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Kirk Douglas, Lauren Bacall, Doris Day, Hoagy Carmichael, Juano Hernandez ... see more see more... , Jerome Cowan , Mary Beth Hughes , Nestor Paiva , Orley Lindgren , Walter Reed , Alex Gerry , Paul E. Burns , Frank Cady , Hugh Charles , Dick Cogan , Paul Dubov , Everett Glass , James Griffith , Helene Heigh , Jack Kruschen , Murray Leonard , Keye Luke , Hugh Murray , Robert O'Neill , Dan Seymour , Burk Symon , Bill Walker , Dean Riesner , Jack Shea , Julius Wechter , Larry Rio , Sid Kane

The life of tragic jazz great Bix Beiderbecke is given the "a clef" treatment in Warner Bros. Young Man With a Horn. Kirk Douglas plays the Beiderbecke character, here named Rick Martin. An ace trumpt... read more read more...er player, Martin is one of the few white musicians to flourish in the black-dominated jazz scene of the 1920s. Chafing against the dullness of the "respectable" orchestras for whom he works, Martin finds at least two kindred spirits in the forms of torch singer Jo Jordan (Doris Day) and piano player Smoke Willoughby (Hoagy Carmichael). He rises to popularity with his own group, and along the way falls under the spell of wealthy jazz patroness Lauren Bacall. After marrying Bacall, Martin begins neglecting his music and turns more and more to alcohol. When he skips one of her fancy parties to attend the funeral of his mentor Juano Hernandez, Bacall angrily smashes all his jazz records, effectively ending what was never a very solid relationship. Crawling into a bottle, Martin loses his touch with the trumpet-a heartbreaking sequence, in which he goes to pieces in the middle of the pop standard "With a Song in My Heart". Unlike the real Beiderbecke, who died of alcoholism at the age of 28, Rick Martin is rescued by his faithful friends Day and Carmichael. Kirk Douglas' trumpeteering in Young Man with a Horn was effectively dubbed by Harry James, while jazz pianists Buddy Cole and Jimmy Zito make uncredited soundtrack contributions. The film was adapted by Carl Foreman and Edmund H. North from a novel by Dorothy Baker. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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64% liked it

1,170 ratings

Unrated, 1 hr. 52 min.

Directed by: Michael Curtiz

Release Date: February 9, 1950

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DVD Release Date: April 26, 2005

Stats: 45 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (45)

  • ajv2688
    October 24, 2010
    ajv2688
    Kirk Douglas plays a young man with a horn, a trumpet that is. He wants to play jazz, and he struggles through life and his alcoholism and bad love life. An interesting story, and great performance from Kirk. I liked this movie.
  • jjnxn
    February 5, 2010
    jjnxn
    Great music, good performances from the three leads.
  • littlecharmer1959
    March 10, 2009
    littlecharmer1959
    Nothing very remarkable here. The story isn't exactly the most interesting or entertaining. The performances are all adequate, with Douglas playing the musician having to chose between the good girl or the bad girl (Doris Day and Lauren Bacall). By the time Bacall's character had... read more departed I had started to get bored of the whole thing and the tag on Hollywood ending. The soundtrack is not bad though with heaps of cool jazz and a couple of Doris Day numbers thrown in, plus there are some nice exterior shots of New York.
  • inhonoredglory
    October 14, 2011
    inhonoredglory
    A very, very interesting movie - such complex and compelling characters! It's not a plot-driven film, which makes it so large in scope and realistic, actually, as we follow Rick Martin from childhood to adult life. The symbolism is quite profound and the theme, very worthwhile. A... read moremy's (Lauren Bacall) inability to play the piano boldly reflects her inability to find a purpose in life. Rick's (Kirk Douglas) struggle to reach the high note on his trumpet reflects the impossibility of finding life's purpose in musical talent alone. Jo's (Doris Day) simplicity exemplifies the honest, selfless, caring goodness we should all strive for to be truly happy. Art Hazzard's (Juano Hernandez) words to Rick are also quite didactic when you think about it. A quite inspiring film, I'd say, that wonderfully moves above the genre/cliche summaries it is given on the DVD cover!

    And the music, of course, was top-notch. I loved hearing Harry James do his magic! And Doris Day, of course. What a musical feast! The acting, especially by Kirk Douglas, was very good. I actually came into this not caring much for watching Douglas, but in the end, he came off as a very likable guy, the occasional boyish innocence confused by a world that does not make sense.
  • lagunapink
    September 29, 2007
    lagunapink
    Kirk Douglas was great in this movie! Lauren Bacall was excellent, and Doris Day sounded great as the singer in a band.

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Critic Reviews

Steve Crum
July 26, 2007
Steve Crum, Video-Reviewmaster.com

Fine Kirk Douglas character study directed by Curtiz.

Jeremiah Kipp
April 25, 2005
Jeremiah Kipp, Slant Magazine

Dramatically contrived and thematically feeble. Full Review

Christopher Null
April 10, 2005
Christopher Null, Filmcritic.com

a fair example of a somewhat overworked genre. Full Review

August 27, 2008
Variety

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March 25, 2006
New York Times

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Geoff Andrew
February 9, 2006
Geoff Andrew, Time Out

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May 24, 2003
Film4

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