The Young Lions

1958 "Irwin Shaw's monumental best-seller"
7.1| 2h47m| NA| en| More Info
Released: 02 April 1958 Released
Producted By: 20th Century Fox
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Info

The Young Lions follows the lives of three soldiers: one German and two Americans, paralleling their experiences in World War II until they meet up at the end for a confrontation

Genre

Drama, Action, War

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Director

Edward Dmytryk

Production Companies

20th Century Fox

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The Young Lions Audience Reviews

Hellen I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much
Cubussoli Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!
Mjeteconer Just perfect...
Claysaba Excellent, Without a doubt!!
tomsview "The Young Lions" was one those big Hollywood war movies I remember seeing with my family at the local cinema during the late 1950s.I saw many of those films and actually read most of the slab-like novels they were based on: "Battle Cry", "The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit", "From Here to Eternity" and Irwin Shaw's "The Young Lions" - there just weren't that many competing devices back then.I usually read the books after seeing the films and then became acutely aware of how the movies suffered under the censorship of the day. The novels often filled in some serious gaps in my sex education, but the films never did.The story is about three soldiers: a German, Christian Diestl (Marlon Brando), and two Americans: Noah Ackerman (Montgomery Clift) and Michael Whiteacre (Dean Martin). The film follows their fortunes through WW2 until they cross paths at the end.The film has a number of authentic, well-executed sequences shot on location. However these are mixed with flat, over-lit scenes shot on the blandest of backlots and soundstages - the interiors are particularly artless. Documentary footage also added to the lack of a definitive style. Fortunately the action scenes open the film out. The most arresting of them was the ambush of a British convoy in North Africa. It would have touched a nerve with many in that audience in 1958 as our guys had been part of the British Eighth army and the war had only been over for 13 years.One of the surprises in the movie was the anti-Semitism Noah Ackerman encounters in the U.S. Army. Monty Clift faced a tough enlistment in "From Here to Eternity", but it was even tougher here. He looked worn (this was after his accident in 1956) and seemed a bit too old, but his performance is the most affecting in the film. No wonder Brando was wary of his talent.Dean Martin without Jerry Lewis was another surprise, but he was good as the soldier with better motives than he thought.Brando's blonde, broad shouldered Diestl starts out as a fine example of the master race, but his journey through the rise and fall of the Third Reich makes him thoughtful. He is treated rather sympathetically in the movie, although he was more of a nasty Nazi in the novel. However they may have overdone Diestl's disgust at every turn.I can see why Irwin Shaw was disappointed. However the film has its moments, and is still one I have no trouble watching every now and then.
Bill Esser I really enjoyed the book by Irwin Shaw.It chronicled the war experiences of three average soldiers, two American and one German.I went to see the movie as soon as I could. What a disappointment! Marlon had made key changes in the script I think to suite his own ego. The first change being that his character, Christen Diestl. Diestl was not a blond stereotype. He had brown hair and he was not an officer. Like his American counterparts he was an enlisted soldier – a sergeant.The book ending is an example of powerful military writing. While Ackerman and Whiteacre are in the concentration camp, Diestl has been roaming the woods not too far away. He executes two US paratroopers who have been hung up in trees. He admires them because like him they are brave soldiers. Some time later he happens upon Ackerman and Whiteacre and decides to tale two more for the Fatherland.In the fight that ensues, Ackerman is shot. Whiteacre, who is not a warrior, has to fight back and clumsily falls into a deep ditch. Diestl in pursuit is ready to make an easy kill. Whiteacre then panics and throws a grenade. It mortally wounds Diestl who as he dies laments that only an American would throw a grenade. He dies an unrepentant soldier.Very little of this is in the movie. The ending scenario is quite different – thanks to Marlon.Outside of that it was a fairly good film.What Brando changed completely lost Irwin Shaw's literary intent.In this case, I felt, somebody should have read the book.
SnoopyStyle Lt. Christian Diestl (Marlon Brando) is a dutiful German who finds the war more and more troubling. Meanwhile back in the US, Jewish Noah Ackerman (Montgomery Clift) finds love, and entertainer Michael Whiteacre (Dean Martin) try to avoid the war.This movie is split in three. I find the Marlon Brando part very intriguing right from the start. A straight movie with just his character would be very interesting. Brando sets a serious compelling tone. Clift and Martin's movie starts slowly. Quite frankly, it starts as an old fashion melodramatic romance with puppy dog Montgomery Clift. Martin has even less to do as he debates whether to join the fight or not. The movie crawls along at times, and would probably be better served to just keep Brando. Although Clift has some minor drama. At 167 minutes, this is like 2 movies jammed into one. The connection between the stories is tenuous at best until the very end. It seems it took forever to get there. Once there, the point of the movie is made crystal clear, but it seems that it could have been done with a much tighter story.
MartinHafer This is a very good war film. However, at almost three hours in length, it still feels way too short--way too rushed. In many ways, the story seems a lot like "The Winds of War"--and that was a 20+ hour mini-series. That's because the film starts just before WWII and ends in the waning days of the Nazi regime--a much longer time period than you'd find in a normal war film."The Young Lions" is the parallel story of three soldiers. One is a German (Marlon Brando) and two are Americans (Montgomery Clift and Dean Martin) who are friends. Their stories really don't intersect until the final scene and there aren't that many parallels between them. This is very unusual in style but works well enough. The film could have just centered on Brando or Martin and Clift and worked just fine.The German portion of the story is interesting because it presents Brando as just a loyal soldier--not a Nazi. In fact, this is a conflict in the story--between an honorable soldier a dishonorable regime.As for the Americans, the most interesting portion of the story is Clift--who is scapegoated in boot-camp and he is literally fighting mad. As for Martin, his is a struggle with taking the easy way out of the war or working hard to prove something to his girlfriend and ultimately to himself.Overall, a very good film--mostly due to the acting. While I am not a particular fan of Brando (I think he's overrated--at least in his later films), here he seemed very good as the German. Native Germans might blanch at his accent--I don't know. But, he seemed quite good. As for Martin, in his first dramatic role, he was very good and Clift put in a typical performance. As for Clift's character, he was very good because unlike in "From Here to Eternity", Clift's tiny frame was realized and was part of the script--him begin THAT tough in the "From Here to Eternity" always seemed a bit silly and was a HUGE stretch.Parley Baer as a Nazi How good does the German accent sound to Germans? grainy stock footage could have been a lot longer--like WOW FYI--the evil Mayor (John Banner) was actually Jewish