# The Young Savages
**The Young Savages** is a 1961 American courtroom drama directed by [John Frankenheimer](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-frankenheimer), in which [Burt Lancaster](https://www.edgepedia.org/burt-lancaster) plays an assistant district attorney prosecuting three Italian-American teenagers for the stabbing death of a blind Puerto Rican boy in [East Harlem](https://www.edgepedia.org/east-harlem). The film was based on Evan Hunter's 1959 novel *A Matter of Conviction*, was shot on location in New York City, and was released by United Artists after a New York opening on 24 May 1961.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23711-THE-YOUNG-SAVAGES)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | New York opening 24 May 1961; copyright registered 23 May 1961 by Contemporary Productions (LP20319)[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23711-THE-YOUNG-SAVAGES) |
| Source | Novel *A Matter of Conviction* by Evan Hunter (New York, 1959); the film's pre-release title was the same[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23711-THE-YOUNG-SAVAGES) |
| Director / writers | John Frankenheimer; screenplay by Edward Anhalt and J. P. Miller[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23711-THE-YOUNG-SAVAGES) |
| Lead cast | Burt Lancaster (Hank Bell), Dina Merrill (Karin Bell), Shelley Winters (Mary Di Pace), Edward Andrews (Dan Cole)[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23711-THE-YOUNG-SAVAGES) |
| Production | A Harold Hecht Production for Contemporary Productions; cinematography Lionel Lindon; music David Amram; editing Eda Warren[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23711-THE-YOUNG-SAVAGES) |
| Frankenheimer–Lancaster | First of five collaborations, followed by *Birdman of Alcatraz* (1962) and others[2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/99308/the-young-savages) |
| Reception | 44% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer (9 reviews) and 53% on the audience Popcornmeter[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/young_savages) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
The story opens with the killing itself: in broad daylight, three youths from an Italian street gang attack and stab to death a blind Puerto Rican boy, Roberto Escalante (Jose Perez), on the steps of his tenement.[2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/99308/the-young-savages) [The New Yorker](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-new-yorker)'s 1961 review noted that the murder takes place on screen a few minutes after the picture starts.[4](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1961/06/10/upper-east-side-story)
Assistant District Attorney Hank Bell (Burt Lancaster) takes the case as a favor to his boss, District Attorney Daniel Cole ([Edward Andrews](https://www.edgepedia.org/edward-andrews)), who is running for [Governor of New York](https://www.edgepedia.org/governor-of-new-york) and wants a conviction as proof of his commitment to fighting crime.[2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/99308/the-young-savages) Bell, who grew up in the slums where the murder occurred, finds the case less clear-cut than it appears. One of the accused, Danny di Pace (Stanley Kristien), is the son of Mary di Pace ([Shelley Winters](https://www.edgepedia.org/shelley-winters)), Bell's former girlfriend, and Bell comes to suspect the boy did not take part in the killing. The victim himself turns out not to be innocent: he harbored weapons for a rival gang.[2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/99308/the-young-savages) Bell's wife Karin (Dina Merrill), an opponent of capital punishment, pressures him from the other side, arguing that the defendants are being used as political scapegoats.[2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/99308/the-young-savages) In the AFI synopsis, the investigation reveals that the murdered boy headed a Puerto Rican gang and acted as a pimp for his 13-year-old sister, and the trial ends with one killer, Arthur Reardon, sentenced to 20 years in prison and another sent to a mental institution, at the cost of Bell's political career.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23711-THE-YOUNG-SAVAGES)
## Production
**Origins.** The screenplay was written by Edward Anhalt, who was partly responsible for Frankenheimer being hired: he recommended the director to executive producer Harold Hecht, who had been impressed by Frankenheimer's acclaimed *Playhouse 90* television work, including J. P. Miller's *The Days of Wine and Roses*.[2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/99308/the-young-savages) The film marked Frankenheimer's second feature after his debut, *[The Young Stranger](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-young-stranger)* (1957), five years earlier.[2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/99308/the-young-savages)
**Circumstances.** The film was not a project either man chose freely. According to Frankenheimer, the production company Hecht-Hill-[Lancaster](https://www.edgepedia.org/lancaster) had fallen deeply into debt and agreed to make four very inexpensive pictures, with Lancaster taking $150,000 instead of his usual $750,000; having just come off *Elmer Gantry* (1960), Lancaster, in the director's words, wanted nothing to do with the movie.[2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/99308/the-young-savages) Location scenes were filmed in New York City.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23711-THE-YOUNG-SAVAGES) On the set, Lancaster recognized the talent of a young [Sydney Pollack](https://www.edgepedia.org/sydney-pollack) working with actors and recommended him to Lew Wasserman, head of MCA, an introduction that led to Pollack directing Lancaster in *The Scalphunters* (1968) and *Castle Keep* (1969).[2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/99308/the-young-savages) Frankenheimer had wanted the singer [Paul Anka](https://www.edgepedia.org/paul-anka) for one of the delinquents so that he could sing the title song.[2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/99308/the-young-savages)
**Supporting cast.** [Telly Savalas](https://www.edgepedia.org/telly-savalas) plays the detective lieutenant (credited as Detective Lt. Gunderson on IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes, and as Lieut. Richard Gunnison in the AFI catalog), with Vivian Nathan as Mrs. Escalante, Pilar Seurat as the victim's sister Louisa, John Davis Chandler as gang leader Arthur Reardon, Neil Burstyn as Anthony "Batman" Aposto, and Luis Arroyo as the Puerto Rican gang leader Zorro.