Prohibition days in Florida's piney woods...

...the peculiar marriage of Mattie and Trax

This time he messed with the wrong woman.


An obvious labor of love for producer/ director/ writer/ photographer Victor Nunez, Gal Young 'Un was blessed with almost unanimous critical praise, and as such received a much wider distribution than might otherwise have been possible. The film, set in Florida in the 1930s, involves an independent woman (Dana Preu) who marries a charming but wastrelly man (David Peck) much younger than herself. She tries to maintain equilibrium in the relationship despite her husband's obvious preoccupation with the "gal young'un" (J. Smith) who works as their housekeeper. Director Nunez brilliantly conveys the isolation and loneliness inherent in the story with his evocative use of genuine backwater Florida locations. This was based on a story by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings

The screenplay is adapted from a novel by Marjorie Kennin Rawlings, better known I think for her book The Yearling which has also been films. Gal Young 'Un centers on a spinster woman who lives alone in the woods of north Florida until she is swept off her feet by an opportunistic bootlegger. He marries her for her place and her daddy's money and her cooking and cleaning, which she freely shares. Inevitably, he shows his true colors in a variety of ways. One day he brings home a very young woman with clear intentions of keeping her as a mistress (a gal young 'un) in the older woman's house. Business takes him elsewhere and the two woman are left alone in the woods together to come to terms with their shared exploitedness. The older woman's slowburn and eventual retaliation are masterfully crafted.

Release Date: Sept 24, 1979 @ NY Film Festival