"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

In 1987 Wyoming, 1950s-styled young Russ Tamblyn (as Tully Rice) tries to be nice, hard-working and law-abiding. Still, local town-folk antagonize Mr. Tamblyn because his father was a notorious gunslinger. He gets into fights and is run out of town. Tamblyn drifts over to a nearby western community called "Black Crater". There, he re-encounters snuggly-attired Gloria Talbott (as Nora Bowdre), who is the daughter of a notorious gunslinger. They would like to kiss and be nice, law-abiding citizens, but Tamblyn keeps getting into fights with local juvenile delinquent types. This is a confusing mix of the western and rebellious youth genres. The supporting characters blend together, with Scott Marlowe (as Knox Cutler) arguably emerging as the main antagonist. More interesting are old gunslinger Chubby Johnson (as Tom "Ringo" Jones) and grandson Wright King (as Jonesy). The black-and-white photography, by Ellsworth Fredricks, is a plus.**** The Young Guns (9/16/56) Albert Band ~ Russ Tamblyn, Gloria Talbott, Scott Marlowe, Wright King

Cheap combination of western and teenage rebel flick doesn't work in either genre. Lead Russ Tamblyn doesn't pull off the "troubled youth" bit at all, head bad guy Scott Marlowe's aping of James Dean works even less, and the "gang" of youthful miscreants is about as threatening as The Jets from Tamblyn's later "West Side Story". The producers were smart enough to get a good supporting cast--Walter Coy, Myron Healey, Rayford Barnes--of familiar faces who know their stuff, which is more than you can say for the rest of the cast. Hack writing, amateurish acting, poorly staged "action", sloppy direction--this low-rent programmer has it all. Nothing to write home about. You can do worse than watching this, but you can do a whole lot better, too.

Russ Tamblyn, later to star as a grown up delinquent in Satan's Sadists, here plays a disaffected youth who falls in with the wrong crowd back in 1897. The Young Guns is a bizarre mix of genres, even including a prologue directly linking the perceived juvenile problems of the 50s with the Old West! There's even some noirish cinematography courtesy Ellsworth Fredericks, who lensed Invasion of the Body Snatchers the same year. Scott Marlowe plays the remote but caring sheriff who tries to get young Russ away from The Bunch, a gang of young tearaways who like to rob banks instead of stealing hub caps.All in all, an odd film that never really gets going, but remains strangely watchable.