The Young Lions (1958)

WW2 drama that follows the lives of three young men, one German and two Americans, during wartime.

Director:

Edward Dmytryk

Writers:

Edward Anhalt (screenplay), Irwin Shaw (novel)

Stars:

Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift, Dean Martin

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 1 win & 4 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Marlon Brando	...	Lt. Christian Diestl
Montgomery Clift	...	Noah Ackerman
Dean Martin	...	Michael Whiteacre
Hope Lange	...	Hope Plowman
Barbara Rush	...	Margaret Freemantle
May Britt	...	Gretchen Hardenberg
Maximilian Schell	...	Capt. Hardenberg
Dora Doll	...	Simone
Lee Van Cleef	...	1st Sgt. Rickett
Liliane Montevecchi	...	Françoise
Parley Baer	...	Sgt. Brandt
Arthur Franz	...	Lt. Green
Hal Baylor	...	Pvt. Burnecker
Richard Gardner	...	Pvt. Crowley
Herbert Rudley	...	Capt. Colclough

Storyline

The destiny of three soldiers during World War II. The German officer Christian Diestl approves less and less of the war. Jewish-American Noah Ackerman deals with antisemitism at home and in the army while entertainer Michael Whiteacre transforms from playboy to hero.

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Plot Keywords:

prisoner of war | british army | u.s. army | german army | world war two | 

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Taglines:

Irwin Shaw's monumental best-seller

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Genres:

Action | Drama | War

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French German

Release Date:

2 April 1958 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Young Lions

Filming Locations:

Yuma, Arizona, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$3,550,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$9,960,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox

Technical Specs

Runtime:

167 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System) 4-Track Stereo

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Montgomery Clift was immensely proud of his work on the film, hoping that it would finally win the Oscar that had eluded him so far. He was hugely disappointed when all the critics seemed to concentrate mostly on his changed post-crash appearance and how thin and gaunt he seemed. (At this stage in his life, Clift was heavily drug and alcohol dependent.)

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Goofs

After Michen has killed a Frenchman to please his father, he is killed himself. The length of the blood trail from his mouth changes, from long to short to long again between camera shots.

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Quotes

Michael Whiteacre: Sometimes I think I give off a scent or something, you know, rouses the female.
Noah Ackerman: Hmm?
Michael Whiteacre: Those girls.
Noah Ackerman: Where?
Michael Whiteacre: Oh now wait a minute. You mean to tell me that you didn't--Oh your antenna's turned off.
Noah Ackerman: No, I frankly didn't notice.
Michael Whiteacre: Oh, you're sick.
Michael Whiteacre: Have you ever had a girl?
Noah Ackerman: Have I ever had a girl?
Michael Whiteacre: That's what I thought!

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Connections

Referenced in E! True Hollywood Story: Dean Martin (1999)

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Soundtracks

Horst Wessel Lied
(uncredited)
Lyrics by Horst Wessel
Sung at the party in Bavaria

User Reviews

A Tale of Four Soldiers

I've always liked The Young Lions because it has the best explanation for the phenomenon that was Nazism in Germany. Always the question is asked how did they come to power? At the beginning with Marlon Brando romancing vacationing Barbara Rush in Bavaria on New Year's Eve, he provides one of the most lucid explanations of why people would choose to follow Adolph Hitler. It is one of Brando's finest moments on screen.

At the time of course he didn't know he was romancing the main squeeze of Dean Martin who with Montgomery Clift play the two American soldiers who's stories and growth as human beings is told. Martin is a Broadway musical comedy entertainer and Clift is just a department store clerk at Macy's who meet by chance at the draft board. Martin is trying to dodge the draft, Clift is fatalistically accepting what comes. Martin proves to be a man of far more character than we first think. Clift is a Jew and a man who with enough reason to be going to war against Hitler, has to deal with anti-Semitism here in America.

Clift and Martin's stories are told alternately with that of Brando and also Maximilian Schell. This was Schell's first appearance in an American production and he scores well as a proud Nazi officer. Let us just say that he gets quite a comeuppance all around during the course of this war he was so proud to be part of.

The two male actors who are always cited as the rebel heroes of post World War II America are Marlon Brando and Montgomery Clift. Too bad in their one film together they didn't exchange any dialog. Still I can't praise a film like The Young Lions too highly.