The Wild and the Innocent (1959)

Audie Murphy is Yancy Hawks, a young mountain boy sent to the big city of Casper to sell furs after his father wrestles a bear and loses.

Sandra Dee is Rosalie Stocker, a rag-a-muffin of a young girl who runs away from her dad and joins Yancy on his journey because, after all, her father is going to trade her off as a wife to the first person who will give him a decent deal.

Together, they lose their naivete in this wild-and-wooly city, which is celebrating the 4th of July in style.

Murphy falls for fetching Marcy Howard (Joanne Dru), not realizing the silk dress and makeup she’s wearing are the signs of a dance hall girl, for hire to any man who has the money.

Rosalie, who’d much rather spend her time with Yancy, winds up on the arm of Sheriff Paul Bartell (Gilbert Roland).

Behind his fast gun, he’s a lecherous middle-aged man, using his charm to win over pretty young ladies.

They’re his personal stock, until he decides it’s time for them to earn their living in the dance hall, which he coincidentally owns.

Rosalie’s offered a job in that very same dance hall; it’s not until much later than Yancy realizes what that means, grabs a gun and heads off to rescue her.

He won’t get her back without a fight. Bartell’s quite taken with the pretty young woman.

Audie Murphy as Yancy Hawks, scolding Rosalie yet again in The Wild and the Innocent (1959)

Sandra Dee as Rosalie Stocker, covered in grime and meeting Yancy for the first time in The Wild and the Innocent (1959)

Review:

Absolutely charming film, with some glorious moments, like Yancy’s encounter with his first window shade, Yancy tying Rosalie’s corset, not to mention Rosalie’s wide-eyed affection for the lad.

Forget the fact that Murphy was 35, Dee just 15 (!) at the time. Somehow, it works. Dee is a doe-eyed delight. Easily one of the best Murphy vehicles from the 1950s.

And the final scene is sure to make you smile.

Gilbert Roland as Sheriff Bartell, meeting Yancy and Rosalie for the first time in The Wild and the Innocent (1959)

Joanne Dru as Marcy Howard, the saloon girl who catches Yancy’s eye in The Wild and the Innocent (1959)

Directed by:
Jack Sher

Cast:
Audie Murphy … Yancy Hawks
Joanne Dru … Marcy Howard
Gilbert Roland … Sheriff Bartell
Jim Backus … Cecil Forbes
Sandra Dee … Rosalie Stocker
George Mitchell … Uncle Lije
Peter Breck … Chip
Strother Martin … Ben Stocker

Runtime: 84 min.

Title tune: “A Touch of Pink”

George Mitchell as Yancy’s Uncle Lije, a man in love with the free life of a trapper in The Wild and the Innocent (1959)

Strother Martin as Ben Stocker, the man eager to trade away daughter Rosalie in The Wild and the Innocent (1959)

Memorable lines:

Sheriff Bartell, watching Yancy and Rosalie ride off: “Those two. He doesn’t realize what kind of world he’s in. And she doesn’t even know she’s pretty.”

Yancy, after a dance floor fight in which he breaks a man’s wrist: “Now you’ll know it’s a hand and not just something on the end of a gun.”

Yancy Hawks, after a scuffle in the street: “I’ve had animals look at me like that, but never no man.”
Sheriff: “Chip? He’s not a man. Not yet, he isn’t. He just a belly full of whiskey and $10 guns.”

Jim Backus as Cecil Forbes, owner of the general store in Casper in The Wild and the Innocent (1959)

Sandra Dee as Rosalie Stocker, going shopping with Yancy in The Wild and the Innocent (1959)

Sandra Dee as Rosalie Stocker and Audie Murphey as Yancy Hawks, decked out for a celebration in The Wild and the Innocent (1959)

Audie Murphy as Yancey Hawks, defending the honor of Marcy Howard (Joanne Dru) in The Wild and the Innocent (1959)

Wesley Marie Tackitt as Ma Ransome, preparing Rosalie for her first night as a dance hall girl in The Wild and the Innocent (1959)

Sandra Dee as Rosalie Stocker and Audie Murphy as Yancey Hawks in The Wild and the Innocent (1959)

Sandra Dee as Rosalie Stocker, on the verge of becoming a store owner’s helper in The Wild and the Innocent (1959)