The Young Land

"The Young Land" is a western set immediately after California is ceded from Mexico to the United States following the Mexican-American War. Most westerns are usually set in the late 19th century...this one is in 1848. The story essentially is whether or not American justice applies to everyone, as a young punk (Dennis Hopper) kills a Mexican-American man for kicks...and he assumes no court will convict him nor will anyone care...since the victim was 'one of them'.

The appointed judge (Dan O'Herlihy) is a stickler for the law and for proper procedure...which is problematic because he only has a local sheriff (Patrick Wayne) and a US Marshall to assist him....and there are many Mexican-American vaqueros ('cowboys') and American cowboys who are bent on their own form of justice. You have no idea what's going to happen until the end...and it's a very tense setting.

As a former US History teacher, I appreciate the setting and plot. I didn't appreciate the historical inaccuracies. They are not horrible inaccuracies, but folks just didn't run around shooting each other with revolvers back in 1848. First, shootouts like you see in the film were incredibly rare. Second, at this time, revolvers of any type were exceptionally rare...only having been invented shortly before this. The same can be said for the lever action rifle used at the end...it wasn't available until about 1860. Most of the guns they use in the film were all of much later models than 1848. Now this doesn't destroy the film...it just makes it annoying for us ex-teachers. And, it could be worse, as in "The Alamo" (1960) there were TONS of repeating pistols and rifles...none of which had yet been invented!

The direction is good and the acting quite good despite there being no 'names' in the story for 1959. Dennis Hopper is great as the scummy villain...but he was definitely an unknown at the time. This is even more the case with Patrick Wayne, John Wayne's son, who plays the lead....he's good and handsome but like Hopper he added little to the film's marketability and most people wondered who the heck these folks were! Still, they were very good....and O'Herlihy as well.

By the way, while he may not have looked it, Wayne was an interesting choice in this film about race relations and prejudice, as in real life Patrick's mother was a Mexican-American and father the famous American icon.

This is a restored version of this interesting feature, actually completed in 1957 by Buena Vista (Disney) but canned for two years until Columbia rescued and released it, supposedly based upon an historic incident, and there is a good deal to appreciate here, in particular excellent camerawork under the aegis of director Ted Tetzlaff, known essentially as a cinematographer. The scenario places the action in the newborn state of California in 1848, relating of a homicide trial with the defendant, played by Dennis Hopper, accused of murdering a local Mexican/Californian during an observed gun duel, after which he is arrested by the local unofficially appointed and unarmed sheriff, portrayed by 18 year Patrick Wayne. One of the better of a blessedly rare genre, The Didactic Western, YOUNG LAND's primary motif becomes a question as to whether the United States system of justice will serve up fair verdicts for non-English speaking citizens, with the efforts of an imported State judge (Dan O'Herlihy) to organize a proper trial inside a sheep barn being particularly engrossing as the judge is not accustomed to such rude courtroom surroundings. Thanks to a rather large budget, art director Jack Okey creates a Mexican village including a plaza, cantina, jail, and other buildings, and Tetzlaff, favouring long shots shows the players in full along with the location settings, all used to good advantage in glorious Technicolor through strong performances by Hopper, O'Herlihy, Ben Stroud, and Ken Curtis as a fugitive converted into a deputy.

I was going through the channels and found this movie with maybe a little more than an hour left. There are times I see a movie that just grabs my attention, not often though. This is one of those times. I recognized a few faces here, but the only ones that I considered to be well known were Hopper and Curtis. Some might find the dialogue wanting and sparse, but I think that is the way people really talk. The part of the movie I caught had the one killing at the end, something I found quite refreshing. One of the things I have grown to dislike is the excessive killings in these older Westerns. Don't get me wrong, I am not saying this is a great movie, just one that is worth seeing at least once.

If I would have had any clout in Hollywood in 1959, I would have drummed Dennis Hopper, Pat Wayne, and Yvonne Craig out of Hollywood - Not that those 3 set the world on fire with their acting abilities anyway. Actually, after watching Wayne, there's a good argument that he was the live action model for Woody from TOY STORY - except Woody is more lifelife. (watch him in his cowboy hat, shirt and skin tight jeans.) There is just not one thing in this movie that represents quality - acting, sets, costumes, sets, motivation. It's just a piece of crap. Considering that this film was released in 1959 - the same year as BEN HUR - it's just very difficult to see how it could even get one Oscar nomination - even for that ridiculous song by Dimitri Tiomkin.

I got The Young Land in a one of those 20 western packages and was not expecting much out of it, especially since the lead was a very young Patrick Wayne. Let's face it, no sane film maker would have given him a lead in any movie if he weren't the Duke's son. I expected him to be perfectly awful, but he didn't live up to my worst expectations. He was what used to be termed charitably as "adequate". Well, almost so.

But the movie had such good production values and such a good supporting cast for young Wayne, it was thoroughly entertaining. The best surprise in the works was a Dimitri Tiomkin score. Also excellent were the sets, the cinematography, the costumes, and the props. The down to earth dialog, the characterization, the dress, and the props all combined the give it an authentic look and feel, even though it was not actually authentic in detail. For instance, all the revolvers were correctly cap and ball models, but not the ones that were available in 1848. Amusingly, Wayne was shown loading his rifle in the muzzle, which was appropriate to the time period, but the rifle was obviously a Sharps, which was a breach-loader! Never mind-- E for effort in that department.

Wayne's supporting cast was the movie's best asset. Denis Hopper did his usual disgusting, whining psycho. He was a one-note actor, but he did that well. Yvonne Craig as Wyane's Spanish girl friend was merely decorative, but she was very good at that, I should say! Dan O'Herlihy as the no-nonsense judge dominated the proceedings in more ways than one. Ken Curtis showed that he had possessed quite a range as an actor back in the days before he turned into Festus Haggen. But the actor who really stole the show was Cliff Ketchum, as the quiet but deadly marshal, the judge's right hand man. He was truly authentic. He reminded me of one of those old time rural Texas lawmen I used to know when I was a kid -- scrawny, dried-up, past middle age guys. They didn't look like much but could be tougher than any punk who might come along.

The Young Land had good production values, a great score, a good story, colorful characters, and just the right mix of action and drama. This enjoyable oat-burner was a bargain at the 25 cents I paid for it. Which is more than I can say for some of the lasagna-burners keeping it company in that 20- western pack.