Young Man With a Horn (1950)

64% of users liked it
(1,170 ratings)

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 trumpter player, Martin is one of the few white musicians to flourish in the black-dominated jazz scene of… More 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 trumpter 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

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 52 min.
Directed By: Michael Curtiz
Written By: Carl Foreman, Edmund H. North
Genres: Drama, Romance, Musical & Performing Arts, Classics

In Theaters: Feb 9, 1950 Wide
On DVD: Apr 26, 2005

Critic Reviews

Steve Crum, Video-Reviewmaster.com
Fine Kirk Douglas character study directed by Curtiz.
Jeremiah Kipp, Slant Magazine
Young Man With a Horn casts Kirk Douglas as a selfish artist who gets his comeuppance, but it's a theme that smacks of bull****.
Jeremiah Kipp, Slant Magazine
Dramatically contrived and thematically feeble.
Christopher Null, Filmcritic.com
a fair example of a somewhat overworked genre.

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Featured Audience Ratings

AJ V

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.
jay n

Great music, good performances from the three leads.
Emily B

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… More
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 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.

Cast

            Kirk Douglas as Rick Martin

            Lauren Bacall as Amy North

            Doris Day as Jo Jordan

            Hoagy Carmichael as Smoke Willoughby

            Juano Hernandez as Art Hazard

            Jerome Cowan as Phil Morrison

            Mary Beth Hughes as Margo Martin

            Nestor Paiva as Louis Galba

            Orley Lindgren as Rick as a boy

            Walter Reed as Jack Chandler

            Alex Gerry as Dr. Weaver

            Paul E. Burns
            
            Frank Cady as Hotel Clerk

            Hugh Charles
            
            Dick Cogan as Intern

            Paul Dubov as Maxie

            Everett Glass as Man Leading Song

            James Griffith as Walt

            Helene Heigh as Tweedy Woman

            Jack Kruschen as Cab Driver

            Murray Leonard as Bartender

            Keye Luke as Ramundo

            Hugh Murray as Doctor

            Robert O'Neill as Bum

            Dan Seymour as Mike

            Burk Symon as Pawnbroker

            Bill Walker as Black Minister

            Dean Riesner as Joe

            Jack Shea as Male Nurse

            Julius Wechter as Boy Drummer

            Larry Rio as Owner

            Sid Kane as Man
See full cast