The Wild and the Innocent

The Wild and the Innocent is a 1959 American CinemaScope Western film directed by Jack Sher and starring Audie Murphy and Sandra Dee as two inexperienced young people who get into trouble when they visit a town for the very first time.[1] The film was the final Universal-International film shot in CinemaScope.

The Wild and the Innocent
Film poster by Reynold Brown
Directed byJack Sher
Written bySy Gomberg
Jack Sher
Based onstory by Sy Gomberg
Produced bySy Gomberg
StarringAudie Murphy
Joanne Dru
Gilbert Roland
Jim Backus
Sandra Dee
CinematographyHarold Lipstein
Edited byGeorge Gittens
Music byHans J. Salter
Color processEastmancolor
Production
company
Universal-International
Distributed byUniversal Pictures
Release date
  • May 27, 1959 (1959-05-27)
Running time
85 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Plot

Shy and naive mountain trapper Yancy (Audie Murphy) travels through Wyoming with his uncle and his Indian wife. After Uncle Lije (George Mitchell) is injured by a bear, Yancy is sent to trade their beaver pelts for money and supplies. When he arrives at the trading post, he finds it has been burnt down by an Indian who was sold moonshine by a lazy sneak thief, Ben Stocker (Strother Martin). The trading post owner tells Yancy that he will have to ride two more days to Casper, Wyoming, the nearest town to trade his furs. Stocker tries to trade his oldest daughter Rosalie (Sandra Dee) to Yancy for some furs, but is rebuffed. The next day, Yancy finds that Rosalie has run away from her father and wants him to take her to town.

When they reach the town and he trades his furs, Yancy gets Rosalie some new clothes so she will be presentable to look for a job. Paul Bartell (Gilbert Roland), the town's corrupt sheriff, says he will find Rosalie a job at the dance hall, and Yancy believes that this will be alright. He later finds out what really goes on at the dance hall and goes to get Rosalie. Bartell, who intends to earn good money with Rosalie, refuses to let the girl go, and Yancy is forced to shoot him in self-defense.

The next day, Yancy is loading up to leave for the mountains, while he intends for Rosalie to stay at the general store and be cared for by Mr. Forbes (Jim Backus) and his wife (Betty Harford). However, Rosalie refuses to part with him, and in the end Uncle Lije and Yancy head into the mountains with Rosalie riding on the back of Yancy’s horse.

Cast

Production

Filming took place in Big Bear Lake, California.[2]

See also

References

  1. The Wild and the Innocent at Audie Murphy Memorial Site
  2. "The Wild and the Innocent". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Los Angeles, California: American Film Institute. Retrieved April 5, 2020.


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