The Young Lions (1958)

Director:

Edward Dmytryk

Writers:

Edward Anhalt (writer)
Irwin Shaw (novel)

Release Date:

2 April 1958 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | War

Tagline:

Irwin Shaw's monumental best-seller

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Anti Semitism | Soldier | Brooklyn Bridge | Nazi Soldier | WWII

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 1 win & 4 nominations

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

Runtime:

167 min

Country:

USA

Language:

French | German | English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System) | 4-Track Stereo

Certification:

Spain:13 | Norway:16 | 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

Trivia:

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.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The opening title states it's New Year's Eve 1938 in Bavaria, yet at the stroke of 12, the baby comes out with a sash that says 1938 - when it should read 1939.

Quotes:

Capt. Hardenberg: The German army is invincible because it is an army that obeys orders. Any order. No matter how distasteful. It has no sentimentalists, no moralists, no individualists. You will have no future in it if you don't understand that. You may have no future at all if you oppose it. I trouble to tell you this because you have a fine record. You will be a creative soldier, once you get all this "thinking" knocked out of you.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Rat Pack (1998) (TV)

One of the most underrated war films of all time.

A movie that truly puts character above all else, this film examines three men and the common threads - more often than anything, the women - that bring them together. Bold statements on individuals' approach and reasons for war are nestled into realistic and moving dialogue. While an anti-war film, it is a fair and even-handed approach to the subject matter that lets you see things through the characters' eyes and lives, and lets an audience make up their own mind on things. This is not to say it is a strictly intellectual film, but the action is not as visceral as recent war films. Because of the directors' involvement with the HUAC, this movie was ignored in 1958 and fell into relative obscurity, but deserves to be rediscovered. I read the book after the film, and found the two together to be an incredibly stimulating lesson in film, literature, and life. See this movie.