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23 out of 26 people found the following comment useful :-
The magnificent temptress Alexis Smith taking the longest walk of her life after midnight..., 13 November 1999
8/10
Author: ironside (robertfrangie@hotmail.com) from Mexico

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

In Warners' "The Young Philadelphians," Newman plays a young lawyer who abandons all values in search of success… Directed by Vincent Sherman, who had made some of Joan Crawford's tough career-woman vehicles, this slick soap opera actually finds Newman in a Crawford role...

Tony Lawrence is born into poverty, and his mother brings him up to believe that social position, good contacts and money are all that matter… At first he resists, but events harden him into a cynical opportunist, and he sets out on an amoral journey to the top of his law firm… He double-crosses, romances and ingratiates himself to success, but loses all his youthful idealism, and becomes unhappy with himself… Finally deciding that success isn't worth, the price, he chooses integrity, risking the enmity of a prominent family by defending an alcoholic friend…

Tony, the ruthless opportunist, is superficially another Ben Quick ("The Long, Hot Summer"), but here the writing is superficially and Newman responds with an appropriately routine portrayal… He goes through the motions well, conveying the smiling, eager innocent at the beginning, and the intense, jaded conniver later on… But it's all on the surface, with no depth of feeling… Tony doesn't even have the underlying devilish charm, only an attractive face… And at crucial moments—when Tony's girl marries another man and when he finds out who his real father is—Newman falls back on heavy breathing, rapid blinking and feverish lip movements…

Barbara Rush gives her best performance as the depressed, cynical, high society daughter of one of Philadelphia's most prominent attorney Gilbert Dickson (John Williams).

Robert Vaughn is excellent as the alcoholic victim, cheated and inherited...

Billia Burke is delightful as the old millionairess whom Tony wins her trust by persuading her to transfer the administration of her possessions to a firm that could save her 'some' taxes...

"The Young Philadelphians" is Vincent Sherman's best film of the fifties, with excellent supporting cast specially by Alexis Smith as the dissatisfied wife of an aging lawyer collaborating in unifying the arguments of the dramatic action...

With 3 Academy Award Nominations for Best Supporting Actor (Vaughn), Best Cinematography and Best Costume Design, the film is gleamingly done and acted with assurance...

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14 out of 18 people found the following comment useful :-
Last Warner 'Contract' Role a Winner for Newman..., 18 March 2004
Author: Ben Burgraff (cariart) from Las Vegas, Nevada

By 1959, Paul Newman's career was moving into high gear, with CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF, THE LONG, HOT SUMMER, and SOMEBODY UP THERE LIKES ME all critical and commercial successes. Even his harshest critics grudgingly admitted he was far more than just a "Brando look-alike" (as he had been labeled in his first films), but his contract to Warner Bros. forced him to also appear in potboilers (THE HELEN MORGAN STORY), and misguided comedies (RALLY 'ROUND THE FLAG, BOYS!), and Newman was chafing at the bit to be able to pick and choose his own projects.

Vincent Sherman's THE YOUNG PHILADELPHIANS, the last film under Newman's WB contract, proved to be one of the best, and he showed the dazzling sexuality and near-arrogant confidence that would mark many of his films of the next decade. As Anthony Judson Lawrence, illegitimate son of Brian Keith (performed with a brogue and a wink, as Keith was, actually, less than 4 years older than Newman), and social climbing mother Diane Brewster, he carried the name of an 'upper crust' father (Adam West, as wooden as he would be in "Batman"), whose homosexuality had been carefully hidden and whose inability to 'perform' and suicidal death on his wedding night would result in a 'deal' between mother and in-laws; the boy could keep the name, but would not have access to the family fortune.

Flashing ahead a few years, Lawrence is a strapping, 'blue collar' kind of guy, much to the chagrin of his mother, who hopes that his name will gain him inroads into Philadelphia 'society'. Working construction with his (yet unknown to him) birth father, between semesters at law school, he meets pretty socialite Joan Dickinson (Barbara Rush), who quickly falls for his sweaty, sexy charm. Lawrence's best friend, to his mother's relief, is alcoholic fellow student 'Chet' Gwynn (Robert Vaughn, in an Oscar-nominated role), heir of another elite family, who sees in Lawrence a personal courage he lacks. Vaughn's performance is a film highlight, quite similar to Lew Ayres' role in HOLIDAY, twenty years earlier, through the early part of the film.

Young Lawrence is fighting his mother's battle for acceptance, and, in the first of several 'upwardly mobile' decisions, he postpones a quick marriage to Joan, in return for help in his law career. While he is convinced the delay would help the two of them, it costs him her love. Bitterly, he decides to 'play the game', using whatever means necessary to get ahead. With a brief interruption by the Korean War, his career flourishes, aided by a willingness to use 'inside' information to obtain a choice clerking appointment, while toying with a near-affair with the 'younger' wife of the aged lawyer he is studying with (Alexis Smith, gloriously beautiful at 38). When he achieves a spot in a prestigious law firm, he 'woos' a major client (Billie Burke) over to him. With unscrupulous ease, he reaches a pinnacle his mother had only dreamed of.

