Starring Sal Mineo, James Whitmore, J. Carrol Naish, Gene Lyons, Paul

Carr

Directed by Alfred L. Werker



Print: black/white

Runtime: 89 min.

Genre: drama

Print Quality: B



17-year-old Sal Mineo was one of the hottest young actors in Hollywood

when The Young Don't Cry was specially tailored for his talents. Filmed on

location at the Brockton Orphanage for Boys in Savannah, Georgia, the

film stars Mineo as Leslie Henderson, a lonely older orphan who

befriends escaped convict Rudy Krist (James Whitmore). Like Leslie,

Rudy has spent his entire life feeling alone and unloved, but in his case

he is totally irredeemable, using Leslie to further his own getaway plans.

At long last, Leslie figures out that Rudy is a no-good—and also finds his

own true niche in life. Worth noting is the film's sympathetic treatment of

its two principal black characters, played by Leigh Whipper and Ruth

Attaway; in 1957, it was still chancy to show any sort of equanimity

between black and white people on screen.