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List Price: $14.98 | | Label: 20th Century Fox
Salesrank: 12863
Released: May 21, 2002 |
| Our Price: $8.51 |
| Used Price: $5.09 |
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MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
No Description Available.
Genre: Feature Film-Action/Adventure
Rating: NR
Release Date: 26-JUL-2005
Media Type: DVD
Description of The Young Lions:
One of the most thoughtful films about World War II, this 1958 Edward Dmytryk (The Left Hand of God) drama, based on a novel by Irwin Shaw, tells parallel stories of two American soldiers (Montgomery Clift and Dean Martin) and one German officer (Marlon Brando), whose war experiences we follow until they intersect outside a concentration camp. Martin plays what he calls "a likable coward," Clift is intense as a Jewish GI, and Brando experiments with the limits of his part as a Nazi reevaluating his beliefs. Legend has it that Clift accused Brando of bleeding-heart excessiveness. Interestingly, the two Method actors share no scenes together. --Tom Keogh
The Young Lions Reviews:
The Young Lions Roar ! 
2009-11-16 - Historical performances including Brando with a German accent ???!!!??? Dean Martin cool as ever and wonderfully convincing in his role and Monty Clift looking strangely out of place in the armed forces - just like all the other young men who dared to serve this country and became unwitting heroes ! Must see !
Brando Carries this One 
2009-08-10 - As others have said below, this is a good representation of the type of WWII movies being made in the late 50s /early 60s. What separates The Young Lions from more standard fare is the smoldering performance of Marlon Brando as a conflicted German Officer. The story follows the ultimately intersecting paths of Brando's character with two american GIs rather stereotypically played by Dean Martin and Montgomery Clift. For the first two thirds of the film these stories are developed in tandem. Brando is shown as a Bavarian ski instructor who becomes an officer. Scenes in Paris and the North African front give him the opportunity to flesh out his character.
Overall this is a very well done film for it's day. I add that caveat because it is in some places a bit dated, particularly in the romantic scenes. Still, if you haven't seen this one it is well worth checking out.
Finally, the last 20 minutes of this are really spectacular. The movie has it's strengths and weaknesses but the ending sequences are among it's best qualities
The Young Lions
2009-06-10 - The Young Lions was based on the Irwin Shaw novel of the same name BUT the novel & the film are NOT the same. The Young Lions has an exceptional cast that stars Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift & Dean Martin. The supporting cast includes Hope Lange, May Britt & Barbara Rush as the love interests. In lesser roles the cast includes some people that were familiar: Maximilian Schell, Lee Van Cleef, Parley Baer, Arthur Franz, L.Q. Jones, John Banner & Vaughn Taylor.
Unfortunately, the film does NOT equal the star power. The film occurs mostly during WWII but it's not really a war film. It's more about personal relationships during a very trying time. There are some action sequences but not many.
It's the character of Christian Diestl (Marlon Brando) that's changed the most from the novel. The film presents as a loyal German, a nationalist, who becomes disillusioned due to the war. He's idealistic & sympathetic but by the end he realizes he has compromised his values. The casting of Brando led to the change in character of Diestl; Brando is good in the role but he's reserved in his character though there are occasional emotional outbreaks.
Noah Ackerman (Montgomery Clift) is a Jewish American who's shy & idealistic. Upon joining the Army he finds himself a victim of prejudice from his own countrymen. Clift, much like Brando, became a major star in his first film role. Brando in his first film, The Men (1950) received top billing. Clift's first film, Red River (1948), received second billing due to the fact it starred John Wayne. It was with his second film, The Search (1948), that he would receive top billing.
Michael Whiteacre (Dean Martin) is an American entertainer on the verge of stardom. He's an unwilling participant & tries to avoid the draft, he even admits to being a coward. In contrast to Brando & Clift, Martin wasn't considered a great actor though he had more experience in film. He was already a veteran of 17 films as a co-headliner or very close. I say 17 films that doesn't include cameos. I'm not sure if Some Came Running was before or after The Young Lions (I'm going with after) so this film was most likely his first role that was non-comedic. It is my impression that Martin held his own against the two giants of acting that he co-starred with in this film.
