...one really has to give prolific director Edward Dmytryk a respectably just comeuppance of appreciation, as far as his ability in not pigeon-holing himself into one particular film genre. When one considers his spectrum of film productions, we're talking about seeing him dip into just about every film genre under the sun, and then some...and prove himself respectably exceptional in each and every one. An under-appreciated filmmaker by name (...an infamous 'socialist blacklist' stigma took care of that, which in itself...encompassing a rather vast number of participants...is yet another provocative Hollywood story, altogether...a tale to be later told, to be sure), his films, nonetheless spark great acclamation and appreciation by sheer mention of their eclectically varied titles, alone. A little steamy intrigue, set in a New Orleans bordello, in 1962's "Walk on the Wild Side"...the classic horror of 'ape, into woman, into ape-woman', with 1943's "Captive Wild Woman"...corruption and crime in the boxing ring, as revealed in 1940's "Golden Gloves"...cleaning up a dusty, one-horse town, plagued by gun-toting cowboy thugs, in 1959's "Warlock"...the entwining, film noir-ish mystery and intrigue, found in 1944's "Murder, My Sweet"...blackmail and terrorism, on the cusp of a fledgling computer age, in 1975's "The Human Factor"...and the ever genre-shifting list goes on, and on, and on...
...never the less, whether out of boredom, or his underlining need for variety and transition, there remains one common denominator, which connects the greater percentage of Edward Dmytryk's cinematic repertoire, no matter how widely spread across the map, with regards to the almost countless genres which he's taken on, and that's his signature penchant for adapting...sometime, to a degree, even 'tweaking' the best of classic literature, both domestic and worldly. It might seem a bit dry and monotonous, in being list-repetitive, but hey...Edward's spansive film resume, and alternating literary works upon which he's based his poignant and regal sized films on, is well worth scouring and scrutinizing. His unconventional, albeit glimpse of the sexual revolution, as originally suggested by author Harold Robbins' "The Carpetbaggers"...an invocation of military law, and the drama that ensues, per the writings of Herman Wouk, and his classic, "The Caine Mutiny"...the heartfelt romance and intrigue, found in the pages of author James Hilton's "So Well Remembered"...an enigma of inescapably dark and sinister proceedings, in a towering metropolis, stamped into the pages of Howard Fast's tension-filled potboiler, "Mirage"...
...and
this...this compelling facet of wartime intrigue and drama, with specific focus on three men of varying principle, and the efforts to uphold those principles and temper the resulting inner conflict, in the midst of a war, which they are forced to engage...
...Christian Diestl (Marlon Brando), a dashing, blonde-haired German ski instructor and part-time Parisian police officer, maintains a patriotic level of high hopes of fresh and renewed reform & prosperity for the greater European continent, under the proposed regime of Adolf Hitler; regretfully, his new lady friend, Margaret (Barbara Rush), whom he has been wooing on the ski slopes, hardly shares his enthusiasm and appreciation of Hitler, instead seeing a much more heinous...even monstrous intent of the rising dictator, and in expressing her feelings about the situation, Margaret sees fit in leaving Christian to his beliefs and, in her eyes, his disillusioned point of view; she returns to London, in an effort to meet up with, and reconnect with an old beau, Michael, who works in show business. Spurned by Margaret, and finding no further solace in his law enforcement duty, Christian assumes an officer's commission, and finds himself assigned to a North African battlefront...
...hoping to get disapproved and disqualified from serving in the military, famed show business personality Michael Whiteacre (Dean Martin) not only sees himself fully fit and acceptable, during an initiated US Army draft physical examination, but also finds and makes friends with an unspoken kindred spirit, in the form of Noah Ackerman (Montgomery Clift), a mild-mannered department store clerk, who also finds himself a chosen lot for the draft. Resigning themselves to their fate, and determined to make the best of things, in the midst of their friendship, the two men head off to basic training...with Noah, driven forward by the love of his life, Hope (Hope Lange), whom he had met and formed an embraced relationship with, at a New Year's Eve party, which Micheal is the host of. The two plan to get married, once his time in the service is up, with the only obstacle being that of Hope's father, who's come to find out that Michael is Jewish, and through misconception and a lack of understand, harbors and maintains a dislike and distrust in Jews...
...a man quite unswervingly dedicated to his duty, as well as being a person who sees life as something that should be cherished, embraced and not wasted, Lieutenant Christian finds himself overwhelmingly sickened and repulsed by the murderous, unspeakably appalling and morally destructive & decrepit activities performed by his Nazi military comrades, not only both those under his command, as well as the commanding superiors over him, but also in what is expected of himself. Expressing his thoughts and feeling over the matter only serves to make him look weak in his superiors' eyes (...actor Maximilian Schell puts in an effective turn, as Christian's cold, demanding and no-nonsense superior officer). All of the horrors, which Christian has found himself reluctantly witness to, as his patrols and travels take him deeper within the mire of the ensuing war, culminates in the ultimate of horror, when on patrol, he comes across a concentration camp, and invariably becomes quite sickened at the horrific and murderous crimes being carried out there. Walking away from the diabolically unspeakable scene, Christian...quite shaken, and now, overwhelmingly disillusioned, as far as his purpose and beliefs, wanders aimlessly into the thicketed, battle-worn grounds...
