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:

$3,000,000 (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

Dean Martin stepped into the role of Michael Whiteacre when Tony Randall became indisposed. It was a move that solidified Martin's solo film career after his split from Jerry Lewis two years earlier. According to Randall and producer Buddy Adler, MCA, who had Marlon Brando and Montgomery Clift under contract, insisted that their client, Dean Martin, be cast or they would pull the other stars. A subsequent grand jury case caused MCA to lose some of its power because of the circumstances involved in the casting of The Young Lions (1958).

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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

Capt. Hardenberg: [two Nazi officers, escaping on a motorcycle in the middle of the endless desert] Don't fall asleep, damn you. Talk! Talk to me!
Lt. Christian Diestl: [confused] Uh, I wish I was back in Austria! I wish I was back in the snow... in the winter... in the mountains...
Capt. Hardenberg: [impatient] Not like that! Talk about something else!
Lt. Christian Diestl: [amused] Can I talk about what I did with your wife the last time I was in Berlin?

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Connections

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

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Soundtracks

Blue Moon
(uncredited)
Music by Richard Rodgers
Lyrics by Lorenz Hart
Performed by Michael Whiteacre at his party and heard in the background as well

User Reviews

A Fine Cinema Experience

A long time ago, some time before the powers that be decided that movies should be made only to extricate money from children by catering to their base instincts and in so doing destroy our civility, the American Cinema was devoted to the art and craft of story telling. In these stories, life was often celebrated through the study of the character of the human heart.

In THE YOUNG LIONS, we experience masterful story writing in the screenplay by a man named Edward Anhalt who adapted it from a novel by Irwin Shaw. In this fine example of the final years of the Golden Age of Hollywood we see a study of character, ideas and humanity seen amidst the greatest conflict this Earth has ever known, WWII.

Here, we experience both the Americans and Europeans, including Germans. They are played as they really were, not as depicted by latter day directors such as Steven Spielberg and others who have drawn WWII Germans as silhouette, cartoon characters, all vile and evil. Here, they are shown as singular human beings with personalities, hopes and dreams really exactly like our own. The opposing forces are caught up in a madness that somehow swept across the face of this planet at a specific time, when really probed, for reasons quite unfathomable. This was also one of the peak film renderings of Marlon Brando, whom some feel is one of the finest actors ever to have graced the silver screen.

If you yearn for a fulfilling example of American Cinema at a time when it was a serious, respected industry, this is one for you to see.