{"id":81136,"date":"2022-02-11T23:26:52","date_gmt":"2022-02-12T06:26:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=81136"},"modified":"2022-04-10T23:22:39","modified_gmt":"2022-04-11T06:22:39","slug":"young-lions-the-1958","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=81136","title":{"rendered":"Young Lions, The (1958)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;The German army is invincible because it is an army that obeys orders &#8212; any orders.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Poster.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Poster-200x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-81137\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Poster-200x300.png 200w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Poster-683x1024.png 683w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Poster-85x128.png 85w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Poster-180x270.png 180w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Poster.png 741w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nDuring World War II, a German ski instructor-turned-lieutenant (Marlon Brando) falls for a French woman (Liliane Montevecchi) and grows increasingly cynical while accompanying his ruthless captain (Maximilian Schell) in North Africa, and eventually visiting Schell&#8217;s flirtatious wife (May Britt). Meanwhile, two American recruits &#8212; a privileged musical star (Dean Martin) whose loyal girlfriend (Barbara Rush) once dated Brando, and Dean&#8217;s new Jewish friend (Montgomery Clift), who marries a WASP-ish girl (Hope Lange) &#8212; head over to Germany to fight, eventually encountering Brando.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Barbara Rush Films<\/li>\n<li>Dean Martin Films<\/li>\n<li>Edward Dmytryk Films <\/li>\n<li>Hope Lange Films<\/li>\n<li>Lee Van Cleef Films<\/li>\n<li>Marlon Brando<\/li>\n<li>Maximilian Schell Films<\/li>\n<li>Montgomery Clift Films<\/li>\n<li>Soldiers<\/li>\n<li>World War II<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nFormerly blacklisted director Edward Dmytryk helmed this nearly-three-hour adaptation of <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Young_Lions\">Irwin Shaw&#8217;s 1948 novel<\/a>, covering the trajectories of three different soldiers and their girls during World War II. Other than the convenient intersection of Brando and Rush in the film&#8217;s earliest scenes (at a ski resort): <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Brando-Rush.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Brando-Rush-1024x436.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"273\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-81139\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Brando-Rush-1024x436.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Brando-Rush-300x128.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Brando-Rush-128x54.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Brando-Rush-768x327.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Brando-Rush-1536x654.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Brando-Rush-604x257.png 604w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Brando-Rush.png 1647w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8230; it&#8217;s difficult to understand why these particular storylines have been pulled together, other than to show us how American and German lives inevitably intersected. To that end, Martin&#8217;s character gets the film&#8217;s best line, spoken early on when he&#8217;s explaining his resistance to fighting: <\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;Look, I&#8217;ve read all the books. I know that in 10 years we&#8217;ll be bosom friends with the Germans and the Japanese. Then I&#8217;ll be pretty annoyed that I was killed.&#8221; <\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>indeed, given that this film was released more than 10 years after the end of the war, some perspective had been gained &#8212; and it was likely easier for viewers to empathize with a conflicted Nazi like Brando. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Brando.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Brando-1024x432.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"270\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-81153\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Brando-1024x432.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Brando-300x126.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Brando-128x54.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Brando-768x324.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Brando-1536x647.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Brando-604x255.png 604w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Brando.png 1649w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Schell, on the other hand (in his American screen debut), simply oozes Aryan arrogance: <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Still.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Still-1024x440.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"275\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-81158\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Still-1024x440.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Still-300x129.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Still-128x55.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Still-768x330.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Still-1536x659.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Still-604x259.png 604w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Still.png 1647w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8230; representing everything about the Nazis&#8217; approach to life and war that Brando comes to detest. Meanwhile, it&#8217;s unclear what kind of &#8220;understanding&#8221; Schell has with his beautiful wife (Britt), who almost instantly propositions Brando when he goes to visit her (at Schell&#8217;s request): <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Britt.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Britt-1024x438.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"274\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-81150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Britt-1024x438.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Britt-300x128.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Britt-128x55.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Britt-768x329.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Britt-1536x657.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Britt-604x259.png 604w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Britt.png 1661w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Brando&#8217;s other would-be love interest &#8212; patriotic Francoise (Montvecchi) &#8212; seems included simply to show his conflicted desire for more than Germany. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Montevecchi.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Montevecchi-1024x431.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"269\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-81154\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Montevecchi-1024x431.