Le bal des maudits

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.

More than a passing resemblance exists between Clift's Noah and the Robert E. Lee Prewitt of 'From Here to Eternity.' They are both "hard heads,' determined to live by their own special code of honor… The chief difference is that Noah is not alone… Throughout the film, he is accompanied by a friend, who has a number of reasons to be against the war… Also Noah gets the girl of his dreams… He even marries her…

'The Young Lions' retains its impact as one of the better films made about war... The combat scenes are limited in scale but brilliantly staged and photographed, with good direction of a complex script and a masterly musical score by Hugo Friedhofer…

Director Dmytryk never misses an opportunity to underline how war comes into collision with the destinies of people… When Brando encounters May Britt - as the wife of his superior officer, Maximilian Schell - she is the perfect image of Nazi vices: Corrupt, hedonistic, and, of course, condemned along with the rest of the decadent Germans… Her hazardous beauty is used as counterpoint to Brando's enthusiasm and beliefs: She represents all that is bad and immoral while he is everything noble and pure…

Dmytryk is less awkward depicting the relationship between Clift and Lange: Their Love is a natural condition… They belong together… Like Robert E. Lee Prewitt, Clift's Noah is ill-at-ease socially… When he meets Lange, his reaction is clear, spontaneous, purposeful, direct… He begins to babble a lot to make an impression on her, because, as he tells her later, "I was afraid that if I was myself you wouldn't look at me twice." But Hope was gracious enough to attend the guy… The young nice girl has at last found her favorite kind of hero…

Clift, who finds himself standing up for his rights and for principles he did not even know he had, pared his lines to the minimum needed to convey the essence of Noah Ackerman… The prison sequence is a clear and simple proof of it… The emotional urgency of the young couple is communicated through looks, small gestures, and soft and tender words of love and caring…

Nominated for Best Cinematography, Best music and Best Sound, Dmytryk's motion picture is a moving and eloquent statement of how war collides with the destinies of people and hurls them into a maelstrom

`The Young Lions' is the Second War II presented through the participation of three soldiers. Christian Diestl (Marlon Brando) is an idealistic German, son of a shoemaker. He joins the Army believing that life could improve in Germany under the administration of the Nazis. However, being a soldier, he cannot accept `acting like a police' in an occupied Paris and requests transference to the front, where he has another disappointment with the cruelty of the war. Noah Ackerman (Montgomery Clift) is a shy American Jew, a very simple man, just married with Hope Plowman (Hope Lange) and very discriminated in his platoon for being Jew. He goes to the war and leaves his family. Michael Whiteacre (Dean Martin) is a successful actor who became friend of Noah while in New York and is also obliged to join the army and go to London. There, he decides to leave the office activity and join his platoon in the front. This movie is excellent. It shows common people being used by government in a senseless war. All the main characters are peaceful common persons: Christian is a very simple person, wishing to climb socially in life in a Germany without opportunities and is misguided by the speech of Hitler and pretty soon he becomes aware how stupid war is. Noah is also a very simple person, a salesman from a department store, who indeed wishes to be with his family and join the Army just for obligation. And Michael is a selfish actor and bon vivant, without any sense of patriotism and who is not interest in anything but to have his life back. These characters are put together in a stupid war, having to kill persons to save their lives and to obey orders, which they do not agree. This movie is an excellent perspective of the stupidity of a war. My vote is eight.

The impact of love , war and death on young lives is the focus of this moving drama of War told from the American and German points of view . As a disilussionated Nazi officer , Marlon Brando , sensively considers the belief that Hitler would save Germany , but then things go wrong , as his concience troubles are disturbing him more and more until he can no longer shut his eyes to atrocities committed in the name of the Third Reich . Meanwhile Montgomery Clift enlists the Army and along with the brasher of the Americans , Dean Martin , make good friends throughout the violent war .

An atractive and spectacular warlike movie with outstanding interpretations , thrills , impressive battle scenes , emotion and various love stories . It displays a star-studded cast with the best actors by the time . Based on a famous bestseller written by Irwin Shaw with script by Edward Anhalt who along with Marlon Brando himself remoulded the central role of the young Nazi Christian . A realistic anti-war film with enjoyable message , thought-provoking issues , and showing the horror war . Marlon Brando is excellent as the disillusioned officer who comes to question his Nazi beliefs . Montgomery Clift and Dean Martin are superb as two disparate GIs made friends by a common cause , and the latter does his biggest work in his first dramatic character . They are well accompanied by an appropriate cast of beautiful women as Hope Lange , Barbara Rush, May Britt , Doris Doll , Parley Baer , among others . Adding special appearances from Lee Van Cleef , Edward Franz and special mention for the German Maximilian Schell as the ruthless officer whose wife becomes Christian's lover .

It packs an adequate and atmospheric cinematography in black and white by Joe McDonald . As well as a rousing and sensitive musical score by Hugo Friedhofer. The motion picture was professionally directed by Edward Dmytryck . He was a good craftsman who made a lot of films in all kinds of genres and of course he realized various warfare flicks , such as : "Hitler's Children" , "Back to Batan", "Mutiny", "The Caine Mutiny" , "Soldier of Fortune" , "Behind the Rising Sun" , "Anzio" and this "The Young Lions". Rating : 7/10 . Notable and essential and indispensable watching for WWII enthusiasts . Recommended for fans of the trío protagonists : Marlon Brando , Montgomery Clift , Dean Martin.

"The Young Lions" is a black & white 1958 WW2 drama featuring Marlon Brando, Dean Martin and Montgomery Clift.

The film attempts to show the German, American and French sides of the war. Brando stars as a young German officer who becomes increasingly disillusioned with Hitler's regime and the world war he started. Meanwhile Martin plays a worldly Broadway musician who struggles with cowardice whereas Montgomery Clift's character is a poor, naive Jewish American who falls in love with with a winsome lass (Hope Lange) and fights the anti-semitic guys in his platoon.

Marlon's performance illustrates why he's considered the greatest actor in cinema; he's just captivating. Most reviewers note that Brando's German storyline is more interesting than the two American story lines, which is true, but repeat viewings grant the viewer more appreciation for the latter.

There are three stunning women featured in the picture: Barbara Rush, May Britt and Liliane Montevecchi. Rush is Martin's marriage-minded gal, who flirts with Brando early on; Britt plays the luscious sexpot wife of Brando's captain (Maximilian Schell); and Montevecchi performs as a French girl who initially insults Brando's character (because he's a German invader).

It should be pointed out that "The Young Lions" is not a war action film, but rather a powerful war DRAMA. Yes, there's quite a bit of action (France, Northern Africa, etc.), but the emphasis is on the characters and their stories. The climax involves a horrified and utterly disillusioned Brando, leaving a strong impact.

FINAL WORD: If you're looking for a mindless action flick this is not the one to see. This perhaps explains some of the less-than-stellar reviews. Yet, make no mistake, "The Young Lions" is without a doubt a WAR film. It's also a masterpiece of cinematic art, not to mention one of Brando's most mesmerizing performances.

The film runs 2 hours, 47 minutes.

GRADE A-