The Young Land ** (1959, Patrick Wayne, Yvonne Craig, Dennis Hopper, Dan O’Herlihy) – Classic Movie Review 7477

Director Ted Tetzlaff’s 1957 Western The Young Land re-tells that old chestnut story about the lawman Sheriff Jim Ellison (Patrick [Pat] Wayne) arresting a young, Caucasian American gunman Hatfield Carnes (Dennis Hopper) who has killed a Mexican man in California shortly after the Mexican-American war, then having to prevent a lynching.

Young Land is low on gunsmoke and not particularly exciting as a Western adventure, but the talk in the script is fairly interesting in well-written dialogue, and the film’s liberal-minded sentiments are admirable and clearly expressed in its carefully aimed attack on bigotry. Yvonne Craig co-stars as Elena de la Madrid and Dan O’Herlihy plays the California judge.

Star Patrick [Pat] Wayne is John’s son, while producer Patrick Ford is John Ford’s son.

The screenplay by Norman Shannon Hall is based on John Reese’s novel Frontier Frenzy, which would have made a more exciting title for the movie.

Dimitri Tiomkin (music) and Ned Washington (lyrics)’s ‘Strange Are the Ways of Love’ was Oscar nominated as Best Music, Original Song.

Also in the cast are Cliff Ketchum, Ken Curtis, Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez and Edward Sweeney.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 7477

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