...during basic training, Noah's inner strength and mental/physical tenacity are put to the test, when several of the company's men...including those assuming supervisory positions...band together, to heavily plague, bully and physically abuse him, solely because he is Jewish. Though hardly a participant in the bullying, Michael...Noah's only friend...reluctantly stands in the sideline, even turning his back altogether, while watching his friend going through and enduring abrasively bigoted abuse; with the stigma of not getting involved in any matter associated with 'this man's army', being eventually torn down by a gnawing sense of guilt, Michael finally succumbs to doing what is right, and steps in to support and rally behind his friend. And later, once the two find themselves on an explosive and bullet-ridden battleground, it is that unswerving inner strength, as well as the support of his best friend, which coerces Noah to rise to the occasion, in willingly engaging a daring rescue of a fellow comrade in battle...someone in his company, who himself had previously engaged in the relentless and discriminating bullying of Noah...
...all of these compelling events invariably collide, in a 'fateful to all, tragic to others' encounter on the battlefield, which reflectively, poignantly and ironically exudes upon each of these men's sense of unconquerable inner-strength, undeniable bravery, unswerving beliefs and embraced redemption...and at the same time, crosses sharply with the historically demanding fate and unavoidable eventuality of the combative situation, as might have been expected, in this particular time and place...
...and much like this reviewer's keen synopsis overview, as described above, of "The Young Lions", the film itself does indeed bounce back and forth between the three inner-troubled protagonists...a sort of mosaic collage of dramatic vignettes...a bit confusing, at times film-wise, but wholly understandable, this approach, as it does best serve in adapting Irwin Shaw's literary rendition of the story (...these days, to squelch and alleviate that confusion, the scene and character transitions would have more than likely been accomplished with fade outs and fade ins, ala something very much not unlike "Pulp Fiction"); and as far as 'approach', if there was ever a more clever, ironic and outright unconventional approach to anti-war, as well as antisemitism, without having direct bearing to character affect...to varying degree, more so in one aspect, and not so much in another...it is most assuredly director Edward Dmytryk's unique approach to the material...
...the foremost aspect, amidst others, of such an observation can be found in the way that both screenwriter Edward Anhult (...a frequent collaborator of Edward Dmytryk, and notable for other great, albeit provocative pieces of work, like 1968's "The Boston Strangler", 1985's "The Holcroft Covenant" and 1965's "The Satan Bug", amongst others) and director Dmytryk dramatically changed the depiction of the Christian Diestl 'Nazi' character...portrayed in the film quite astutely and compellingly, by a rather strikingly blonde-haired Marlon Brando...as depicted in Shaw's original novel (...oh yes, Irwin Shaw was prerequisite reading in this reviewer's high school history, social studies and English literature courses...more than a bit deep and complex for the average high school student, but then this reviewer was...uh, hardly average). In the novel, Christian is a naive young warrior type, rallying a devoted sense of patriotism for his homeland country and it's cause; eagerly drawn into the military, the initially untainted lad is gradually...progressively, albeit forcibly coerced in adapting to the ways of Nazism,and readily accepting the 'necessary horrors' of war. In effect, turning and grinding the naive young lad into what might be considered a cookie-cutter stamped-out standard, stereotypical Nazi soldier...cold, cruel, emotionally unaffected, and outright bloodthirsty, with a mad sense of military revelry...an outright 'monster', in effect...
...once again unique, unconventional and sympathetic, the flip side between novel and film, as filtered through filmmaker Dmytryk and screenwriter Anhult, is that Christian, although kicking off quite similarly in the film, as sort of naively patriotic in his views of what he hopes and believes will result, in the instillation of the Nazi regime, yet blind and ignorant to the actual horrors of the war. In joining the military, and as such, having been forcibly slammed with unspeakable sights of an ever-increasingly horrendous nature...something that goes sharply against the grain of Christian's values, with regards to humanity and the value of life...something that in itself, brushes aggravatingly against the grain of what the Nazi militant regime are trying to mold Christian into, lest he become eradicated and eliminated, altogether (...considering this particular observation, I couldn't help but recall a poignant line, years later spoken by Marlon Brando in 1978's "Superman"..."...you would accuse me of insurrection?? Has it now become a crime to cherish life...??"). And in the end, it's Christian's moral values that win out, though not without filling him with an overwhelming sense of eye-opening disillusionment...something that invariably drives him quite mad...so mad, in fact, that he becomes blind to his eventually tragic, albeit wholly ironic end...
