The Wanderers (Rock Tee Graphic/Rumble Scene)

The Wanderers — Vintage Movie Tee

Released in 1979, The Wanderers is one of those movies that never became a massive hit but somehow became very important to the people who found it.

Directed by Philip Kaufman and based on Richard Price’s novel, the film drops us into the Bronx in 1963, where teenage street gangs define themselves by their neighborhoods, their clothes, their girlfriends, and who they’re prepared to fight. At the center are The Wanderers, the Italian-American gang in their unmistakable gold jackets.

But The Wanderers is much stranger and better than a simple gang movie. It moves between comedy, violence, teenage sex, friendship, racism, family, and genuine sadness while the old neighborhood world around these kids is beginning to disappear. The Fordham Baldies, Del Bombers, Ducky Boys, and Wongs make the whole thing feel almost mythological.

And then there’s the soundtrack: The Four Seasons, Dion, The Shirelles, The Angels, Ben E. King, Smokey Robinson, and more. Music is everywhere in the film, helping create this romanticized version of early-’60s New York just as the culture is about to change completely.

The movie disappeared fairly quickly after its original release, but over the years it developed a devoted cult following. For fans, the jackets, gang names, football game, Ducky Boys, and that unforgettable final glimpse of a Bob Dylan-like folk singer performing “The Times They Are a-Changin’” instantly bring the whole movie back.