This is a very serious and dark movie, while having Martin in there unbalances it a bit, maybe that's the point. he's a bit too carefree and I can't help but think of him in the Jerry Lewis pictures.
shareAlways worked for me. He does a good job with a fairly complex character. Not an oscar performance, but not bad for his first real dramatic role
shareWatching his scenes again, I'm struck by how naturally Dino seems to step into his character. Regardless of who had played Michael, the carefree attitude that you mentioned would have been present. Take for instance the scene where Dean asks Montgomery Clift for a cigarette, and they chat as they walk outside of the Selective Service office. Dean is joking and being lighthearted, but he also gives a great performance as the weight of the war and his guilt begins to bear down on him.
I think Martin deserved every ounce of praise he was given for his role here.
Note to original poster: Never underestimate the perfection that is Dean Martin.
Surround yourself with people you love; they're easier to fight for than principles.
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I came away from watching this thinking that Martin was by far the most believable and natural in his role. I was prepared to hate him as I'm not really a big fan of Dean Martin, not at all.
I'm not a big fan of Brando, either. He's someone I love to hate, I have to admit.
Montgomery Clift is someone who has just made my jaw drop in some of his other films. I had just watched him in Hitchcock's I Confess and was blown away by his performance.
Martin gave the most natural believable and human performance in this. Brando did the best he could with a pretty one-dimensional character stuck in a really tedious side of the story. Clift really turned me off in this. I was expecting the deep well of emotion to come across with subtle knock out blows but instead he was shoved down our throats as someone we should just pity every step of the way. I thought his part was terrible, both for how it was written and especially for how Clift played it. I was so disappointed!! I expected so much better from him!!
Martin really played his part with the most pathos of the three. He had to bring to life some unfashionable and unpopular sentiments that no one likes to talk about. He had to be outspokenly against the war, he was pretty upfront about being cowardly and I was impressed by how his character dealt with the bigoted bullies in his company and how he confronted the institutionalized prejudice from his company commander.
This movie gets a B- or even a C grade from me.
Re: your displeasure with Montgomery Clift's perfomance in TYL, jackboot:
I thought Clift did quite well and I empathised with his being victimized and bullied by his bunkmates. I admired the character for finally having enough and challangeing the thieves who stole his money with a bulletin board notice, "Keep the money but I want to have the personal satisfaction of fighting you hand to hand, man to man" (or something like that.) Then, FOUR guys, the same ones who had been picking on Clift earlier, sign their names on the note and they agree to the terms; Clift is to fight each of them, one at a time, each night.
We know, of course, that Clift gets clobbered in the first fight; the next two fights, he comes out a little better but is still the one who's lying on the ground when both fights are over. Finally, Clift's improved fist fighting techniques, by the fourth fight, give him the upperhand and he thrashes his last opponent, but soon regrets it, having taken compassion on the guy. And this is the scene where I admire Clift's character the most.
It needs to be taken under consideration that Montgomery Clift was never quite the same again after that near-fatal car wreck which left him with a damaged face that wasn't completely restored even after plastic surgery. It seems the crash might even have affected him psycologically and augmented his already existing drinking problem. But he still occasionally shined afterwards in TYL (IMO) and "The Misfits."
Interesting to note that Clift plays a Jewish character here (which he wasn't in real life) and this role could have been played by Jerry Lewis himself (who never ventured into dramatic roles, as far as I know, until the 1980's--beginning with "The King of Comedy.") But we all know how unthinkable it would have been to have Lewis playing Clift's part, since he was still considered a comedian and especially because of the recent break-up of the Martin/Lewis comedy act.
vindici - My displeasure was not limited to Clift's performance. I think the premise and story were too preachy and tried too hard to shove the message down our throats. Maybe it was timely when I came out, but I found it tiresome and even manipulative in my viewing.
This came recommended by my brother and I was looking forward to a thoughtful post-war, gloves off look at the effects of war on people from both sides of the conflict. Instead, I feel like I was shovel-fed a very biased sob story for why I should feel sorry for poor Noah, as a proxy for anti-semitism. It's a worthy topic, but it was, in my view, preachy and pedantic. I hated The Young Lions and really can't recommend it.
Well, the character himself was a bit carefree and irresponsible and seemed to be tailor-made for Dino. Probably James Garner would have been the only other ideal candidate for the part Martin played.
Note the irony--Martin and Brando, never seen together onscreen, had the same girlfriend and it's Martin's bullet that takes the life of enemy soldier Brando. Martin will never know he just killed his romantic rival!
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Well, Dino was 40 or 41 and Monty was 37-38. I'm sure there were older soldiers who served back then, and younger men that looked even older than Martin and Clift. Plus, Clift's recent auto accident was pretty devastating and it shows in his later work as it does here in TYL.
shareThe truth is that Clift purposely lost weight for the role and had a slight prosthetic on his nose and had his ears bent outwards slightly with makeup. This was not only an effort to make himself look more ethnic but also a bit geeky, as Noah in the book was a socially shy, awkward man. The character perceives himself and I believe is described as slightly awkward looking as well. Clift wanted that look for the part. Some people claimed this was the result of the accident. Not the case.
Martin did a great job. The part was originally slated for Tony Randell and was supposed to be more true to the book. In the book Michael Whitaker was a stage manager on Broadway, not a star/singer. Also, in the book, Michael is the main character with Noah and Christian being slightly less prominent. Michael is sort of the everyman with Noah as the unlikely looking man of honor (to an extreme fault) and courage. Noah's whole reason for fighting all those men in his company win or lose was a matter of honor. His later courage in the field is testament to that same honor, but also his compassion for his fellow soldiers. Christian on the other hand is the nice guy, who is slowly turned into an inhumane killing machine without a conscience. This is very different from the Brando portrayel in the film. In the book it was meant to show how even decent people could be turned through the inhumane tactics of a regieme like the Nazi's.
I agree that James Garner would have been a great choice for the role of Michael. He is an excellent actor. Imagine his first real film acting role was opposite Brando a year earlier in "Sayonara" and man he really held his own with the great Brando. As natural and simply truthful as can be. What a great talent he was and is. A very underrated actor in my book.
Dino is fine, but other people would have been better. Garner, Holden, Arthur Kennedy....these guys would have given Michael equal weight with Noah and Christian. Dino could not.
I'll say yes if trying to contrast a hard and mature thinking guy, like the Jewish one played by Clift, to one I found somewhat immature and without character played by Dean Martin. And he was an "expert" playing shallow, immature, characterless and dumb men. Look at him in "Robin and the Seven Hoods" with the rest of the "Rat Pack" of Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis, Jr.. He always played ridiculous and silly characters.
shareIf Martin's character had been removed from the film there would not have been much loss to the coherence of the story or the film.
Fatima had a fetish for a wiggle in her scootshare
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I don't know the answer Wild but I enjoyed the movie and thought all the performances were very good and Martin showed he could do a good job in a serious role.
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