The film is 167 minutes & much too long. It's essentially two different story lines; one with Brando & the other with Clift & Martin. None of the three participants are in a scene together except for one of the final ones but there isn't any dialog between them. I know this film received major accolades in its day but as you can tell from the reviews there are a lot of differences in opinion. It was nominated for 3 Academy Awards (Best B & W Cinematography, Best Drama or Comedy Score & Best Sound) but didn't take any of them home. Edward Dmytryk was nominated for Best Director by the Directors Guild of America but didn't win it.
The audio & video are in excellent shape &, except for trailers, there aren't any real bonus features.
WWII drama from German and American perspectives 
2008-11-16 - Based on a novel by Irving Shaw, The Young Lions is a rare WWII movie in that it tries to tell the story of both sides, German and American, through three separate characters. Christian Diestl is a young lieutenant in the German army, an idealistic German and not a Nazi, who begins to question his beliefs has the war takes a turn for the worse and he sees what war brings out in people. Noah Ackerman is a loner who meets a young woman and falls in love, marrying her days before heading off to boot camp. Ackerman must deal with the anti-Semetic prejudices of many people around him when all he wants to do is prove himself. Mike Whiteacre is a Broadway singer and an admitted coward who is fed up with being drafted. With a run time of just under three hours, the characters are given a chance to develop and grow in a believable way as the war begins in the late 1930s and continues as the tide turns in Europe. Some scenes will have a lasting impact, Diestl walking through bombed out Berlin, Diestl talking with a SS commandant of a concentration camp, and the liberation of the same camp by the Americans. This isn't an action movie, but the battle scenes are well-done and very tense. An all-around solid movie that doesn't get the respect it deserves.
Leading a great cast, Marlon Brando gets top billing and the most screen time as Christian Diestl, the idealistic young German officer trying to come to terms with what the war is actually about. Brando gives one of his best, if not most well-known, performances as Diestl. In a role somewhat similar to his part in From Here To Eternity, Montgomery Clift gives an excellent performance as Noah Ackerman, a Jewish soldier with his bride and baby girl at home while he deals with prejudices from his own Army. Dean Martin is solid as Mike Whiteacre, a Broadway singer trying to overcome his deepest fears. All three of the main leads make their characters believable and likable, something that can be hard to do with a war movie. The supporting cast is excellent as well including Hope Lange, Barbara Rush, May Britt, Maximillian Schell, Lee Van Cleef, Arthur Franz, Parley Baer, Dora Doll, and Hal Baylor.
The DVD presents the movie in a beautiful widescreen presentation that really shows off the black and white cinematography, which earned the movie an Oscar nomination. A theatrical trailer is included along with trailers from six other Fox war movies, including Halls of Montezuma and Guadalcanal Diary. An underappreciated WWII drama with a great cast, check out The Young Lions!
Another World War Two Film
2008-08-27 - I had never seen this film before but am on a mission to see all of Marlon Brando's movies. In this film based on the novel by Irwin Shaw, Brando plays a Nazi officer who is in the new word of the month, "conflicted" by what the Germans are doing. There is one scene, for example, where he disobeys an order by his superior officer played by Maximillian Schell to kill a soldier. Even though this film is shot in black and white, it is obvious that the makeup people have died Brando's hair light blond, something that doesn't quite work with his dark eyes and eyebrows. While this is certainly not his best performance, watching the greatest American actor of his generation in always mesmerizing.
Montgomery Clift, who plays a Jewish American GI, is not Brando, however. Although I know that many people rave about Clift's acting abilities he often leaves me cold with his strange wall-eyed stares as he does here in much of the movie although he gets better as the film progresses. A very young Dean Martin as a performer who gets drafted, Hope Lange and Barbara Rush are in the film as well.
The action begins with grand panoramic snow skiing scenes in Bavaria; then the action moves to New York, North Africa, Paris and London. There are two stories here-- that of the American soldiers and Brando and the German troops-- that never come together until the very end of the movie.
Filmed in 1958, "The Young Lions" is a bit dated and had to conform with the then standards of decency so there is a lot of deep kissing here but with everybody keeping their clothes on. A lot is left to the imagination-- a refreshing touch.
