The Young Savages (1961)
Trivia
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Spoilers (2)
During the commentary she did for the DVD of Sunday Showcase: What Makes Sammy Run?: Part 1 (1959) Dina Merrill said that the treatment she received from director John Frankenheimer on this picture nearly drove her out of the business. He told her at the end of a day's filming that she was the worst actress he'd ever worked with. She said she went home in tears. It got so bad that her co-star Burt Lancaster came to her defense one morning by ridiculing the director's "good mood" as evidenced by the fact that he hadn't insulted Dina yet.
Burt Lancaster was forced by United Artists to make four films for $150,000 a picture in the 1960s: The Young Savages (1961), Birdman of Alcatraz (1962), The Train (1964) and The Hallelujah Trail (1965) rather than his normal fee of $750,000, because of cost overruns at his production company, Hecht-Hill-Lancaster, for which he was personally responsible.
Burt Lancaster and Shelley Winters, who played former lovers in the film, were actually former lovers in real life.
When Burt Lancaster walked onto the set the first day of shooting, he was startled and dismayed to see the camera on the floor, aiming upward. Lancaster had never before worked with a director who used such innovative camera angles. He grew to trust John Frankenheimer, and they made four more films together.
Shelley Winters was a late replacement for Lee Grant, who had already filmed a key scene when she quit.
Telly Savalas' missing upper digit on his first finger on his left hand is clearly visible in a number of scenes.
John Frankenheimer admitted that he learned a lot working with Burt Lancaster.
Burt Lancaster and Telly Savalas were reunited in Birdman of Alcatraz (1962) also directed by John Frankenheimer.
Telly Savalas plays a police lieutenant in this 1961 drama and in Mad Dog Coll (1961) the same year. Twelve years later he played another police lieutenant, Theo Kojak, in Kojak (1973).
In his cross-examination of the victim's sister, Lancaster goes to great lengths to expose her as a prostitute. He is challenged by the judge and claims he is trying to "get to the truth." However, this subject is never brought up again.
Released on the same year as West Side Story (1961), which also deals with a plot about the rivalry between a Puerto Rican gang and a white gang in New York city.
The film cast includes two Oscar winners: Burt Lancaster and Shelley Winters; and one Oscar nominee: Telly Savalas.
Film debut of Stanley Kristien. It marks his only film performance.
The bowling game in the bar where Bell goes to talk with Zorro is a United Amusement Company "11th Frame Shuffle Alley", made c.1954 in Chicago, Illinois.
Spoilers
The Judge in this 1961 movie orders that the defendant Arthur Readon be bound and gagged in his chair after verbal outbursts during the trial. Eight years later, during the trial of the Chicago 8 in 1969, Judge Julius Hoffman ordered that Black Panther co-founder Bobby Seale be bound and gagged in his chair, after a verbal outburst.
At one point during the trial, Bell (Burt Lancaster) presents the police lab results as evidence to be admitted later. He then proceeds to question Danny diPace. In a real trial, Bell would first have had to show this evidence -- damning or exculpatory -- to the defense. Court would then have had to take a recess so defense could review it before the trial resumed.
