Young Man with a Horn

This movie is pre Bacall and during and after Bacall. The pre part is much better. It's not Bacall's fault. The best part of this film comes near the end. If you recall, shortly after Art's death and his breakup with Amy, Rick embarrasses himself on the bandstand one night, and the bandleader follows him to the dressing room to give him a severe reprimand. He tells Rick that the boys in his band don't drink while their working. Rick replies that he has to drink to listen to his kind of music or he'd go nuts. The leader retorts, that Rick has done pretty well with his kind of music, and who ever heard of him before he gave him a break. Then, the leader says "what do you think this is a spasm band like Art Hazzard's". Then Rick replies with what every real musician has wanted to say to every leader, fan, critic, mother in-law, well, basically anyone who just doesn't have a clue about music. Any music, not just jazz.(Symphonic musicians want to say the same thing to some idiot conductor for example). Rick says: "Why you stupid....if that tin ear of yours could really hear the kind of music that Art Hazzard was playing, you'd go out and shoot yourself". That's what the story, the characters of Rick and Smoke, and Beetoven for that matter, is really all about. Smoke sums it up later when he says something like "you know who buys records, 14 year old girls, to learn the words. The only guys who care about the music are the guys who are doing it". Only a dedicated musician (and that's the tragedy) understands what's going on up there. That's the frustration. Of course it used to be a little different back when this film was made, because at least then, people put a priority on at least learning an instrument. It was considered important to a person's growth and education. Shari Lewis, the late puppetteer, creater of lamb chop, once said that "Music is not secondary. It is as important as the three r's" (reading, writing and rithmatic). To further illustrate, I recall viewing one of the local news stations in New York . On their own, the stars and crew of the broadcast decided to make up their own top ten list of the greatest songs ever. There was not one song on that list that pre dated 1965. Imagine, totally ignored were the songs of Gershwin, Kern, Rodgers and Hart/Hammerstein, Vernon Duke, Cole Porter ,etc. By the completion of the list I was so disgusted, I wanted to say the same thing to them that Rick said. "Why you stupid.... One reviewer on this site expressed that he guessed you have to be a musician to really understand this movie. He is probably right, but maybe you don't have to be a professsional, some first hand knowledge might at least be helpful. I have known many horror stories like Rick's . Not only Bix died young, but Fats Navarro and Bunny Berigan were also great trumpet players who died young of alcoholism. Let's not forget Mozart as well. A very young friend of mine, Wes Norris (piano player) died at the age of 28 from the same affliction. I could go on. But you are probably glad that I won't. Musicians while on the bandstand have amusing ways of dealing with the ignorance of leaders, fans, etc. The musicians have substitute names for some of the songs they hate. When for instance the leader would call out "Memories" it is referred to as Mammaries. "Feelings" is known as Ceilings. Of course nicknames are also given to songs that they like. "I only have eyes for you" is I only have ICE for you and "Cry me a river" is FRY me a LIVER. And I can't tell you how many collective groans went up when ever "In the Mood" had to be played. Yes! "In the mood" was a favorite of many a musician in his youth, but as they matured they grew out of it. Of course the groan was partly due to the constant requests for it. When sometime in the future , historians look back on the current period, they will call it(with the exception of salsa) the dark ages of music. Even the musicians or at least a great many of them don't know what they are doing. And you can take that to the bank. Many of todays artists wouldn't even be able to play what was heard in this film. That's because this film's music is so much more complicated than the music of the last forty years, and it takes so much more virtuosity to play a non electrical instrument. The electronics of the new music is very limited in color, tone, dynamics and variety of sound. This relatively new emphasis on electricity,(akin to special effects in the movies) is responsible for a good deal of the ignorance around us. It's like when some 14 year old reviewer says that the greatest movie of all time is "Jaws" or "Star Wars" III, when he's never even heard of "Sunset Bouelevard". In the movie "Barbershop", Cedric the Entertainer tells Ice T, "that's the trouble with your whole generation, you have no history". The fine musician knows whom and what has come before him, just like Rick knew Art. Miles knew Dizzy, and Dizzy knew Eldridge, and Eldridge knew Louie, and Louie knew Oliver. Mozart knew Bach and Beetoven knew Mozart. etc. Charlie Parker knew Stravinsky and Leonard Bernstein knew the great Louie Armstrong. I wonder what Snoop Dog knows?

