The Wanderers (1979)

Director:

Philip Kaufman

Writers:

Richard Price (novel)
Rose Kaufman (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

4 July 1979 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Action

Tagline:

It's 1963. Meet The Wanderers... They were the hottest guys in town.

Plot:

Set against the urban jungle of 1963 New York's gangland subculture, this coming of age teenage movie is set around the Italian gang the Wanderers...

Plot Keywords:

Rock 'n' Roll | Gang | Football Game | Bare Butt | African American

Cast

Ken Wahl	...	Richie
John Friedrich	...	Joey
Karen Allen	...	Nina
Toni Kalem	...	Despie Galasso
Alan Rosenberg	...	Turkey
Jim Youngs	...	Buddy
Tony Ganios	...	Perry
Linda Manz	...	Peewee
William Andrews	...	Emilio
Erland van Lidth	...	Terror (as Erland Van Lidth De Jeude)
Val Avery	...	Mr. Sharp
Dolph Sweet	...	Chubby Galasso
Michael Wright	...	Clinton
Burtt Harris	...	Marine Recruiter
Samm-Art Williams	...	Roger

Runtime:

117 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Australia:R (original rating) | Netherlands:16 | Iceland:16 | Australia:M | Finland:K-18 | France:-16 | Norway:18 | UK:18 | USA:R | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Bronx, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Film Finance Group

Trivia:

Richard Price grew a mustache and cut his hair so he could play one of the bowling bankrollers in the movie.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: When the Baldies are chasing Joey and Turkey up the middle of the street, a 1970's era General Motors car is seen going across the top of the screen, after the VW Bug.

Quotes:

Perry: Leave the kid alone.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Old School (2003)

Soundtrack:

Soldier Boy

How come this hasn't become a classic?

One of the greatest scenes ever put on film is in this movie: Ken Wahl, about to get married, facing the transition between youth and responsibility, peers through a window at the action at Gerdes' Folk City in Greenwich Village, where, he dimly senses, there's a whole new world beyond his comprehension...it's pure gold, like most everything in this movie. I don't recall rock'n'roll songs ever being put to better or more appropriate use in a sound track. I don't recall a movie ever shifting more seamlessly, effortlessly, from gritty naturalism to bizarro impressionism and back. The cast is great! Whatever happened to some of these actors? There really was a Fordham Baldies, and I grew up not far from the old Alexander's in the Bronx, so I can't pretend to objectivity. For me, this is rather like a New York version of American Graffiti; it creates a world that I feel at home in, even if I never was a gang member and we left the Bronx when I was eight. By the way, the adaptation from Richard Price's book is, I think, remarkable. The book is a series of thematically linked stories that become a single organic story in the film. And I can't blame Ken Wahl--or his character--from being besotted by Karen Allen. Personally, I'd have gone right into Gerdes and flung myself at her feet. Oh yeah, the late Dolph Sweet is superb here.