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Young Man with a Horn (1950)

initiated by sonali on September 16, 2008 (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043153/)

Back in 1950 when this film was made the world of jazz music was a mystery to the majority of people in the world.Today,it's still a mystery (possibly even more so) and fifty years from now the situation will not have changed..The problems (and there are many) stem from the fact that basically it's a musicians music requiring untold hours of study and practice and "normal" people are not equipped more

Back in 1950 when this film was made the world of jazz music was a mystery to the majority of people in the world.Today,it's still a mystery (possibly even more so) and fifty years from now the situation will not have changed..The problems (and there are many) stem from the fact that basically it's a musicians music requiring untold hours of study and practice and "normal" people are not equipped to hear the "inside' things that these musicians produce.One of the highlights of the picture occurs early when Kirk Douglas is improvising melodies behind Doris Days' vocal and the square bandleader asks him why does he think he bought these written arrangements..Douglas replies "I don't know.".....laughter from the other guys in the band.Hoagy Carmichael comments that this was about the time that he (Douglas) learned to play two ways.One for money and the other way for himself.Though, at the time this film was made, Dizzy Gillespie,Miles Davis,Fats Navarro, or even a very young Chet Baker would have been a better choice (as far as a REAL jazz trumpet player) to dub the trumpet solos,Harry James, though much more of a pop trumpet star does a commendable job....sort of like a then Doc Severinsen.The 1st half of the film is actually surprisingly good ,catching the gulf that exists between jazz artists and the square public they have to contend with but unfortunately things go sour in the 2nd half (with the entrance of Lauren Bacalls' character...she's a fine actress but the script goes awry and nothing in the film rings true after that.)5 stars for the 1st half,2 stars for the 2nd. Though some people may think it a strange role for Kirk Douglas, he brings his usual intensity to his performance and it works well.

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