John Chard

Young Guns Suffer Delinquency Baggage. "In 1897, just as today, many public spirited citizens were aroused by the problems of delinquency among the youth of various communities...This story of one such community is based on fact." Intriguing opening salvo by the makers of The Young Guns, unfortunately the film never quite reaches the dramatic heights it aims for. Russ Tamblyn plays a young fella who eventually gets fed up of being tarred with the bad seed family brush. Seeking solace in a community of like minded youngsters, he tries to keep the peace even as he rises to be the top man. It's all very safe and unremarkable really. Some of the youthful cast are guilty of auto-cue acting and Tamblyn is barely convincing. On the plus side there's plenty of angst about the place, hormonal and machismo wise, some punch-ups are handled neatly by director Albert Band, the black and white photography (Ellsworth Fredricks) is textured nicely and the finale - whilst totally expected - is delivered in a none insulting fashion. 6/10