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Young Man with a Horn (1950)
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Overview
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Release Date:
9 February 1950 (USA) morePlot:
Aimless youth Rick Martin learns he has a gift for music and falls in love with the trumpet. Legendary... more | add synopsisNewsDesk:
Viff 2009: 'Empire State Building Murders'(From CinemaSpy. 3 October 2009, 11:39 PM, PDT)
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Hollywood Jazz more (30 total)Cast
(Complete credited 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 |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Add content advisory for parentsRuntime:
112 minCountry:
USALanguage:
EnglishColor:
Black and WhiteAspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 moreSound Mix:
Mono (RCA Sound System)Fun Stuff
Trivia:
Even while married to pinup-girl Betty Grable, Harry James was notorious for his womanizing. Peter Levinson, in his biography of James ("Trumpet Blues") notes that during the filming of this movie, James contacted Doris Day's manager to ask what he thought were James' chances of "nailing" Doris. moreQuotes:
Rick Martin: [to Amy] What a dope I was. I thought you were class, like a real high note you only hit once in a lifetime. moreSoundtrack:
THE VERY THOUGHT OF YOU moreFAQ
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (30 total)
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Once one gets over the strangeness of seeing Kirk Douglas playing the trumpet, this one turns out to be a pretty good movie about an obsessed, self-destructive jazz musician, adapted from Dorothy Baker's novel, which was based on the short, remarkable life of jazzman Bix Biederbeck. Director Michael Curtiz once again shows himself a master of screen biography, albeit highly fictionalized in this case. His flair for capturing urban nightlife is sublime, as he has an intuitive understanding of the lonely moods that city people go through; their sudden changes in fortune, for reasons they scarcely understand; and the inability of anyone, really, to get a grip on modern life.
Miscast as a musician though he is, Douglas is quite good with the darker and more volatile aspects of his character's personality. Lauren Bacall is far less good as his society girl-friend with a lesbian streak, Doris Day marginally better as his True Love. There are some excellent supporting bits by Juano Hernandez and Jerome Cowan. This is overall a satisfying film, too slick for its own good in parts, it's not the best of its director's works, but it's in the high middle range.