Young Man with a Horn (1950)

Director:

Michael Curtiz

Writers:

Dorothy Baker (novel)
Carl Foreman (writer) ...

Release Date:

9 February 1950 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | Music | Romance

Plot:

Aimless youth Rick Martin learns he has a gift for music and falls in love with the trumpet. Legendary...

Plot Keywords:

Jazz | Trumpet | Alcoholism | Beautiful Woman | Nightclub

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

Also Known As:

Young Man of Music (UK)
Young Man with a Trumpet (Australia)
Der Jazztrompeter (Austria) (West Germany) [de]
Chimere (Italy) [it]
Der Mann ihrer Träume (West Germany) [de]
Duas Mulheres e Dois Destinos (Portugal) [pt]
Jeune fou à la trompette (Belgium: French title) [fr]
La femme aux chimères (France) [fr]
Música en el alma (Chile) [es]
Musiikkia veressä (Finland) [fi]
Muziek in 't bloed (Belgium: Flemish title) [un]
Rhythmus, Leidenschaft und Liebe (West Germany) [de]
Ung man med trumpet (Sweden) [sv]
Ung mand med trompet (Denmark) [da]

Runtime:

112 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:PG | UK:PG (video rating) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Kirk Douglas's trumpet licks were performed by Harry James.

Quotes:

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.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Flying Nun: Young Man with a Cornette (#1.12)" (1967)

Soundtrack:

With a Song in My Heart

Good Hollywood, but don't confuse this with Bix

A decent Hollywood film, but only if you take it as Hollywood and check reality at the door. It was based on a book that the author, Dorothy Baker, admitted was "inspired" by the life of Bix and his music. Most professional jazz musicians and Bix contemporaries find much of it, especially the search for "high notes," laughable, and an inaccurate portrayal of any musician's life, let alone Bix's. Many of those same people find the film even more flawed...

However, that said, this is good Hollywood. Classic Curtiz work with many of the same nuances you'll find in Casablanca (you'll enjoy the use of smoke and shadow in the b/w environment). It was a film that many of the leads reportedly did not enjoy making (subject matter hit a little too close to home for Hoagy Carmichael and Doris Day), but that does not seem to seep into the film too much. Lauren Bacall satisfyingly fills the role of the sultry wrong woman, Day is terribly wholesome but alluring, and any chance to see Hoagy on screen is worth the price of a rental. Now, if only the Kirk Douglasness of Kirk Douglas could have been turned down a hair...