The Lawless Reviews

Daniel Mainwaring wrote the book and the script, but he may not have liked the way the film came out, so he used a pseudonym on the screenplay; he shouldn't have turned away from this. THE LAWLESS is a fast-paced, expertly edited tale of racial intolerance and violence that is just as timely today as it was then. The picture revolves around a group of "fruit tramps," those impoverished souls who follow the crops and eke out a living picking various fruits and vegetables. They are given small salaries and large disdain by the wealthy Californians who own the land. There's a fight at a dance between the white kids and the Mexicans (almost the same scene was done between the Puerto Ricans and the white kids in WEST SIDE STORY) and Rios runs off after the battle. The melee is used by the friends and families of the white bullies to instigate a lynch mob and to raze the office of Carey, a newspaper man who is sympathetic to the plight of the farm workers. Rios is eventually captured and the Mexicans revolt. Carey is excellent as the newsman who, at first, straddles the issue, then comes out as a champion of the underdog. The action never stops and the result is a well-made B movie that doesn't betray its age. Look for Martha Hyer and Tab Hunter in small roles.