This is a great film with three great actors; Kirk Douglas as Rick Martin, Lauren Bacall as Amy North, AND Doris Day as Jo Jordan. Even though the movie was loosely based on the short and sad life of jazz trumpeter Bix Beiderbecke, the ending was written in a more positive light than Bix's tragic real life story. Yet the movie still manages to capture the essence of a tormented musician's existence, the dangers of alcoholism, the deceptions of false love, and the effect Rick Martin's choices have on those around him who love...and hate...him. There's Lauren Bacall and Doris Day...bad girl and good girl...who will he choose? Slinky, seductive, and cat-like Lauren? Or loving, beautiful and wholesome Doris? It's a visual feast with two of Hollywood's most alluring women! And it's an acting tour de force from all involved, including Juano Hernandez as young Rick Martin's African American trumpet mentor, Art Hazzard. It's also a great pathos film, only with an added light-at-the end-of-the-tunnel type of ending. Not necessarily a true to life ending, but it makes for a great story...and an even greater movie. This should definitely be on DVD!

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...

...in this musical biopic based on the life of Bix Beiderbecke, American pianist, coronist, and composer who died at age 28. Directed by Michael Curtiz and produced by Warner Brothers, this film tells the tale of RIck Martin (Kirk Douglas) who is orphaned as a child and raised by a much older sister who moves around the country, finally settling in LA. A loner both by nature and nurture, he becomes interested in music in general and then the trumpet specifically, with trumpeter Art Hazzard (Juano Hernandez) becoming both a tutor and father figure to him. His sister disappears from the story early on, and this makes Rick a convincing latchkey kid at this point.

As a grown man he meets two women. One is a singer in a band, Jo Jordan, who is just too sweet and understanding to be true to the point that nothing romantic develops. Doris Day is wasted in this part except when she sings. The other is socialite Amy North (Lauren Bacall) who Martin sees as an interesting enigma to the point that he marries her. This is where the film loses its way as Amy's characterization is all over the place. Other than the fact that she seems to enjoy tormenting Rick I really don't get her motivation.

I read the portion of director Curtiz' biography dealing with this film, and apparently Bacall didn't like her character either and clashed with Curtiz on a regular basis on this subject. The lesbian angle for Amy was written in intentionally, but with the production code still being in full force, it's really hard to see it unless you know it's there.

This is worthwhile with Kirk Douglas' electric portrayal, the touching relationship between Rick Martin and Art Hazzard, the great portrayal of night life and jam sessions, and Hoagy Carmichael's narration, all outweighing the goofy ending.

More or less fictional, this film tells the story of a lonely but musically inclined kid who grows up to be an ace trumpet player. Kirk Douglas plays Rick Martin, a guy with a one-track mind ... music. But whereas he could make a steady income playing in routine dance bands with their sing-a-long songs, Martin prefers the more free-form sounds of jazz.

But jazz doesn't sell records, so Martin hops from one boring band to another, never finding satisfaction except when he's engaged with other like-minded jazz musicians. It's the old conflict of commercialization vs. art. Along the way Rick meets his true love, Jo (Doris Day), but gets sidetracked by a sultry academic named Amy (Lauren Bacall). And therein lies the main problem with this film.

Amy is an annoying character. Since she relates not at all to music, every time she's on screen, we have to listen to her whine. She detracts both from Rick Martin and from the film's jazzy, moody style. These plot segments, which show up in the second half take us far away from jazz and into angst filled soap opera territory.

Ted McCord's terrific B&W cinematography adds a lot. The lighting and interesting camera angles amplify the moody, downbeat tone, consistent with a 1940s urban visual style, helped along by effective sets and realistic costume design. Casting is acceptable except for Lauren Bacall, who is too overbearing. Doris Day is quite good. And Hoagy Carmichael does a terrific job, both in acting and in narrating the story.

A satisfying film overall could have been rendered even better had the script kept the focus on Rick Martin and his love of jazz. That "Young Man With A Horn" didn't win any kind of award is unfortunate. It's a good film, especially for viewers who enjoy jazz and can appreciate the dreary, moody ambiance of 1940s urban America.