Pretty Good

It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

"The Wild and the Innocent" was a different sort of western for star Audie Murphy. In it he plays a naïve, innocent semi illiterate mountain man who sees the lights of a big town for the first time.Yancy (Murphy), his Uncle Lije (George Mitchell) and Lije's wife Kiri (Lillian Adams) are on their way to trade their beaver pelts at their usual trading post. Along the way, Uncle Lije is mauled by a bear and is unable to continue. Yancy is forced to carry on alone. The trading post has been burned to the ground as a result of drunken Indians made so by rot gut whiskey sold to them by the unscrupulous Ben Stocker (Strother Martin). Stocker, who is travelling westward with his wife and several children, offers up his eldest daughter, the unkempt Rosalie (Sandra Dee) for half of Yancy's furs. He refuses. But Rosalie leaves her family and attaches herself to Yancy much to his dismay. The two continue on to the nearest town and arrive on the 4th of July amid the celebrations.In town, Yancy gets into an altercation with drover Chip (Peter Breck) and is rescued by the town sheriff (Gilbert Roland) who takes a shine to Rosalie. Yancy meanwhile, takes his furs to the General Store run by Forbes (Jim Backus) who is playing in the town band. Yancy sees Marcy (Joanne Dru), a saloon girl and becomes smitten with her.The Sheriff in the meantime, cleans Rosalie up, dresses her in a fancy gown and begins to wine and dine her while all the time she pines for Yancy. Yancy unaware of the town's feelings, asks Marcy to the town dance. The townsfolk shun her and she is forced to explain the facts of life to the innocent Yancy. She tells him that the Sheriff is the owner of the Dance Hall and that Rosalie is with him.Yancy being a bible thumping sort, sees red and goes and gets his gun and goes after Rosalie and...............................................................................Murphy and Dee make a May-September couple. Murphy's character is supposed to be in his early 20s but in fact was 35 at the time and Dee only 17. Roland on the other hand, was in his 50s at the time making him a somewhat of a dirty old man.The best part of the movie is when Strother Martin is on the screen. His portrayal of the slimy slithering whiskey drummer is classic Martin.Not much action but "The Wild and the Innocent" is an enjoyable little opus nonetheless.

Anything with Audie Murphy in it is worth a look-see so right there and then it is worth watching for that. We get a glimpse of the Wild West only more tamed but still a ways to go with people in town consisting of two factions; the respectable and the not so respectable. True to life depicting the hard ship and the rewards of living on the frontier in the later stages of its development toward becoming more civilized. Murphy plays a character that is peaceful, has virtue and wants to do right and hurt no one and it works but we are also pleased to find out he has boundaries too. As usual, we got horses, mules, trappers, Indians, gun-play, good guys, bad guys and a love interest. Some tender scenes with some mild violence and of course a happy ending to make it all go down just right. As Westerns go, this is not a stand-out or even a good word of mouth movie but an okay time spent if you do watch. Get a sandwich, a drink and settle in.

It's a good title. I think I'm safe in assuming that it refers to Yancy's (Audie Murphy) seeming choice between females: the wild Marcy(Joanne Dru), an aging saloon girl, who likes to get drunk and frolic, or the seemingly innocent shy teenage hillbilly Rosalie(Sandra Dee). In terms of actual age of the actors, Joanne and Audie were pretty similar, and twice the age of the 17 year old Sandra. Audie thought she was a more desirable candidate for a wife than Sandra, but she wasn't interested in becoming a backwoods woman. Yancy has always been a trapper, along with his father. Although he seems polite and respectful, he's just not her idea of a fun playmate, being too young and unsophisticated. Audie seems to be playing a man in his early twenties, although being 35. He says he ran out of fingers and toes in counting his age. Thus, his character's age is not all that much more than Rosalie's. So, why did he keep pushing Rosalie away? Of course, at first, she looked disheveled, with her unkept hair and soiled dress, was illiterate, and talked very little, mostly pouting, with a blank expression. So, even after her appearance was upgraded, he was not that attracted to her. Yet, he was willing to risk his life to prevent her from becoming a saloon girl and a plaything of the 54y.o. Sheriff Bartell(Gilbert Roland), who owned the saloon, and apparently 'broke in' new recruits. And, when it came down to the wire, he took her to town, when he said he couldn't, and took her back home when she looked so soulful at him when he was about to leave without her.Of course, Sandra was perfect for her role, Audie perhaps less so in his role as an almost equal innocent. Of course, their characters were burlesqued in this respect. I have to wonder why Rosalie was so shy, and disheveled. Was she trying to make herself unattractive to men? I found Struther Martin hilarious as Sandra's thieving father. Gilbert Roland made a good lecherous owner of the saloon. Joanne Dru made it clear to Yancy that she was treated as an outcast by polite society in the town. Although she might frequently be dressed in fancy clothes, she was not considered a lady. Polite society was scandalized when she attended a social with Yancy.Yancy engages in several fights with cowboys or townies, and shoots one man dead, providing some 'action'. The catchy theme song "A Touch of Pink" is featured in the upbeat finale.See it in color at YouTube. I think you will find it a fun film.

a gentler movie than most of Audie Murphy's westerns - he's a gosh-darn hillbilly man - who meets a plum dirty hillbilly girl - and cain't see thru the messy hair & filthy clothes to her Sandra Dee appeal - but at the town where they come to trade their furs - the sheriff there does see it - while the hillbilly boy is a smitten by the lady dressed in scarletthis was never gonna be a great movie - but it weren't even average - the story didn't generate any tension cuz of the long dry scenes - and cuz everything was so predictablethe chemistry between Audie and Sandra Dee showed considerable promise - while Gilbert Roland almost steals the movie as the suave latino sheriff