this is all well and good, but there is an underlying message in the film.

Initially the three white kids are presented as thoroughly evil bad 'uns. We learn they are complex and disturbed- more deserving of pity than anger. The Puerto Ricans at first seen as innocent victims are finally portrayed as morally corrupt, inferior in every way to the White Man.

The blind boy's mother wants justice for her son in the middle of the film, and the ADA promises her she will get it. After he has scuppered his own case, she asks him where is the punishment promised for those that killed he son. He tells her a lot of people killed her son. He implies it was his own fault, her fault, the gang's fault, his own people's fault. He walks away proudly, a job well done.

The 3 attackers avoid the death penalty- the mentally challenged one gets sent to a mental hospital, the non-stabber gets a year in juvi, (he's a good kid at heart) and the third gets life in priz. The sentence was probably a good one for the three killers. They were sent to kill the boy by the head of their gang, so although premeditated, they were pawns. There was no mention of pursuing the guy that organised the killing- the Thunderbirds gang leader.

The two gangs go back to the status quo, the white middle class ADA, jury, cops and the audience are reassured minorities have no morals and white kids only err through environmental stress.

East Side story

[st-shot · 6/10 · 25 October 2011]

The first of the five collaborations featuring the energetic acting and directing styles of Burt Lancaster and John Frankenheimer The Young Savages is a sincere if not altogether successful look at juvenile gangs and assimilation in the era of West Side Story. It doesn't reach the dizzying heights of the musical but it does effectively convey the plight of growing up in the inner cities and the pressures facing them.

Three of The Horsemen in mid day brazenly walk onto Thunderbird turf and stab a blind boy. Immediately powers that be attempt to exploit the moment for political gain while the city braces for a gang war of retribution between rivals. Hank Bell (Lancaster) is assigned the case by his boss who very much wants to be the next governor. With calls for law and order they push for the death penalty but Bell who grew up in the neighborhood refuses to broad brush the trio and investigates further and what looked clear cut becomes murkier with each new discovery.

The opening of Savages is a powerful montage of tension building as Frankenheimer's assassins move in on their intended target. In the aftermath the cold cynicism of the likes of Telly Savalas' homicide detective and Edward Andrews office seeking DA keeps things gritty and grounded in reality while Frankenheimer and cinematographer Lionel Lindon create some strong expressionistic canvases to illustrate the grinding poverty and despair of the slum. Things become unglued however in the court room scenes as Bell dealing with some identity guilt himself ( his real name is Bellini ) goes from prosecutor to defense lawyer for his ex- girlfriend's kid in one cross examination and it turns Savages into soap opera.

Lancaster delivers his usual energized performance as a man conflicted by his past and present in his pursuit of the American Dream. Andrews and Savalas nail their roles but Dina Merrill and Shelly Winters as paramour metaphors come across remote and bland.

The Young Savages is commendable for its calling to attention the bitter friction of inner city living, poverty, violence and bias giving ample time for the denizens of these the slums to voice their story. The courtroom scenes however do not do it justice and Savages ultimately executes itself.

Self-loathing Prosecutor learning...

[kijii · 8/10 · 13 November 2016]

This movie was released the same year as West Side Story, At the beginning of this movie, one sees a gang of hoods swaggering down the street. One almost expects them to break out into song and dance like the Jets did in West Side Story. In fact, the beginning of this movie has MANY parallels to West Side Story—right down to the two NYC ethnic gangs fighting to protect their respective street turfs. One gang is Italian (but HERE they call themselves the Thunderbirds--rather than the Jets.) The other gang is Puerto Rican (but HERE they call themselves the Horseman—rather than the Sharks). These parallels are eerie and it almost seems like one movie is copying the other.

However, at this point, the two movies diverge since The Young Savages is no musical, no modern retelling of 'Romeo and Juliet,' no love story. Furthermore, far from the self-satirizing done in 'Gee Officer Krupke,' The Young Savages DOES explore and probe factors such as the criminals' age, personal problems, ethnic background, and social surroundings to judge when and how 'crimes' should be judged and punished.

The movie starts with the brutal gang killing of a blind Puerto Rican boy. The suspects are arrested as they flee the scene of the murder, but claim that the killing was done in self-defense. Hank Bell (Burt Lancaster) is the district attorney who prosecutes the case. His investigation takes him on a search that will teach as much about himself and HIS motives as it does with those of the suspects. First we learn that his wife, Karin (Diana Merrill), is a privileged WASP who is a critic of capital punishment; Hank is vengeful (which lead to tension with their marriage).

As the prosecutor, Hank is basically working against the Italian gang (the suspects) and for the Puerto Ricans (the victims). BUT he, himself, is an Italian who had escaped (through education, marriage, and status) the same neighborhood where the suspects come from. In fact, he had formerly dated one of the suspect's mothers, Mary de Pace (Shelley Winters). The case that had looked like an open-and-shut capital murder, turn out to be more complicated than he had thought, as the fact about both side (suspects and victims) emerge.

Dated but honest

[adrianovasconcelos · 7/10 · 10 February 2023]

Director Frankenheimer and Burt Lancaster did THE YOUNG SAVAGES and THE TRAIN in 1961. They worked well together, though THE TRAIN was a more expensive production, had better actors, and is more easily remembered.

That said, THE YOUNG SAVAGES examines the early but already growing problem of juvenile delinquency in Manhattan, and does it with honesty. Sadly, that problem has not diminished with the ever growing melting pot.

Highly effective performance from Lancaster. John Chandler as the remorseless baddie, maintains the idiotically evil facial expression throughout, which I found distracting and annoying.

Curious to see a young, already balding Telly Savalas, assisting Lancaster.

Competent cinematography.

First half is just fine, the last half is embarrassingly bad!!!

[planktonrules · 3/10 · 8 August 2006]

Uggghhh! This movie was perhaps the worst "social commentary" film I have ever seen--much worse than the very, very preachy KNOCK ON ANY DOOR and incredibly embarrassing and completely unbelievable towards the end. It's really a shame, as the first 85% of the film was excellent--offering many different perspectives on how to prosecute young urban hoodlums. Some are pushing for restraint and a liberal approach to the "misunderstood youths" while others are pushing for the "thugs" to get the chair. This debate was worth exploring, though I must admit that at times, the film didn't take a middle ground. And, in a movie full of "black and white thinking", you are left without any real answers--just diatribe and propaganda.

However, despite this unevenness, the last 15 minutes or so completely destroyed the film--making it 100% ridiculous and schmaltzy! Instead of pushing for the death penalty (which at least one of the accused CLEARLY deserved or at least 150 years in prison), the District Attorney, in mid-trial, begins campaigning for the Defense!!! And, he concludes by declaring that they are all victims of society and should not face 1st degree murder charges!!!!! If this REALLY happened, the D.A. would most likely be before a disciplinary committee or get sent to a sanitarium! Sure, Burt Lancaster was seeking "truth", but the only truth I saw was a completely one-sided bleeding- heart film that made me want to wretch. DON'T pretend to offer both sides and then conclude the movie with nothing but pure preachy propaganda!! To me, this made the film seem very dishonest and contrived. Avoid this movie and watch most any other courtroom drama!

The saddest part of this film is that it was directed by John Frankenheimer. Around this same time period, he gave us some of the greatest films of the 60s (Seven Days in May, The Manchurian Candidate and Seconds). This, on the other hand, was just too cheap and poorly written--why did he agree to do this bad film?!