After a string of high-profile, ultra-cool tough guy roles, Steve McQueen shifts gears in this charming and underappreciated coming-of-age tale, based on William Faulkner's first novel. It's 1905, and McQueen plays Boon Hogganbeck, whose boss (pre-"Walton's" Will Geer) buys the first automobile anyone in his small southern town has ever seen. While the boss is away at a funeral, McQueen coaxes Boss's grandson, Lucius (Mitch Vogel), into a road-trip to Memphis, with stable hand Ned (Oscar-nominated Rupert Cross) in tow. Things become complicated when a drunken Ned trades the precious car for a horse. Now the three must ready the horse for a local race in order to win the car back, during which time the formerly innocent & naive Lucius does a lot of growing up...much more so than Boon or Ned. Filled with terrific set-pieces, great acting and a lush score by John Williams, "The Reivers" is a small gem of a movie, and if it weren't for a few mildly racy segments in a whorehouse, it would be perfect family fare. From Paramount.