tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5577490778732005247.post2852494578535967347..comments2024-03-27T00:17:30.149-07:00Comments on Criterion Confessions: THE YOUNG SAVAGES - FILMSTRUCKJamie S. Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10574127694740978803noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5577490778732005247.post-946202343776185602020-10-07T23:38:18.970-07:002020-10-07T23:38:18.970-07:00"The Young Savages" is a personal favori..."The Young Savages" is a personal favorite, but yes, it IS flawed, particularly the ending and how "Hank Bell" (Burt Lancaster) handles the case.<br /><br />In regards to what inspired the story, this is not "trivia," but HISTORY. Evan Hunter (Salvatore Lombino), who wrote "A Matter Of Conviction" from which "The Young Savages" is based, drew inspiration from the 1957 murder of 15 year-old Michael Farmer, a partially handicapped boy (due to childhood polio) who was stabbed and beaten to death by members of teen street gangs ("allied brother" gangs, The Egyptian Kings and Dragons) near a swimming pool at Highbridge Park in New York.<br /><br />Neil Burstyn's "Batman" Anthony Aposto character in "The Young Savages" was visually inspired by Salvador "The Capeman" Agron, 16-year old gang member of "The Vampires" street gang, and killer of two other 16 year olds (Robert Young Jr. and Anthony Krzesinski) at a Hell's Kitchen playground in New York in 1959.<br /><br />Both Evan Hunter and the screenwriters behind "The Young Savages" (Edward Anhalt and J.P Miller) reversed the ethnic backgrounds of the victims and the accused (and convicted) killers, and changed the handicap of the victim ("Raphael Morrez" in the book, "Roberto Escolante" in "The Young Savages") but the details of the real-life cases were mirrored in both the book and the movie.<br /><br />The 1980 NBC tv movie "Death Penalty" is even more closely based on the Agron case of 1959 and is a court room drama that closely follows the narrative in "The Young Savages" (though, in my opinion, it does so more convincingly with the narrative than "The Young Savages" did, due to the more modern style of writing.)<br /><br />However, "Death Penalty" does reference "The Young Savages" in a scene where the D.A.'s office is reading an editorial about the gang killing, and the editor refers to the teen gangs as "Young Savages."<br />Mikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17239396580240896208noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5577490778732005247.post-24924007895485968562019-06-18T18:05:29.938-07:002019-06-18T18:05:29.938-07:00Good flick that is still relevant today in many wa...Good flick that is still relevant today in many ways.When they talked about minors being questioned without the presence of their parents made me immediately think of the Central Park 5.bjfs28https://www.blogger.com/profile/13950953633984426570noreply@blogger.com