But Lawrence's world is about to come crashing down, as Gwynn, his college friend, crippled in Korea, has been arrested for murder, and begs the lawyer to represent him. The trial promises to expose the seamy underbelly of Philadelphia society, revealing secrets that could destroy many lives, including his own.

Lawrence faces a moral dilemma, whether to save his friend, or preserve the fiction of his own life...

Entertaining and at times powerful, THE YOUNG PHILADELPHIANS is a fitting conclusion to the early stage of Paul Newman's career; ahead was EXODUS, and a decade of roles that would cement his position as a superstar!

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13 out of 17 people found the following comment useful :-
The Philadelphia Way of Life, 28 November 2006
7/10
Author: bkoganbing from Buffalo, New York

The Young Philadelphians is a curious mixture of Ross Hunter like soap opera together with a Tennessee Williams like hero and surprisingly enough it works most of the time.

Paul Newman is the hero whose very existence on the planet is a source of scandal. His mother Diane Brewster was disinherited by her husband's family when he killed himself on their wedding night. Newman's had to scrap for what's his in the world and isn't above using the bedroom to advance himself.

He's got a friend in Robert Vaughn who's also a black sheep in his Philadelphia Main Line family who gets himself in a jackpot when he's arrested for murdering his uncle. Newman, who's a tax lawyer, gets some on the job training in a criminal case, in defending Vaughn.

Like Katharine Hepburn in Suddenly Last Summer, characters like John Williams, Robert Douglas, and Frank Conroy seem above all to want to protect the family name. Hepburn was willing enough to have a lobotomy performed on Elizabeth Taylor and this crew seems ready willing and eager to send Vaughn to prison or the electric chair for the same reasons. Straight out of Tennessee Williams.

Newman shows some of the flash in his courtroom scenes, especially in his examination of Richard Deacon that he later showed in his Oscar nominated The Verdict which is my personal Paul Newman favorite. He trips Deacon the witness up with a piece of legal wizardry worthy of Perry Mason.

In the prologue of the film when the death of Adam West is shown on his wedding night to Diane Brewster the film is very discreet as to his reasons for doing what he did. It's explained this was a marriage arranged by his mother for the purpose of carrying on the family name even if it meant wedding a girl not from their crowd. He explains he has no interest in his wife and promptly goes out and dies in a speeding car crash. Today it would be far more explicit to say that maybe Adam West's character was gay. But we had the code in place back then and gay was invisible.

Robert Vaughn got an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor and his harrowing scenes with Newman in the drunk tank got him that. He lost to Hugh Griffith for Ben-Hur, but it was the first real notice he got and the start of a long career. Look for good performances by Alexis Smith as the older woman Newman woos, Billie Burke as the daffy dowager, and Barbara Rush whose on and off relationship with Newman guides most of the film.

The Young Philadelphians is kind of old fashioned today, somewhat dated, but still is good entertainment and recommended here.

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12 out of 16 people found the following comment useful :-
Absolutely agree: Vaughn's performance a show-stopper., 23 September 1999
Author: mwprods from New York, USA

Absolutely agree about the high quality of Oscar-nominee Robert Vaughn's performance. It must be his finest movie moment. And Barbara Rush does herself proud, too. Film's reality holds up even 40 years later; one of the era's more credible dramatizations.

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11 out of 15 people found the following comment useful :-
Out-Dated, But Great Rainy Night Entertainment, 27 July 2006
10/10
Author: Hollywoodcanteen1945 from United States

The Young Philadelpians which was made in 1959 is tame by today's standards; out-dated for sure. Yet, when it was made it was not only controversial, but very daring for it's time; dealing with homosexuality, child-birth out of wed-lock, mental illness, adultery, suicide and alcohol abuse.

Paul Newman was out-standing in the role of Anthony Judson Lawrence, a career driven lawyer, whose mother is hiding a deep dark secret. Newman is at his physical prime; handsome and lean. Everyone in this classic black and white soap opera was great. Just a really entertaining rainy night movie.

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11 out of 16 people found the following comment useful :-
One of the great movies from the 1950s., 19 December 1998
9/10
Author: none-85 from Bethesda, MD

Set in Philadelphia society in the 1940s/1950s. The two leads- Newman and Rush are excellent, but it is Vaughan as Newman's alcoholic buddy who gives the best performance- he was nominated for an Oscar. Billie Burke as the rich, eccentric little old lady is a delight. Alexis Smith as the attractive frustrated wife married to Newman's elderly boss gives a great performance. Several of the other supporting players- Keith, Picerni, John Williams as Rush's father, and Krueger as Newman's boss are excellent. I own the video and have watched the movie numerous times.

