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.
All in all, an odd film that never really gets going, but remains strangely watchable.