Young Man With a Horn

1950

1h 52m

Drama

List

83%

6 Reviews

Tomatometer

73%

1,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Rick Martin (Kirk Douglas) is a young man with no direction in life --until he discovers he has a flare for the trumpet. When jazz icon Art Hazzard (Juano Hernandez) agrees to become his teacher, Martin becomes obsessed with jazz at the expense of everything else. Soon Rick is playing at the hottest clubs, but his love of jazz and his stubborn nature soon clash with some of the more conservative patrons while attracting certain others, such as high-brow socialite Amy North (Lauren Bacall).

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pieter m

My favorite Hoagy Carmichael role. While I wouldn't recommend this film off the cuff, e.g. to my flatmate, I might tell a stranger in a bar: a life that the original Bix Beiderbecke would envy, and that had the sentimental sucker in me glued to the screen.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Ricky Martin looks so different in this movie, although I really liked it

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/03/23

Full Review

Ken R

This Warner Bros bio-pic is certainly a cut above the average of its type and year. Dorothy Bakers searing novel is adapted for the screen by Carl Forman (High Noon) and Edmund H. North (Patton). Versatile Kirk Douglas again confirms his tour de force range of emotions as a young Trumpet player (Rick Martin) on the way up and also on the skids. He's also in love with the wrong woman! Sultry Lauren Bacall is perfect as the wrong ‘female' - a slinky rich psychiatry student and destructive gender confused type - who dabbles in everything and is generally unsuccessful at them all. Doris Day giving a semi-dramatic turn does very well as the dance band singer who warms to the ‘lost' trumpeter. Douglas brings pathos, and power to his character (loosely based on the life of Bix Beiderbecke) especially during the breakdown scenes – but he's perhaps a tad overconfident a performer to fully convince as a clumsy, low self-esteem type (this could also be partly due to Curtiz's direction) Juano Hernandez gives a standout performance as the sympathetic jazz muso who takes the young orphan under his wing – freely giving him vital tuition that guarantees the naturally talented, but disadvantaged lad - a priceless introduction to a career in the field of professional music. Michael Curtiz delivers his usual confident directorial professionalism but perhaps the real power is found in the dazzling look of this film. Superb director of photography Ted McCord fills every scene with his strong stylised visuals – injecting a moody power into every situation, also making the grand cast look especially magnificent. Best of all, is his stunning use of outdoor locations, featuring richly dramatic shots of parts of N.Y. that has since passed into memory. Not enough can be said of the power this combination of McCord and Curtiz bring to this un-miss-able 1950 picture! Striking musical direction and score by Ray Heindorf, with a shamefully uncredited additional score by the great Max Steiner - featuring the playing of trumpet virtuoso's Harry James and Jimmy Zito, make for an unforgettable dramatic musical treat. Great production values, art direction, sets, editing, wrap together an eye-popping, ear candy experience for lovers of the era. The upbeat ending could have been dropped but is not as bad as some may say within a ‘loosely' based bio. Hoagy Carmichael is unforgettable as piano player/narrator ‘Smoke' ~ with young Orley Lindgren (under My Skin ‘50, Alias Nick Beal'49) most impressive playing Rick as a boy (whatever happened to Orley?) The W.B. DVD offers good images and that special W.B. sound

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

10/07/19

Full Review

Audience Member

Gritty Warner Bros. drama with music traces the rise of a young trumpet player (Kirk Douglas, dubbed by Harry James); Doris Day and Lauren Bacall play the good/bad girls in his life.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/27/23

Full Review

s r

Good music helps tell the story of what it means to be an artist in the Jazz world.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Esta es una película obligada para todos los amantes de la música. Michael Curtiz ("Casablanca") nos presenta la historia de Rick Martin, un trompetista de Jazz basado en la vida del gran Bix Beiderbecke, que solo vive para su música, hasta que el desengaño amoroso, y la incomprensión de la gente que lo rodea lo hace tocar fondo. Kirk Douglas es perfecto en el papel del trompetista y Doris Day y Lauren Bacall son las actrices ideales para interpretar a las mujeres en la vida de Rick. Una película perfecta con una fotografía que nos hace vivir a la Nueva York de los inicios del Jazz.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/25/23

Full Review

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Michael Curtiz

Director

Kirk Douglas

Rick Martin

Lauren Bacall

Amy North

Doris Day

Jo Jordan

Hoagy Carmichael

Willie "Smoke" Willoughby

Juano Hernandez

Art Hazzard

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Keith Uhlich

(All (Parentheses))

Rick Martin's (Kirk Douglas) longing for artistic transcendence is melodramatically depicted as wholly other to the desires of the audience.—Guest post by Michael Joshua Rowin

Jul 19, 2022

Full Review

Walter Goodman

New York Times

If you have a sneaking affection for 1950-ish, made-to-measure movies, there are pleasures to be found in ''Young Man With a Horn,''...

Mar 25, 2006

Full Review

Jeremiah Kipp

Slant Magazine

Dramatically contrived and thematically feeble.

Rated: 2/4

Apr 25, 2005

Full Review

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Rated: B+

Sep 12, 2012

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Steve Crum

Video-Reviewmaster.com

Fine Kirk Douglas character study directed by Curtiz.

Rated: 4/5

Jul 26, 2007

Full Review

Christopher Null

Filmcritic.com

a fair example of a somewhat overworked genre.

Rated: 3.5/5

Apr 10, 2005

Full Review

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Synopsis

Rick Martin (Kirk Douglas) is a young man with no direction in life --until he discovers he has a flare for the trumpet. When jazz icon Art Hazzard (Juano Hernandez) agrees to become his teacher, Martin becomes obsessed with jazz at the expense of everything else. Soon Rick is playing at the hottest clubs, but his love of jazz and his stubborn nature soon clash with some of the more conservative patrons while attracting certain others, such as high-brow socialite Amy North (Lauren Bacall).

Director: Michael Curtiz
Screenwriter: Carl Foreman, Edmund H. North
Production Co: Warner Bros.
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 5, 2017
Runtime: 1h 52m

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