''The Young Warriors'' is a

war film War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about navy, naval, air force, air, or army, land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle s ...

filmed in 1967 by

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

based on

Richard Matheson Richard Burton Matheson (February 20, 1926 – June 23, 2013) was an American author and screenwriter, primarily in the fantasy, horror, and science fiction genres. He is best known as the author of '' I Am Legend'', a 1954 science fictio ...

's 1960 novel '' The Beardless Warriors'' that was the

working title A working title, which may be abbreviated and styled in trade publications after a putative title as (wt), also called a production title or a tentative title, is the temporary title of a product or project used during its development, usually ...

of the film. The novel was inspired by Matheson's own experiences as an 18-year-old infantryman with the 87th Infantry Division in Germany in World War II. The film was directed by John Peyser. It was filmed cheaply by Universal on their

backlot A backlot is an area behind or adjoining a movie studio containing permanent exterior buildings for outdoor scenes in filmmaking or television productions, or space for temporary set construction. Uses Some movie studios build a wide variety of ...

using many of its contract players, with Matheson asked to do a rewrite of his screenplay in order to use the battle sequences from Universal's '' To Hell and Back''.Bradle, Matthew R. and Matheson, Richard ''Richard Matheson on Screen: A History of the Filmed Works'' McFarland, pp. 129-130, 2010, When Universal wished to "lighten" Matheson's screenplay, they had Jonathan Daly write a comedy relief scene of chasing a duck through a minefield. The film was released as a double feature with

Rosalind Russell Catherine Rosalind Russell (June 4, 1907November 28, 1976) was an American actress, comedienne, screenwriter, and singer,Obituary '' Variety'', December 1, 1976, p. 79. known for her role as fast-talking newspaper reporter Hildy Johnson in the H ...

's ''

Rosie! ''Rosie!'' is a 1967 American comedy film directed by David Lowell Rich, based on Ruth Gordon's play ''A Very Rich Woman''. Plot Rosie Lord is a widowed millionaire who, much to the dismay of her daughters Mildred and Edith, spends her money ...

Premise

Europe: 1944. A group of replacements are assigned to Sgt Cooley's squad and sent into battle. Initially frightened, Hacker grows to love killing but loses that feeling as well. He is promoted to Corporal and later given his own squad as a Sergeant in the end.

Cast

* James Drury as Sergeant Horatio Cooley *

Steve Carlson Steven Edward Carlson (born August 26, 1955) is an American former NHL professional ice hockey forward and a former minor league hockey coach. Biography Carlson was born in Virginia, Minnesota. He appeared in the movie ''Slap Shot'' as one of ...

as Hacker (Hackermeyer in the novel) * Jonathan Daly as Guthrie *

Robert Pine Robert Pine (born Granville Whitelaw Pine, July 10, 1941) is an American actor who is best known as Sgt. Joseph Getraer on the television series ''CHiPs'' (1977–1983). Including ''CHiPs'', Pine has appeared in over 400 episodes of television. ...

as Foley * Jeff Scott as Cpl. Lippincott * Michael Stanwood as Riley * John Alladin as Harris * Hank Jones as Fairchild * Tom Nolan as Tremont *

Norman Fell Norman Fell (born Norman Noah Feld; March 24, 1924 – December 14, 1998) was an American actor of film and television, most famous for his role as landlord Mr. Roper on the sitcom ''Three's Company'' and its spin-off, ''The Ropers'', and his fi ...

as Sergeant Wadley * Buck Young as Schumacher *

Kent McCord Kent Franklin McWhirter (born September 26, 1942), known by his stage name Kent McCord, is a retired American actor, best known for his role as Officer Jim Reed on the television series ''Adam-12.'' Life and career McCord was born Kent Franklin ...

(as Kent McWhirther) as Lieutenant

Production

Matheson recalled that following the release of his novel he had offers from Richard Zanuck (who dropped his plans to film it when his father

Darryl F. Zanuck Darryl Francis Zanuck (September 5, 1902December 22, 1979) was an American film producer and studio executive; he earlier contributed stories for films starting in the silent era. He played a major part in the Hollywood studio system as one of ...

was making '' The Longest Day'') and

Fred Zinnemann Alfred ''Fred'' Zinnemann (April 29, 1907 – March 14, 1997) was an Austrian Empire-born American film director. He won four Academy Awards for directing and producing films in various genres, including thrillers, westerns, film noir and pla ...

. Zinnemann told Matheson that he wanted to make the film but had several other projects at the time; Matheson refused to wait and turned him down.Bradley & Matheson, p. 130

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Young Warriors, The 1966 films Films based on military novels Films based on American novels Films based on works by Richard Matheson Films with screenplays by Richard Matheson Western Front of World War II films American World War II films 1960s English-language films Films directed by John Peyser