The Young Lions (1958)

Director:

Edward Dmytryk

Writers:

Edward Anhalt (writer)
Irwin Shaw (novel)

Release Date:

2 abril 1958 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | War

Plot:

The destiny of two soldiers during World War II. The German officer Christian approves less and less of the war...

Plot Keywords:

Anti Semitism | Soldier | WWII | Brooklyn Bridge | Based On Novel

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 1 win & 4 nominations

Comentarios de los usuarios:

A Tale of Four Soldiers

Cast

Marlon Brando	...	Lt. Christian Diestl
Montgomery Clift	...	Noah Ackerman
Dean Martin	...	Michael Whiteacre
Hope Lange	...	Hope Plowman
Barbara Rush	...	Margaret Freemantle
May Britt	...	Gretchen Hardenberg
Maximilian Schell	...	Capt. Hardenberg
Dora Doll	...	Simone
Lee Van Cleef	...	1st Sgt. Rickett
Liliane Montevecchi	...	Françoise
Parley Baer	...	Sgt. Brandt
Arthur Franz	...	Lt. Green
Hal Baylor	...	Pvt. Burnecker
Richard Gardner	...	Pvt. Crowley
Herbert Rudley	...	Capt. Colclough

También conocida como:

Baile de los malditos, El (Spain) [es]
Dioses vencidos, Los (Chile) [es]

Duración:

167 min

País:

USA

Idioma:

French | German | English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sonido:

4-Track Stereo | Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Clasificación:

Norway:16 | Spain:13 | Australia:PG | West Germany:12 (cut version) | West Germany:16 (f) | Finland:K-16 | UK:PG | USA:Approved (PCA #18687)

Filming Locations:

Berlin, Germany

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivialidades:

Dean Martin stepped into the role of Michael Whiteacre when Tony Randall became indisposed. It was a move that solidified Martin's solo film career after his split from Jerry Lewis two years earlier.

Quotes:

Michael Whiteacre: Look, I've read all the books. I know that in 10 years we'll be bosom friends with the Germans and the Japanese. Then I'll be pretty annoyed that I was killed.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Sono fotogenico (1980)

A Tale of Four Soldiers

I've always liked The Young Lions because it has the best explanation for the phenomenon that was Nazism in Germany. Always the question is asked how did they come to power? At the beginning with Marlon Brando romancing vacationing Barbara Rush in Bavaria on New Year's Eve, he provides one of the most lucid explanations of why people would choose to follow Adolph Hitler. It is one of Brando's finest moments on screen.

At the time of course he didn't know he was romancing the main squeeze of Dean Martin who with Montgomery Clift play the two American soldiers who's stories and growth as human beings is told. Martin is a Broadway musical comedy entertainer and Clift is just a department store clerk at Macy's who meet by chance at the draft board. Martin is trying to dodge the draft, Clift is fatalistically accepting what comes. Martin proves to be a man of far more character than we first think. Clift is a Jew and a man who with enough reason to be going to war against Hitler, has to deal with anti-Semitism here in America.

Clift and Martin's stories are told alternately with that of Brando and also Maximilian Schell. This was Schell's first appearance in an American production and he scores well as a proud Nazi officer. Let us just say that he gets quite a comeuppance all around during the course of this war he was so proud to be part of.

The two male actors who are always cited as the rebel heroes of post World War II America are Marlon Brando and Montgomery Clift. Too bad in their one film together they didn't exchange any dialog. Still I can't praise a film like The Young Lions too highly.