Latino Images in Film ~ The Young Savages (1961)

The Young Savages (1961) stars Burt Lancaster as Hank Bell an assistant D.A. put on the case of three teenage Wops (Italians) that stabbed a blind teenage 'Spic (Puerto Rican) to death. At first the case seems really clear, this innocent blind kid out of nowhere gets brutally murdered by rageful strangers. However, the story unfolds and things are more complicated than they seemed. District Attorney is lusting after the governor's position and wants Bell to get the death penalty. Bell, who grew up in the slums with his fellow Wops, at first wants the same but starts to sympathize with old fiancee Mary DiPace (Shelley Winters) whose son was one of the three boys involved in the crime. Bell gets caught between two violent gangs Thunderbirds (Italians) and the Horsemen (Puerto Ricans), blood thirsty newspapermen, incapable cops, the loves of his life, and the list goes on and on. The film ends with riveting court scenes as the three Italian boys face their sentencing.


This is director John Frankenheimer second film and first with legendary actor Burt Lancaster. The cinematography is gorgeous. Many shots are layered and the mise-en-scene is dramatic with objects and faces frozen in the foreground and action happening in the background. The film deals with social issues in a way that only a '60s movie can do. The decade really opened filmmakers up to explore human nature more freely and with less restriction as the Code's reign was nearing it's demise. I place The Young Savages at the upper-echelon of superb dramatic movies! (Please read the excellent article on TCM's website about the film. Lots of great trivia and facts to be found there!)

I'm a bit torn about how the Puerto Ricans are represented in this film and find myself more ambivalent than offended. At first, the blind Puerto Rican boy is the epitome of innocence. His family, friends and neighbors all seem angelic in their mourning. However, as the story progresses the separation balance of evil on both sides changes with the Italians looking better and the Puerto Ricans looking worse and worse. We initially hate those three Italian boys but then we pity them. I'm not sure if this story would have worked in reverse with three Puerto Rican teens killing a blind Italian boy or if Bell would have been Puerto Rican, and in that case we wouldn't have had the wonderful Burt Lancaster in the starring role. This is such a great film than I really don't want to think to think ill of it but really in the end the representation of Latinos in this film can be considered poor at best. If you have any thoughts on these, please share!

Level of Brown Face ~ 0 out of 5 shades. 100% real Hispanic actors. Woot!

TCM Latino Images in Film Line-Up for Tuesday May 19th

The Lawless (1950)
Trial (1955)
Cry Tough (1959)
The Young Savages (1961)
Blackboard Jungle (1955)

Looking towards the future in Eights

I wasn't going to do this meme if I was tagged and for a while there I wasn't. Then Ginger Ingenue/Olivia/MacPherson/OnMars over at Asleep in New York tagged me and I thought "why not?". I've had a lot of heady posts on here lately especially with my Latino Images in Film blogathon so I thought I'd do something light for a change.

Since I don't like meme rules, I'm changing things up a bit. Don't like it? I don't care.

Eight things I'm working on in my life right now:
1) training for a 5k race
2) changing my diet and exercise regimens (lost 10lbs so far!)
3) waking up earlier in the mornings to squeeze in movie watching
4) watch more movies! I've been slacking.
5) start another blog
6) re-envision my social life
7) work on my self-esteem and confidence
8) be more spontaneous!

Eight classic film related things I look forward to:
1) More Warner Bros. Archive movies
2) Jack Lemmon boxed set!
3) Convincing myself to purchase Fox, Borzage & Murnau boxed set
4) Watching more of the Fox Movie Channel
5) TCM's Summer Under the Stars
6) Watching films Professor Jonas has sent me
7) Connecting with more classic film fans
8) Watching more classic films at the Brattle and Harvard Film Archive

Eight things I want to do for this blog:
1) Bring up my followers to 100 and my RSS subscribers to 200.
2) Do more contests & Quel Interpretations!
3) Write a review for every single Norma Shearer film I have access too!
4) Start my next blogathon (shhh it's a secret)
5) Communicate more with other bloggers
6) Finish my Pamela Tiffin series and start another similar one.
7) Do more Match.com style posts
8) Have more guest bloggers (contact me if you are interested)

Eight movies I'm going to watch next:
1) Smilin' Through (1932)
2) The Sign of the Ram (1948)
3) 8 Women (2002)
4) Strange Interlude (1932) Thank you Jonas
5) No, My Darling Daughter (1961) - Thank you Casey
6) The Last of Mrs. Cheney (1929) - Thank you Jonas
7) The Pleasure Seekers (1964) - post coming soon
8) all the Latino Images in Film movies that I had to tape or rent.

Instead of tagging people I want to take this opportunity to point out to people some interesting tweeters on Twitter. Here is a start up list:@tommysalami @mercurie80 @1416andcounting @talkieking @moviecollector @TCManiacs @MoviesonTCM @impossiblecat @fleurdeguerre. Look at who I follow on my Twitter page to find some other great tweeters.

Although Ginger disses Twitter, I think if you use it in the right way it revolutionizes the way you blog and the way you access information on the internet, as long as you follow the right people and tweet intersting things.

Reminder: TCM Latino Images in Film Giveaway

You know you want to win this. Enter the giveaway here.

Ignorance is Bliss vs. Knowledge is Power

Over at Noir Girl, Casey's post about Carmen Miranda got me thinking about how classic film fans watch movies. There are the times we watch films for substance, looking for stories that speak to our own personal experiences or enrich their lives by exploring the human condition in ways they hadn't done before. Other times we watch for enjoyment, for an escape from our everyday world and into another existence. Some of us lean towards the substance, others lean towards the enjoyment yet we all find our own comfortable balance between the two. We approach films different types of knowledge or lack thereof. We come armed with an arsenal of information either about the film, its stars, the director or the genre or we come completely pure and naive ready to experience something new and different. Again, a lot of us lean towards one or the other side but we find balance between the two.

In one of Casey's comments she says "the films are the ice cream, the lives of the stars are just the sprinkles on the top. That's the way it should stay." I've read a few posts by other classic film bloggers and they pretty much align with Casey's viewpoint which is that certain knowledge about the lives of stars stains the purity of enjoyment when watching the films. I don't really agree with this concept but I can understand it. Reading about Loretta Young in two separate biographies about other stars made me not like her so much and thus I have avoided her films. However, I didn't like her much to begin with so the knowledge just enhanced that. On the flip side, I've read sordid details about the lives of Bette Davis, Cary Grant, Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, Robert Mitchum, Norma Shearer, etc. and it hasn't affected how I watch their films. I still enjoy them immensely on screen. I can see where that might not work for everyone. Joan Crawford is forever tainted by that one famous line about wire hangers.

I am far too nosy and inquisitive to not learn about the lives of classic film stars yet is it right for me to dig up the dirt? Should I honor their legendary careers by avoiding their personal lives? If so, why should I? If they did bad things, why should I overlook them? What about those stars who were genuinely good people? Should we avoid them too? Jimmy Stewart was raised in my estimation after reading Marc Eliot's biography of him. Stewart gets the bad rap of being a womanizer (total myth) and dirt-digging Eliot couldn't even find much to tarnish Stewart.

Now I ask you dear readers, would you rather know or not know and why? I would love to hear your thoughts.