"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.
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.