The Young Captives
Cast & Crew
Irvin Kershner
Steven Marlo
Luana Patten
Tom Selden
James Chandler
Ed Nelson
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
When twenty-two-year-old Jamie Forbes is found drunk and asleep on his night shift job at a Californian oil derrick, his boss, Mr. Kingston, fires him. Forbes attacks and kills Kingston, then throws his body into an oil well. Meanwhile, attractive teenagers Ann Howel and Benjie Whitney decide to elope to Mexico to get married. After Kingston's body is discovered, detectives Norm Britt and Dave Mahalik, assisted by local newspaper reporter Tony, try to discover Forbes's whereabouts, but he has already left for Mexico on his motorcycle. Ann leaves a message for her parents that she is driving to Tijuana with Benjie, but they take back roads in case her parents alert the police. When the young couple's car runs out of gas in a remote area, they are approached by Forbes, whose motorcycle has broken down some distance away. Forbes offers to go in search of gas and spark plugs for his bike if they will take him back to his bike when he returns. The next morning, after Forbes returns with gas, Ann and Benjie drive him to his bike, but when he still cannot start it, he asks them to drive him to a friend's place. In the car, Forbes tells them about his sordid youth on the streets of New York and mentions that he has a police record. The trio stops for breakfast at a diner and while Forbes goes to make a phone call, Ann tells Benjie that she does not like their unsavory traveling companion. After disabling the car radio, Forbes attempts to hustle a blonde woman in a convertible and when she rejects his advances, he stabs and kills her and puts her body in the trunk of her car. Forbes then persuades Ann and Benjie, who are unaware of his latest crime, to drive on by pointing out that if there are three people in the car, the police will take less notice of them. After Forbes boasts of his grandiose scheme to make a fortune in oil, they come to a road junction and he suggests that they take the road to Tecate, not Tijuana. When Benjie disagrees, Forbes turns off the car's ignition. Benjie, alarmed by Forbes's erratic behavior, offers him a few dollars to leave and hitch another ride. Forbes pretends to agree then grabs Ann, holds a knife to her throat and threatens to kill her if Benjie cannot get them across the border at Tecate. Meanwhile, the detectives, having found Forbes's abandoned bike, decide to check the Tecate and Tijuana border crossing stations. Ann, Benjie and Forbes enter Mexico at Tecate undetected, however, where Forbes decides to camp out. After Norm, Dave and Tony arrive at the Tecate immigration point and receive news of the woman's murder along with a description of Forbes, Ann and Benjie, a Mexican official tells them that he remembers them crossing the border. At their campsite, Forbes again threatens Ann with a knife and informs Benjie that he intends to marry Ann, then head south to the oil fields. When Forbes gets drunk, Benjie attacks him and they struggle for possession of the knife while Ann locks herself in the car. Forbes breaks off the car's radio antenna and whips Benjie with it, but Benjie trips him and he falls onto the knife and into the campfire. After he pulls the knife out of his stomach, Forbes pleads with them to take him to a doctor. With Forbes's face blistering from his fall into the fire, Benjie and Ann drive to the immigration point and ask for medical help. Norm and Dave spot the car and run towards it, but Forbes pushes Benjie out of the car and drives off with Ann. The police chase after him, but after the car crashes, Ann escapes and Forbes attempts to flee on foot, but soon becomes delirious, collapses and dies. Later, as Norm and Dave pack up Forbes's meager possessions, Tony remarks that he hopes that, in the future, it will be possible to help kids like Forbes before they become criminals.
Director
Irvin Kershner
Cast
Steven Marlo
Luana Patten
Tom Selden
James Chandler
Ed Nelson
Dan Sheridan
Marjorie Stapp
Miles Stephens
Edward Schaaf
William C. Shaw
Carlo Fiore
Lawrence J. Gelbmann
Dan Blocker
Allen Kramer
Phillip A. Mansour
Joan Granville
Lenore Kingston
Raymond Guth
Carol Nelson
Ken Fairbanks
Ida Morgan
Peggy Moffitt
Rusty Slocum
Terry Terrill
Jose Sanchez
Lydia Goya
Leo V. Matranga
Eduardo Cansino Jr.
Crew
Ray Alba
Al Burton
Sam Comer
Farciot Edouart
Andrew J. Fenady
Andrew J. Fenady
Charles Grenzbach
Hugo Grenzbach
Gordon Hunt
Wallace Kelley
Nellie Manley
Richard Markowitz
Bernard Mceveety Jr.
Frank Mckelvy
Terry Morse
Hal Pereira
Al Y. Roelofs
Wally Westmore
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
A document in the film's file in the MPAA/PCA Collection at the AMPAS Library states that the film was based on the unpublished story "Too Young, Too Dead," by Al Burton. Although the Variety and Filmfacts reviews refer to Allen Kramer's character as "Shorty," he is called "Smitty" in the film. On June 18, 1958, Hollywood Reporter noted that Dennis Hopper had turned down the role of "Jamie Forbes." According to June 1958 Hollywood Reporter news items, Connie Stevens had been borrowed from Warner Bros. for the role of "Ann Howel," but fell ill from being badly sunburned and was replaced by Luana Patten just after production began. According to the June 18, 1958 Hollywood Reporter news item, Abby Dalton had also been considered for the role.
Hollywood Reporter news items include the following actors in the cast, although their appearance in the completed picture has not been confirmed: Hilton Dale, Ronnie Forsberg, Herb Armstrong, Frank Harding and Bill Armstrong. A July 9, 1958 Hollywood Reporter news item reported that the film was being shot on the Universal-International backlot for two days. In January 1959, Hollywood Reporter indicated that the picture had been declared too "violent and suggestive" for minors in Memphis, TN, and was allowed to be exhibited to "adults only."
Miscellaneous Notes
Released in United States 1958
Released in United States 1958
