08 Mar The Young Lions
(1958) The Young Lions is the story of three soldiers, two Americans and one German, and how their lives somehow interrelate during World War II. The film is based on the 1948 bestselling novel of the same name by Irwin Shaw, based on his own experiences in Europe during the war. (Shaw later wrote Rich Man, Poor Man, made into a television series starring Nick Nolte.)
What a star-studded cast. The three soldiers are played by Dean Martin, Montgomery Clift, and Marlon Brando. A blonde Brando is the German. For the most part, he is a “good German,” believing that the new regime in his country will bring prosperity and peace. He is disgusted by some of the events he sees on the front. His commanding officer is played by Maximilian Schell, one of Schell’s earlier roles and two years before his Academy Award-winning role in Judgement at Nuremberg.
Brando’s character has an affair with Max’s wife, played by beautiful May Britt. This was two years before her marriage to Sammy Davis, Jr.
Montgomery Clift’s character is Jewish. In the film, he is harassed by the other men in his unit. I heard only insults that referenced his being from New York, not being Jewish. (And I listened hard.) That he was being singled out for that reason was the idea. Later on when he and Dean Martin’s character walk into a German concentration camp it all comes to a climax.
In Shaw’s book I am sure the antisemitism is more obvious; he was born in the South Bronx to Russian Jewish parents. He must have experienced it all.
This was a comeback movie for Dean Martin, two years after his breakup with Jerry Lewis. He really plays himself, a Broadway producer who doesn’t want to go to war but does.
Moviegoers were startled to see a likable Nazi. They also saw a different Montgomery Clift. Two years earlier he had been in a terrible automobile accident and by 1958 was addicted to drugs and alcohol.
Did I like the movie? The end was the best part, but it took a long time (2 hours, 47 minutes) to get there. I was glad it was finally over.
My favorite WWII era critic Bosley Crowther didn’t appreciate it either.
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