[5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055633/fullcredits/) • [6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/young_savages/cast-and-crew)
## Reception
Contemporary reviews were largely favorable. Variety called the film "a kind of non-musical east side variation on 'West Side Story'", "a sociological cussword puzzle, a twisted riddle aimed at detection of the true motivation for juvenile crime", and praised its direction and cinematography for catching "the wild fury of gang pavement warfare".[2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/99308/the-young-savages) TIME's June 1961 review, titled "Ire in the I.R.T.", judged the film at its best when at its ugliest, in the location photography of gang turf, the subway beating of Lancaster's character, and the switchblade threats against his wife, while calling the plot "make-believe from the pasteboard jungle of Hollywood" and faulting Frankenheimer for insisting the audience notice his technique, as when the stabbing is seen entirely in the reflection of the victim's dark glasses.[7](https://time.com/archive/6623165/cinema-ire-in-the-i-r-t/) Edith Oliver in The New Yorker called it "an old-fashioned sentimental thriller, with up-to-date trimmings in the way of documentary techniques and pungent language", and rated the supporting cast above Lancaster: "Mr. Lancaster is all right; the others are more than all right."[4](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1961/06/10/upper-east-side-story)
Because of its edgy subject matter, the film had limited appeal for broad audiences but performed well in urban areas, and most reviews were positive.[2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/99308/the-young-savages) On Rotten Tomatoes it holds a 44% Tomatometer from 9 critics and a 53% Popcornmeter from more than 100 audience ratings.[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/young_savages) Later assessments have been mixed: [Pauline Kael](https://www.edgepedia.org/pauline-kael) wrote in *5001 Nights at the Movies* that "You're awfully conscious that the picture means to be hard-hitting; it sometimes succeeds, but a lot of it is just worthy", while TCM's retrospective notes the elements that endure, including the opening sequence, the gritty urban setting, David Amram's score, and John Davis Chandler's performance as Reardon.[2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/99308/the-young-savages) Dennis Schwartz's review summarized a common comparison, calling it "a West Side Story without the romance and music".[8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/young_savages/reviews)
## Context and legacy
The film belongs to the cycle of juvenile-delinquency pictures and social dramas of the late 1950s and early 1960s, alongside *12 Angry Men* (1957), and it drew on the same New York gang milieu as *West Side Story*; TIME noted that Hunter's novel had chronicled real-life skirmishes in New York teenage gang warfare.[2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/99308/the-young-savages) • [7](https://time.com/archive/6623165/cinema-ire-in-the-i-r-t/) Its subject matter overlapped with the period's policy debate: 1961 was also the year Congress authorized federal juvenile delinquency grants under the Kennedy administration and the President's Committee on Juvenile Delinquency and Youth Crime was created.[9](https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2010/summer/youth.html) A scholarly account of postwar screen images of [Puerto Ricans](https://www.edgepedia.org/puerto-ricans) lists *The Young Savages* among the depictions that offered viewers "more sex and violence" than *West Side Story* and confirmed established stereotypes.[10](https://etd.ohiolink.edu/acprod/odb_etd/ws/send_file/send%3Faccession%3Ducin1505205872234436%26disposition%3Dinline)
The film was the first pairing of Lancaster and Frankenheimer, who went on to make four more films together, including *Birdman of Alcatraz* (1962) and, in the same period, *[The Train](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-train-1964-film)* and *Seven Days in May*.[2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/99308/the-young-savages) • [11](https://rogersmovienation.com/2021/05/08/classic-film-review-young-frankenheimers-the-young-savages/) Frankenheimer had just turned 30 during production in 1960–61, and the film's success made his move from television directing to feature films permanent.[11](https://rogersmovienation.com/2021/05/08/classic-film-review-young-frankenheimers-the-young-savages/)
## Runtime
Sources disagree on the film's length. The AFI catalog lists 100 minutes,[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23711-THE-YOUNG-SAVAGES) IMDb and several databases list 103 minutes,[5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055633/fullcredits/) TCM's watch page lists 1 hour 40 minutes,[12](https://www.tcm.com/watchtcm/titles/17857) and Rotten Tomatoes lists 1 hour 50 minutes.[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/young_savages)
## References
1. [The Young Savages (1961), AFI Catalog of Feature Films](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23711-THE-YOUNG-SAVAGES)
2. [Jeff Stafford, "The Young Savages," TCM article, July 27, 2005](https://www.tcm.com/articles/99308/the-young-savages)
3. [The Young Savages, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/young_savages)
4. [Edith Oliver, "Upper East Side Story," The New Yorker, June 3, 1961](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1961/06/10/upper-east-side-story)
5. [The Young Savages (1961), Full cast & crew, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055633/fullcredits/)
6. [The Young Savages, Cast and Crew, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/young_savages/cast-and-crew)
7. ["Cinema: Ire in the I.R.T.," TIME, June 2, 1961](https://time.com/archive/6623165/cinema-ire-in-the-i-r-t/)
8. [The Young Savages, Audience and Critics Reviews, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/young_savages/reviews)
9. [Marilyn Irvin Holt, "Children as Topic No. 1," Prologue, National Archives, Summer 2010](https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2010/summer/youth.html)
10. [Dissertation on Puerto Rican representation in postwar film and television, OhioLINK](https://etd.ohiolink.edu/acprod/odb_etd/ws/send_file/send%3Faccession%3Ducin1505205872234436%26disposition%3Dinline)
11. [Roger Moore, "Classic Film Review: Young Frankenheimer's 'The Young Savages' (1961)," Movie Nation, May 8, 2021](https://rogersmovienation.com/2021/05/08/classic-film-review-young-frankenheimers-the-young-savages/)
12. [Watch The Young Savages, TCM](https://www.tcm.com/watchtcm/titles/17857)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Crime, thriller, and mystery films (individual works) › 1960s films*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license