The Wanderers (1979)

I could see someone mixing this up with The Warriors. Superficially similar titles aside, they're both 1979 flicks about all-male gangs dealing with other gangs in New York City. Both are also short on particularly famous people in key roles. The biggest difference is that while The Warriors is set in an unspecified near future, The Wanderers takes place in what was then 15–16 years in the past, 1963. It even includes a scene of reactions to the JFK assassination, tho that has no bearing on the plot.

The plot is fairly loose but primarily concerns a gang of Italian-Americans on the verge of war with a few other gangs, including the self-descriptive Baldies, who are kind of taking over the place; and the Del Bombers, who, being all Black, got into a slur-slinging match with the Wanderers that hit nerves on both sides, thanks to an injudicious high school teacher. (The Baldies may look like skinheads, but they're less racist than the Wanderers, having a Black member.) And none of those gangs is as threatening as the Ducky Boys....

Along the way, subplots concern individual Wanderers in ways that don't necessarily concern the whole gang right away. New recruit Perry is tough but uncertain he wants to stay in town, missing the more peaceful Trenton. "Turkey" needs to decide whether to remain loyal or switch to the Baldies. Richie is a womanizer who doesn't know when to stop, especially when the woman in question is a mafia don's daughter. And Joey is a loudmouth who doesn't know when to stop. (There's a reason for a comedy-drama classification according to some sources.)

How well does the movie handle the subject of race? Well enough where the major players are concerned; the Del Bombers aren't made to look any better or worse than the Wanderers. We don't have to root for one of those two gangs over the other. Of possibly greater concern is the gang known as the Wongs, made up of Asian Americans supposedly all named Wong. The only one with lines speaks cryptically, and of course they all practice martial arts. Let's face it: Hollywood rarely shows any more respect to that demographic, and the West had a bit of a fetish in those days.

It's worth noting that all the gangs on screen are named after real NYC gangs. Liberties were taken, naturally. They weren't all active at the same time. The Baldies didn't actually shave their heads. And the Ducky Boys were reportedly less brutal.

A contemporary critic likened the film to a rape or mugging, saying it leaves the audience without dignity. To my modern eyes, it's not even all that gritty. There's not half as much violence as I was led to expect, and if there's a rape, it's purely statutory.

The soundtrack is one of the most remarkable aspects. It never lets you forget the era, from the Four Seasons' "Walk Like a Man" (hmm, Sleepers had the same idea, and that's about juvenile delinquents as well) to—what else?—Dion's "The Wanderer." Richie even walks in on Bob Dylan himself playing at a low-profile venue. Then we get a few Italian numbers thrown in for good measure. I have mixed feelings, because while the songs are generally classics, they're mostly too famous to give a fresh experience. That was less of a problem for me with Guardians of the Galaxy. Also, none of the music strikes me as befitting a punk in any decade; in some scenes, it gets jarring. Then again, what remembered '63 hits would be otherwise?

The Wanderers isn't a bad way to kill 117 minutes. Personally, I prefer the action and focus of The Warriors, but you may favor relative realism over simplicity.