......interestingly enough, in contrast to the Nazi side of the equation, afforded herein, as far as this collage of World War II characterizations, our two American military inductees are seen here, taking on quite different brands of warfare, in the midst of the straightforward wartime engagement, which they are being inducted into and tasked with participating in. One one side, we have smart-alack, self-serving, problem & conflict evading showbiz personality Michael Whiteacre (...singer & actor Dean Martin, in a respectable performance-defining role...one of which suggests a talent, far and above that of his early comic renderings)...his irreverently angst wit and sense of humor, masking a cowardly fervor...a fervor of personal fault which he simultaneously services, and yet is prone to feel guilty about. And coupled with a measure of egotistic revelry, that gnawing internal conflict comes into play and threatens to unveil his carefully concealed inner self...with the ultimate question being whether or not self-realization will intervene, and give cause to Michael, as far as rising to the occasion, and convincing himself, as to what is the right thing to do...fight the good fight, or just remain on the sidelines, watching the aggravated conflict, whether it be in support of a good friend, or even the very war which he's been drafted into...
...and of course, there's actor Montgomery Clift, in the measurably meekish and mild-mannered role, as Noah Ackerman...troubled and tortured, in the sense that even before being sent to the abrasive, battle-driven wartime front, he finds himself fighting an on-going battle, which he's been forced to engage, well through the crust of his life...that being the ever-omnipresent prejudice against his Jewish lifestyle and religious beliefs. In that sense, numerous battles won and lost...the approval of his fiance's father, a sort of ignorant 'closet' bigot, who assumes such stance through lack of understanding, and fortunately for Noah, is willing to understand and learn, if at the very least, in favor of his daughter's happiness. In sharp contrast to one such fight won, in the overall battle, there's Noah's harsh and brutal bullying by the bigoted, tough-mug fellow inductees of his basic training troupe, including that of his immediate supervisors (...one of whom is played coldly and almost sadistically by actor Lee Van Cleef, who's character doesn't actually participate in the bullying, but merely stands there, watching it and approving of it)...all of which proves to be the proverbial 'straw that breaks the camel's back', and sets Noah off on a determined and combative fervor to prove himself and achieve/embrace some long-overdue self respect, even if the odds are invariable stacked against him. And such self-respect, as well as the accompanying turnabout respect by his peers, is made all the more relevant and elating, when Noah is willingly and bravely called upon to prove himself again, once in the visceral thick of things, on the battlefield...
...for sheer effectiveness of character, it is crystal clear that Marlon Brando's performance is the most stand-out, in these proceedings; "The Young Lions" was clearly a step up in Brando's refined and celebrated career beginnings, up to that time...with most of his earlier roles, exuding considerably younger 'pretty boy' characters, tortured with inner conflict and estrangement...a by-now stereotype, which he, actor James Dean, and this film's secondary star, Montgomery Clift, was know for. An exceptional actor, taken from his adoring public, way too early, Clift's role in this particular film proved equally impacting, and much like Brando, "The Young Lions" proved his well-honed ability to rise above and perform considerably more mature characters, than those which garnished a distinct popularity with the 'angst youth' market, as suggested by his earlier films. And although Dean Martin's 'Michael Whiteacre' persona might have been the least effective of the three protagonists herein, his performance was assuredly a marked and surprising change from what might have been expected from him, during this time. Call this a sort of respectably successful litmus test, as far as being able to assume more dramatic and serious roles, as opposed to the prolific comedy film stint, which he'd just 'unplugged' himself from, having just parted ways with frequent co-star and comedian, Jerry Lewis...
...for yet another Twilight Time limited edition (...3,000 copies, on
this one), a striking luster and crispness of the remastered print...extraordinary, for a film of this particular ilk and subject matter...is a thing of absolute wonder, in viewing "The Young Lions"; naturally, the high-definition Blu Ray format has brought out an extraordinary amount of detail in most films, as well as tempering...even sometimes almost eliminating the presence of expected film grain and print damage; however, for this particular film, as seasoned as it is, such cleansing observation can be seen as even more striking than most. One might even consider this restoration, as one without peers...yes, it is
that good...
...clocking in at a good two-hour-and-40-minute-plus time span, "The Young Lions"...considering the subject matter, as well as the literary meld, with which the story is laid out...in the anticipating onset of noting the running time of the film, might try most viewers' patience; however, given the film's un-lingeringly segmented, chapter-like story line...it's penchant for focusing more on characters engaged in war, with themselves, as well as the conflict they are recruited into, rather than focus on the war itself...coupled with a good measure of relatability, as well as a distinct accent on irony...not to mention, of course, three rather extraordinary performances by Hollywood's best...this film, to most, might prove quite emotionally satisfying, even for those who find war-themed films, not exactly their cup of tea...Definitely Recommended.....
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