Diagonaldi Very well executed

NekoHomey Purely Joyful Movie!

Abbigail Bush what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Lucia Ayala It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

weezeralfalfa It's a good title. I think I'm safe in assuming that it refers to Yancy's (Audie Murphy) seeming choice between females: the wild Marcy(Joanne Dru), an aging saloon girl, who likes to get drunk and frolic, or the seemingly innocent shy teenage hillbilly Rosalie(Sandra Dee). In terms of actual age of the actors, Joanne and Audie were pretty similar, and twice the age of the 17 year old Sandra. Audie thought she was a more desirable candidate for a wife than Sandra, but she wasn't interested in becoming a backwoods woman. Yancy has always been a trapper, along with his father. Although he seems polite and respectful, he's just not her idea of a fun playmate, being too young and unsophisticated. Audie seems to be playing a man in his early twenties, although being 35. He says he ran out of fingers and toes in counting his age. Thus, his character's age is not all that much more than Rosalie's. So, why did he keep pushing Rosalie away? Of course, at first, she looked disheveled, with her unkept hair and soiled dress, was illiterate, and talked very little, mostly pouting, with a blank expression. So, even after her appearance was upgraded, he was not that attracted to her. Yet, he was willing to risk his life to prevent her from becoming a saloon girl and a plaything of the 54y.o. Sheriff Bartell(Gilbert Roland), who owned the saloon, and apparently 'broke in' new recruits. And, when it came down to the wire, he took her to town, when he said he couldn't, and took her back home when she looked so soulful at him when he was about to leave without her.Of course, Sandra was perfect for her role, Audie perhaps less so in his role as an almost equal innocent. Of course, their characters were burlesqued in this respect. I have to wonder why Rosalie was so shy, and disheveled. Was she trying to make herself unattractive to men? I found Struther Martin hilarious as Sandra's thieving father. Gilbert Roland made a good lecherous owner of the saloon. Joanne Dru made it clear to Yancy that she was treated as an outcast by polite society in the town. Although she might frequently be dressed in fancy clothes, she was not considered a lady. Polite society was scandalized when she attended a social with Yancy.Yancy engages in several fights with cowboys or townies, and shoots one man dead, providing some 'action'. The catchy theme song "A Touch of Pink" is featured in the upbeat finale.See it in color at YouTube. I think you will find it a fun film.

classicsoncall The title sounds like it might have been one of those exploitation flicks from the Thirties or Forties. In a way, I guess the picture delivers a bit on that idea if you think about it. A hillbilly gal (Sandra Dee) ditches her thieving father (Strother Martin) and siblings and hitches her star to Yancy Hawks (Audie Murphy), but due to the naiveté of both, she winds up as a dance hall saloon gal. This could have been a real downer if she ever actually went to work, but fortunately Yancy made the save just in time.Anyone growing up during the era will recall Sandra Dee as a teenage heartthrob and I imagine she fluttered a few when this picture came out. Ben Stocker (Martin) had it right when he said she'd be real purty once you cleaned her up, but gee, I thought she was worth more than a couple of furs. Murphy's character had one of the best lines in the story when he told old Ben that "the Lord sure made a mistake lettin' people like you have children". Ouch! For his part, Yancy initially had his eye out for saloon gal Marcy Howard (Joanne Dru), but I couldn't understand why he couldn't put two and two together when he found her passed out among the ferns. Yancy was a bumpkin in more ways than one, and even though I can imagine that there once might have been people as clueless as he was, it still had a hard time translating on screen.In it's own way, the story had a nice, happy ending if you can get past the idea of thirty five year old Murphy finally hooking up with a teenager half his age. But it wasn't as ridiculous as Sheriff Paul (Gilbert Roland) putting the move on her himself, I'm glad the picture didn't go too far in that direction. You know, I had to wonder what the town folk must have really thought about their saloon owner lawman. Right after Yancy shot the sheriff (sounds like a good idea for a song), one of the citizens says to Yancy, "That was great shootin', fella". Not too much sympathy there for a guy who cleaned up the whole town.

Alonzo Church If you are going to have a prayer of enjoying this movie, you have to accept that Audie Murphy is playing a boy, about age 16 or so, so that his romance with Sandra Dee (playing the unfortunate daughter of some trashy folk) doesn't seem creepy. If you notice that Murphy looks every bit of 35, and Sandra Dee looks a young 16 or 17, you will be in trouble.The movie itself is intended to be strictly family entertainment -- as full of good-hearted humor and lack of dramatic conflict as a typical Disney film of that era. And that makes it an odd choice for Murphy -- who, even when playing innocents, tends to have a sense of danger about him. Poor Audie plays his role with a strain of irritability that makes one think, at any moment, he'll notice that Sandra Dee has a crush on him and go "Girls! Oh gross! Cooties!".The basic plot -- Audie goes to the big city (er, Casper Wyoming) to sell some beaver furs his pa has trapped. Sandra Dee hitches along, because Pa will try to trade her to somebody for furs or whiskey, and she might not like the guy. So Audie also tries to go find Sandra Dee a job, so she'll stop pestering him. The rest of the flick is how these innocents deal with the big bad world, including corrupt sheriff and dance hall owner Gilbert Roland. (Gilbert plays the role like he knows he is in a bad movie, and hopes to sleep through it.) If you like family friendly movies, and are unbothered about the concept of fancy dance hall women that looms large in this plot, this movie might work for you. If you are looking for a gritty western in the style of Ford, Boetticher, or Mann, run far, far away.

Caz1964 I saw this movie once years ago and always thought it had been made in black and white,which shows how long ago it was it was when my parents still owned a black and white set.I do remember really liking it though and had always wanted to see it again,finally i got the chance a couple of days ago and it was as good as i remembered . The Wild And The Innocent is an unusual little western and i cant say its like anything else I've seen before or since.Its a sort of tale about morals and the decisions that people might make in life and how easy it is to make the wrong ones,there is always somebody corrupt around the corner who will prey on those that are naive and will use them for their own advantage. Audie Murphy plays a young fur trapper named Yancy who goes to town reluctantly with a young runaway girl named Rosalie{Sandra Dee},and together they get into all sorts of trouble through their naivety towards town life.He wants to help Rosalie find a job,and then he can go his separate way,but its not that simple.Towards the end of the film he wisens up when he finally realises that the job Rosalie has been offered is more than what the job description says,and he must try to save her before its too late. The Wild And The Innocent is a charmingly romantic film which seems to be sadly forgotten,i think it needs to be shown more as I'm sure there are a lot of viewers out there who would really appreciate this little movie if they only knew about it.As one reviewer on here as commented you need to look at the era it was made in to really appreciate it. I love this movie and the ending makes it all worthwhile,ill give it 9/10