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Montevecchi-300x126.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Montevecchi-128x54.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Montevecchi-768x323.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Montevecchi-1536x646.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Montevecchi-604x254.png 604w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Montevecchi.png 1653w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>On the American side of things, the storyline about Clift&#8217;s &#8220;Noah Ackerman&#8221; hints at parallels to his character in <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=59483\"><em>From Here to Eternity<\/em> (1953)<\/a> &#8212; though this time he <em>chooses<\/em> to fight in order to stand up against (anti-Semitic) bullies who have stolen his money and are determined to give him a hard time:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Clift-Fighting-Van-Cleef.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Clift-Fighting-Van-Cleef-1024x440.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"275\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-81148\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Clift-Fighting-Van-Cleef-1024x440.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Clift-Fighting-Van-Cleef-300x129.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Clift-Fighting-Van-Cleef-128x55.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Clift-Fighting-Van-Cleef-768x330.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Clift-Fighting-Van-Cleef-1536x659.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Clift-Fighting-Van-Cleef-604x259.png 604w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Clift-Fighting-Van-Cleef.png 1661w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Lange is appealing as Clift&#8217;s romantic partner waiting for him back at home, and her character&#8217;s world also exposes us to a bit more of America&#8217;s thinly veiled anti-Semitism when we hear her father (Vaughn Taylor) &#8212; who &#8220;never knew a Jew before&#8221; &#8212; openly telling Clift he wishes &#8220;to heaven [he&#8217;d] turn around and get on [a] bus and never see&#8221; his daughter again. (He has a change of heart.) <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Lange-Taylor-Clift.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Lange-Taylor-Clift-1024x433.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"271\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-81149\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Lange-Taylor-Clift-1024x433.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Lange-Taylor-Clift-300x127.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Lange-Taylor-Clift-128x54.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Lange-Taylor-Clift-768x325.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Lange-Taylor-Clift-1536x650.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Lange-Taylor-Clift-604x255.png 604w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Lange-Taylor-Clift.png 1653w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Martin&#8217;s &#8220;Michael Whiteacre&#8221; is the least developed of the three; we simply see him as a man who initially resists joining the army, but knows he must eventually move past his cowardice.  <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Martin-Rush.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Martin-Rush-1024x444.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"278\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-81151\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Martin-Rush-1024x444.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Martin-Rush-300x130.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Martin-Rush-128x55.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Martin-Rush-768x333.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Martin-Rush-1536x666.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Martin-Rush-604x262.png 604w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Martin-Rush.png 1659w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>All three men grow and mature in some way, which is refreshing &#8212; but the overall storyline isn&#8217;t quite satisfying enough to recommend this one.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Notable Performances, Qualities, and Moments:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Joseph MacDonald&#8217;s CinemaScope cinematography<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Schell.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Schell-1024x439.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"274\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-81147\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Schell-1024x439.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Schell-300x128.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Schell-128x55.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Schell-768x329.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Schell-1536x658.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Schell-604x259.png 604w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Young-Lions-Schell.png 1651w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nNo; it&#8217;s only must-see for fans of the lead actors. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0052415\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thespinningimage.co.uk\/cultfilms\/displaycultfilm.asp?reviewid=10878&#038;aff=13\">Spinning Image Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/dvdsavant\/s4846lion.html\">DVD Savant Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.timeout.com\/movies\/the-young-lions-1\">Time Out Capsule Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1958\/04\/03\/archives\/irwin-shaws-young-lions-war-story-is-offered-at-the-paramount.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;The German army is invincible because it is an army that obeys orders &#8212; any orders.&#8221; Synopsis: During World War II, a German ski instructor-turned-lieutenant (Marlon Brando) falls for a French woman (Liliane Montevecchi) and grows increasingly cynical while accompanying his ruthless captain (Maximilian Schell) in North Africa, and eventually visiting Schell&#8217;s flirtatious wife (May Britt). Meanwhile, two American recruits &#8212; a privileged musical star (Dean Martin) whose loyal girlfriend (Barbara Rush) once dated Brando, and Dean&#8217;s new Jewish friend&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=81136\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-81136","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81136","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=81136"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81136\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":82915,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81136\/revisions\/82915"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=81136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=81136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=81136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}