Young Man With A Horn (1950)

Young Man With A Horn (1950) – A trumpet takes a boy from a bad neighborhood to the heights of musical fame. What it can’t overcome are the demons that followed him.

Director – Michael Curtiz                            Starring – Kirk Douglas, Doris Day, Lauren Bacall

Why I Liked It – Douglas gives us a great portrayal of a man torn between the loves of his life, his music, women, and alcoholism.

Going into this movie, I had a good feeling.  A movie about Jazz (I love Jazz), directed by Michael Curtiz (can’t think of one of his movies I didn’t like), and a solid cast to carry the story. Turns out that feeling was correct.  This is an excellent movie.

I have to be honest and say that I’ve never been huge Douglas or Day fans.  I would never deny their place in the Hollywood heavens, but I’ve never warmed to them.  Doris Day strikes as the perfect (and perfectly dull) “Mary Sue” too often.  And Douglas tends to be stuck in a “stick out my chin and grit my teeth” mode.  Day is fine here, in just her fourth movie. She is playing the good girl.  It’s a role she mastered and it’s hard to complain about her performance here.  Legend says that she struggled with the film.  Doris Day started as a singer with a band, just like her character.  Those memories were not positive.  She’s the singer in the band with Douglas who introduces him to her friend, played by Lauren Bacall.

Bacall often played smart, tough women with a certain reserve, but here she adds a vicious coldness to the role of Amy.  There is a deep flaw in her personality and it slots into the primary weakness of Rick (Douglas).  She is devastating in the role.

I have to give the nod to Douglas as well.  Rick maintains a boyish wonder about the music he plays.  It’s really the only thing that he loves. He wants to share it with Amy, but that isn’t going to work. The chemistry between them is electric.

The voice-over narration (never a favorite technique of mine) was a little annoying.  I had to find something to quibble about!

Some interesting musical notes (sorry, couldn’t resist) in the movie.  The narrator and Rick’s sidekick, “Smoke” Willoughby is played by real-life musician and songwriter Hoagy Carmichael.  He’s not bad, although the narrated story style is not my favorite.  Jazz great Harry James plays all the music for the Douglas character.  That’s great all by itself, but credit for also coaching Douglas to finger the instrument properly while on screen.

The story is based very loosely on the life of Jazz legend Bix Beiderbecke.

Rating – **** Recommended