AllMovie

Originally released in Britain as The Wild and the Willing, this film stars Ian McShane as a young university scholarship winner. The product of a poor family, McShane runs up against a wall of prejudice and class consciousness. Rebelling against the intolerance of his professors and his fellow students, McShane becomes what would now be described as a "party animal", cutting up with his rebellious girlfriend Samantha Eggar. Sympathetic professor Paul Rogers tries to get through to McShane, but the boisterous student repays the "favor" by having an affair with McShane's wife Virginia Maskell. A social tragedy without any real discernable point, Young and the Willing is worth watching for an early supporting performance by John Hurt.