Young Man with a Horn (1950)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Michael Curtiz

Writers:

Dorothy Baker (novel)
Carl Foreman (writer) ...

Release Date:

9 February 1950 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | Music | Romance

Plot:

Aimless youth Rick Martin learns he has a gift for music and falls in love with the trumpet. Legendary...

Plot Keywords:

Jazz | Trumpet | Alcoholism | Beautiful Woman | Nightclub

Cast

Kirk Douglas	...	Rick Martin
Lauren Bacall	...	Amy North
Doris Day	...	Jo Jordan
Hoagy Carmichael	...	Willie 'Smoke' Willoughby
Juano Hernandez	...	Art Hazzard
Jerome Cowan	...	Phil Morrison
Mary Beth Hughes	...	Marge Martin
Nestor Paiva	...	Louis Galba
Orley Lindgren	...	Rick as a boy
Walter Reed	...	Jack Chandler

Also Known As:

Young Man of Music (UK)
Young Man with a Trumpet (Australia)

Runtime:

112 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:PG | UK:PG (video rating) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Kirk Douglas's trumpet licks were performed by Harry James.

Quotes:

Rick Martin: [to Amy] That trumpet's part of me. It's the best part. You almost made me forget that.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in "The Dick Van Dyke Show: Young Man with a Shoehorn (#4.22)" (1965)

Soundtrack:

AIN'T SHE SWEET

The haunting, melodic sounds of jazz music. Smoky clubs. Beautiful women. A musician's tragic life. And lots and lots of pathos. All the makings of a great film!

This is a great film with three great actors; Kirk Douglas as Rick Martin, Lauren Bacall as Amy North, AND Doris Day as Jo Jordan. Even though the movie was loosely based on the short and sad life of jazz trumpeter Bix Beiderbecke, the ending was written in a more positive light than Bix's tragic real life story. Yet the movie still manages to capture the essence of a tormented musician's existence, the dangers of alcoholism, the deceptions of false love, and the effect Rick Martin's choices have on those around him who love...and hate...him. There's Lauren Bacall and Doris Day...bad girl and good girl...who will he choose? Slinky, seductive, and cat-like Lauren? Or loving, beautiful and wholesome Doris? It's a visual feast with two of Hollywood's most alluring women! And it's an acting tour de force from all involved, including Juano Hernandez as young Rick Martin's African American trumpet mentor, Art Hazzard. It's also a great pathos film, only with an added light-at-the end-of-the-tunnel type of ending. Not necessarily a true to life ending, but it makes for a great story...and an even greater movie. This should definitely be on DVD!