wgie Review of The Wild and the Innocent

The Wild and the Innocent (1959)

Enjoyable Western With A Mule As Famous As It's Stars

[7/10 · 22 July 2010]

It's been sometime since I have seen this little cinematic gem. My take on it was that it was somewhat reminiscent of films like "Destry Rides Again" and "The Far Country", in so far as,the hero appears to be somewhat naive and innocent and caught in a love triangle. Murphy not only survives amorous flirtations of a conniving saloon girl, but overcomes various obstacles and intimidation's set fourth by a villainous Sheriff or legal authority. Audie Murphy does an admirable job as a naive back woodsman who winds up inadvertently sheltering an orphaned country girl(Sandra Dee). Beautiful Joanne Dru portrays the predictable saloon "bad" girl turned "good" girl that tries to manipulate Murphy to do the evil sheriff's (Gilbert Roland)bidding. Murphy finally realizes Roland's evil intentions toward Sandra Dee and the inevitable showdown occurs. Western fans have seen all this before, but if you are a true fan of western movies .... you go with the flow and enjoy every moment as the story unfolds. The one thing that a lot of folks don't realize about this film is the fact that it offers an interesting piece of movie trivia .... the mule featured in the film is just as famous as the featured stars (Murphy, Dee, Roland and Dru). Who was that famous mule anyway? None other than Donald O'Connor's old co-star - Francis "the talking mule". Does that surprise you? It shouldn't .... here is another example of "four legged trivia" ... What famous horse did Olivia DeHaviland (Maid Marion) ride in "The Adventures Of Robin Hood"? Would you believe a horse that was later sold to a cowboy star named Roy Rogers? You got it .... that horse was named Trigger!