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6 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
Luminous drama; vastly underrated, 6 February 2008
9/10
Author: robb_772 from United States

It has commonly been said that full-fledged soap opera can never be a real work of art, but this excellent film proves to be a glorious exception to that rule. Director Vincent Sherman's luminous film adaptation of author Richard Powell's best-seller THE PHILADELPHIANS manages to tell the story of at least two generations in a single picture without ever feeling cramped, forced, or haphazard. The film's story line that begins as a romance, evolves into an underdog business story, and ends as a courtroom drama, and Sherman impressively manages to take all of these various story threads and create a completely coherent motion picture that never feels disjointed or episodic. Sherman also keeps things movie at a remarkably brisk pace – the film never feels even half as long as it's 136-minute runtime.

The entire cast turns in superlative work, with Newman being particular well-suited to his role as a good-natured-but-flawed lawyer (he would return to this type of role with even better results in the 1982 classic THE VERDICT). Barbara Rush, Brian Keith, Dianne Brewster, Billie Burke, and Robert Vaughn are all excellent, and Alexis Smith is particularly memorable as sexy socialite. Speaking of sex, the film retains a surprisingly sensual aura throughout, which helps to keep it from aging for modern audiences. Inexplicably forgotten by many classic film fans, THE YOUNG PHILADELPHIANS is a moving, compelling motion picture that holds up remarkably well nearly fifty years after it's original release.

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1 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
" I guess I'm not as good or as bad as I thought I was ", 21 May 2009
8/10
Author: thinker1691 from USA

Building a Hollywood resume as outstanding as he did, actor Paul Newman selected roles which in one way or another tapped his enormous talent. This movie is a prime example of that legendary persona. The Film is called " The Young Philadelphians " and is the story of Anthony Judson Lawrence (Paul Newman) who is born into an upper social class family. Although raised as an up and coming Laurence, his mother Kate (Diane Brewster) and father (Brian Keith) keep from him a dark family secret which involved his biological father (Adam West). Having graduated from a prestigious Ivy league school, believes he can contribute to his family name. However ambitious he is, there are several outside influences which seek to bar his success. There is a young lady (Joan Dickinson) whom he wishes to marry, but who's father (John Williams) is against it. Then there are the In-laws who believe Lawrence's mother is a disgrace by fathering an illegitimate child. In addition, there are faltering friends like Chester Gwynn (Robert Vaughn) who calls on him when charged with murder. Then there are influential millionaire friends like Mrs. J. Arthur Allen (Billie Burke) who is impressed with Lawrence's ability to succeed when put in real jeopardy. This happens when he is chosen as defense counsel for his friend Chester in a real life drama which endangers his family, his friends and himself if he should fail. All in all, this is one film not to be missed by fans of Paul Newman. The end result is another milestone and a definite Classic for his career. ****

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6 out of 11 people found the following comment useful :-
A fine 1950's movie, 15 December 2002
7/10
Author: claudelalande from Montréal, Canada

The Young Philadelphians had all the ingredients to become the most horrid American melodrama, in the worst 1950's style. Instead, it was cooked up to be one of the fine 1950's movies.

William Lawrence III (Adam West) was not, indeed could not be, the father of young Tony (Paul Newman). After William kills himself in a horrible car crash (suicide?), his Mother wants Kate (Diane Brewster) to give up the family name for her and her baby boy. Because she could reveal the reason for this horrid condition (Gasp! Is it possible that the marriage was not consummated because William the third could only "do it" with boys?), Kate secures the Lawrence name, if not the Lawrence money, to give Anthony a chance in Philadelphia society. Can you see the most awful melodrama developing?

Well, it turns out that further developments provide us with a balanced mix of humor, cynicism, drama, real emotions. This movie shows first rate acting and directing, and superb black and white photography. It gives us a glimpse of what appeared to be a pretty gruesome society scene. Apart from the unlikely happy end (I'm not giving too much away by saying this about an American movie of the 1950's), this is an interesting incursion in the period, with a healthy dose of social realism. As a bonus, we get to see Paul Newman out of his shirt in a steamy scene with a frustrated woman married with Newman's much older boss, a delightful Billy Burke in one of her last screen appearances, a tortured Adam West trying to deal with... (Oh! no, I can't say it), and a whole cast of believable, if not overly subtle, characters. We even get a bit of courtroom drama, à la Perry Mason.

This is an excellent way to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon...

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6 out of 11 people found the following comment useful :-
Where were these Young Philadelphians?, 8 July 2001
Author: jlacerra from Philadelphia, PA

I really love this movie. It's one of those that, while not one of my absolute favorites, I can enjoy it every time it comes on. This is in part due to the fact that I was a young Philadephian when it came out. We all aspired to be rich and sophisticated like those in the picture. But for the record, all the folks in Philadelphia high society do not speak with British accents, there actually are Philadelphians who are neither WASPS or brick contractors, and the general population is not enrapt with the daily doings of the "Main Liners".

I'm glad Vaughn got his Oscar for this effort, he deserved it. Billie Burke and Richard Deacon are fun to watch, and Newman performs Tony Lawrence so effortlessly, you can almost overlook how good he is.

A must-see, though slightly dated, minor classic.

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