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:

20th CENTURY-FOX PRESENTS ALL THE DAYS AND NIGHTS OF the Young Lions (original print ad - mostly caps)

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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:

$3,000,000 (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

Actress Liliane Montevecchi (Francoise in the film) starred alongside former comedy team partners Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin in back-to-back movies immediately after the duo had parted. She starred in The Young Lions (1958) with Martin and The Sad Sack (1957) with Lewis the previous year.

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Goofs

At the end, when Noah Ackerman is walking across the street to meet his wife who is coming toward him, he has his uniform trousers "bloused" at the tops of his combat boots. This was only done by Airborne troops but Ackerman was in the infantry so this would have been improper.

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Quotes

Michael Whiteacre: Look, I've read all the books. I know that in 10 years we'll be bosom friends with the Germans and the Japanese. Then I'll be pretty annoyed that I was killed.

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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 Surprising Mix Bag

I did catch myself laughing in a couple of moments and I stopped, surprised at my own reaction. What was I laughing about? Marlon Brando for starters, his performance has the makings of a great comic creation. A relative of Cloris Leachman's Nurse Diesel in "High Axiety" The film was released in 1958, seven years after "A Streetcar Named Desire" and Brando was not only a huge star but already something of an icon. I'm trying to find out what the reaction to this performance was in its day. I thought it was outrageous, entertaining but outrageous. Montgomery Clift, a year after his nearly fatal accident shows the signs of the tragedy all over his face. Brando and Clift were the the most revolutionary actors of their generations but here they don't have a scene together. Clift plays the meek Jewish soldier that becomes a hero and he manages to be believable under the most unbelievable circumstances. Maximilian Schell, three years before his Oscar winning turn in "Judgement At Neuremberg" dominates every scene he is in. He has a scene, escaping in a motorbike with Brando that could easily have become a Saturday Night Live sketch but the intention, clearly was quite different. The biggest surprises are Dean Martin and Barbara Rush. Martin is movingly real and Rush injects a very welcome element of truth and survives triumphantly some of the impossible dialogue. I also felt the ending was unexpected and rushed. All together an oddity worth watching for the cast alone.