The Young Lions (1958)
While The Young Lions is split up into three seemingly unrelated character stories, it’s easy to forget about two-thirds of the movie. Marlon Brando’s portrayal of a Nazi officer is so memorable, how can we be expected to make room for Montgomery Clift and Dean Martin?
Had this movie been early on in his career, and if the opening credits were saved for the end, I doubt if anyone would have recognized Marlon Brando. In addition to famously bleaching his locks to look more German, makeup artist Ben Nye built up his cheekbones and contoured his jaw, giving him an entirely different face shape and type. His posture was ramrod straight and his mannerisms precise. As he often did when portraying another culture, Brando immersed himself in a completely different mindset. As Flora Lewis said, learning a foreign language is about “learning another way to think about things”, not just new words. You can tell based on the way Brando pauses to choose the right word, or the way he avoids eye contact when talking about his feelings, he’s no longer thinking like an American. Plus, his accent and cadence are flawless, making me ask every time I see a movie with a less capable actor attempting a German accent, “Why didn’t they just get Marlon Brando?”
I’ll pause my rave review momentarily to discuss the plot. Obviously it’s a WWII movie, and it shows how three men’s different lives are changed by the war. Marlon works in a shoe store, and during the winter season he gives ski lessons to tourists. He believes Hitler’s promises to create a better Germany and he gladly drinks the Kool-Aid. Dean Martin is an American playboy completely unconcerned with the war, until he gets drafted. Montgomery Clift is a Jewish-American shopkeeper who pursues a romance with Hope Lange and faces bullying and disapproval because of their different religions.
Had this movie been early on in his career, and if the opening credits were saved for the end, I doubt if anyone would have recognized Marlon Brando. In addition to famously bleaching his locks to look more German, makeup artist Ben Nye built up his cheekbones and contoured his jaw, giving him an entirely different face shape and type. His posture was ramrod straight and his mannerisms precise. As he often did when portraying another culture, Brando immersed himself in a completely different mindset. As Flora Lewis said, learning a foreign language is about “learning another way to think about things”, not just new words. You can tell based on the way Brando pauses to choose the right word, or the way he avoids eye contact when talking about his feelings, he’s no longer thinking like an American. Plus, his accent and cadence are flawless, making me ask every time I see a movie with a less capable actor attempting a German accent, “Why didn’t they just get Marlon Brando?”
I’ll pause my rave review momentarily to discuss the plot. Obviously it’s a WWII movie, and it shows how three men’s different lives are changed by the war. Marlon works in a shoe store, and during the winter season he gives ski lessons to tourists. He believes Hitler’s promises to create a better Germany and he gladly drinks the Kool-Aid. Dean Martin is an American playboy completely unconcerned with the war, until he gets drafted. Montgomery Clift is a Jewish-American shopkeeper who pursues a romance with Hope Lange and faces bullying and disapproval because of their different religions.
Poor Montgomery Clift never should have taken the role. To make him look “sufficiently Jewish”, the Ben Nye gave him bushy eyebrows, a prosthetic nose, and large ears. Insulting, yes, but also insensitive to Monty’s personal tragedy. For a man extremely self-conscious about losing his looks in an accident, he never should have appeared on camera in an “uglied-up” disguise. I can only imagine how disturbing he found his image when he watched the dailies and the premiere.
In this lengthy, heavy drama, you’ll also see Barbara Rush, May Britt, and Lee Van Cleef. Maximilien Schell showed his face to American audiences for the first time in this drama. He hadn’t learned English yet, so Marlon Brando helped his practice his lines phonetically. They must have practiced a lot, because I couldn’t tell he was struggling. All in all, The Young Lions isn’t a movie I’ll want to watch over and over again. I appreciate Marlon Brando’s wonderful performance (and he’s very handsome, too!), but it’s a pretty bleak, upsetting drama. There’s violence, hopelessness, and a lack of unity. It’s every man for himself, which is true to life, but not exactly inspiring.
Want to watch it? Click here to see it on ok.ru and thanks "Juhi Thaker" for posting!
More Marlon Brando movies here!
In this lengthy, heavy drama, you’ll also see Barbara Rush, May Britt, and Lee Van Cleef. Maximilien Schell showed his face to American audiences for the first time in this drama. He hadn’t learned English yet, so Marlon Brando helped his practice his lines phonetically. They must have practiced a lot, because I couldn’t tell he was struggling. All in all, The Young Lions isn’t a movie I’ll want to watch over and over again. I appreciate Marlon Brando’s wonderful performance (and he’s very handsome, too!), but it’s a pretty bleak, upsetting drama. There’s violence, hopelessness, and a lack of unity. It’s every man for himself, which is true to life, but not exactly inspiring.
Want to watch it? Click here to see it on ok.ru and thanks "Juhi Thaker" for posting!
More Marlon Brando movies here!