Hemingway's Adventures of a Young Man (1962)

Director:

Martin Ritt

Writers:

A.E. Hotchner (screenplay)
Ernest Hemingway (stories)

Release Date:

28 September 1962 (West Germany)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

An immature young man from Middle America grows to manhood after a cross-country journey and his military service in World War I

Plot Keywords:

Manhood | Ambulance | Domineering Mother | Burlesque | Italian Army

Awards:

Nominated for 5 Golden Globes.

Cast

Richard Beymer	...	Nick Adams
Diane Baker	...	Carolyn
Corinne Calvet	...	Contessa
Fred Clark	...	Mr. Turner
Dan Dailey	...	Billy Campbell
James Dunn	...	Telegrapher
Juano Hernandez	...	Bugs
Arthur Kennedy	...	Dr. Adams
Ricardo Montalban	...	Major Padula
Paul Newman	...	The Battler
Susan Strasberg	...	Rosanna
Jessica Tandy	...	Mrs. Adams
Eli Wallach	...	John
Edward Binns	...	Brakeman
Philip Bourneuf	...	City Editor

Also Known As:

Adventures of a Young Man (UK)
Ernest Hemingway's Adventures of a Young Man (USA) (complete title)

Runtime:

145 min | USA:139 min (FMC Library Print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Netherlands:12 | USA:Approved (certificate #20134) | Canada:PG (video rating) | Finland:K-16

Filming Locations:

20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Jerry Wald Productions

Trivia:

Warren Beatty and Richard Beymer were finalists for the role of Nick, but after negotiations broke down with Beatty, Beymer was ultimately cast.

Quotes:

Nick Adams: You've already had twelve drinks. How can you be thirsty?
Billy Campbell: [Clasping the side of Nick's face] It's an emotional thirst, not a physical one. You wouldn't understand.

Sad, down-keyed coming of age story, enhanced by Waxman score

This was one of my favorite films when I was an adolescent and I hadn't seen it in forty years until I recently purchased it on DVD. It is a very sad, very bittersweet exploration into Hemingway's semi-autobiographical Nick Adams stories with many guest star cameos. I know now I identified with Nick- wanting to escape a dull life, wanting to be a writer, having an ineffectual father and an over-bearing mother. I can see also why it failed to find an audience and is all but forgotten.

It is very laid back, very loosely woven together, with very few points of high excitement. Had a director like Richard Brooks been at the helm, this might have turned out quite differently.

It is Richard Beymer's finest performance and he carries the film well. Superlative cameos are delivered from: Paul Newman as the "Battler" - a punch drunk has-been fighter whose brain has turned to mush - Newman is almost unrecognizable behind the make-up and gives a stellar character turn; Dan Dailey as Billy, a perpetually drunk alcoholic who berates 'the wages of gin' and serves as the front man for a burlesque troupe; Eli Wallach and Ricardo Montalban as Nick's Italian compatriots; and most memorably, Arthur Kennedy as Nick's put-upon father, Henry Adams.

The women fare less well. Jessica Tandy as Nick's mother is one-note harsh and cold, Susan Strassberg as Rosanna is just plain dull, and Corinne Calvert and Diane Baker have one unmemorable scene each. Then again, Hemingway did not understand women and did not write indelible female characters. Even his most memorable, Catherine in A FAREWELL TO ARMS, is a man's version of femininity.

The real star here is Franz Waxman's gorgeous but brief musical score - quite similar to his Copland-esque score for PEYTON PLACE, it is full of lush strings, harp glissandos, and plaintive oboe/flute themes. I listen to it and I cry - it is so full of feeling, of desire, of loss. Next to PEYTON PLACE, it is my favorite of all of Waxman's work.

This is recommended, not highly, but it is something that quietly impresses and that, obviously, stays with one if seen at an impressionable early age.