Young Man with a Horn (1950)

It's a little late for me to be continuing my celebration of Kirk Douglas, but why not do it anyway? Other people must be doing it too, because several of the films I wanted to see have a wait on Netflix. I made a point not to get a western this time, because my last viewing of him came awfully close. It's also from relatively early in his career, when he was not quite my current age.

Adapted from a novel based loosely on the life of Bix Beiderbecke, it centers on Douglas as Rick Martin (no, nobody calls him Ricky), who starts trumpet lessons as a tween orphan thanks to jazz band leader Art Hazzard (Juano Hernandez). In adulthood, he makes the professional and friendly acquaintance of narrating pianist "Smoke" (Hoagy Carmichael) and singer Jo Jordan (Doris Day). At first his main problem is a tendency to deviate from the sheet music, which doesn't sit well with most employers of the era. A bigger problem arrives in the form of Jo's friend Amy (Lauren Bacall), who draws his attention away from his music....

The relationship between Rick and Amy is one of the most incredibly ill-advised ones I've ever seen on screen; if it didn't have some basis in truth, I'd call it dumb writing. Their earliest interactions run strangely between cold and tepid, never hot. It takes a good while to understand why they marry, especially when Rick could easily have had Jo, who advises him too late to stay away from Amy. Apparently, Amy's psych studies make her sound mysterious and smarter than he'll ever be, and that's enough to reel him in. Her interest in him lies primarily in his commitment to one skill instead of dabbling like she does; she doesn't even care much for his music.

And to top it off, she dates a woman on the side. Yes, you can read the insinuation thru the cloud of the Hayes Publication Code (the book makes it plainer). Funnily enough, Bacall herself didn't pick up on it at the time. The one other progressive aspect of this oldie is the amount of screen time for Black actors, all of it positive.

With few exceptions, Kirk Douglas films do not end well for his character. This one certainly looks like it won't end on a high note (NPI), in keeping with the book and Beiderbecke. But the studio decided to tack on a happy ending rather abruptly. I leave it to you to decide what that does for the overall feel.

Douglas proves his worth in the acting, even if the actual trumpet sounds are dubbed in. You may also appreciate the occasional singing of Day, which of course isn't faked. Nevertheless, I don't particularly recommend the movie unless you've already seen most of the best from these actors and director Michael Curtiz.