O Felizardo

Glenn Ford renders his usual brand of under-played finesse in "Young Man With Ideas." Fortunately these roles offer a departure from earlier assignments for both he and his leading lady. With polished style Ford woos the audience to embrace Maxwell Webster, a shy "every-man" who longs to break free of a dismal law career in Montana. His wife Julie is delivered with verve by the competent Ruth Roman. Equipped with her trademark upturned collars Roman blossoms as an apt comedienne sidekick to Ford's straight man. Nina Foch perfectly balances this picture injecting some much needed sexual energy as Joyce Laramie a cool "blonde with a brain" law student. Standout supports include Denise Darcel playing Dorianne Gray, a broad lounge act (or a lounge act broad) singing "I Don't Know Why (I Just Do)." The beloved Mary Wickes pops in nearly tearing the scenery from it's hinges, as a kooky stage-mom neighbor she takes only her budding child-star Son as prisoner.

In what otherwise may have been a ho-hum movie given the ordinary A minus treatment, this dusty gem shines like a new penny under expert direction of Mitchell Leisen, a largely well-paced screenplay by Arthur Sheekman and a stalwart cast.

Sometimes a lackluster script or bad direction is impossible for a cast to overcome. In this case, it feels like the writing indeed lacks luster-perhaps because two writers are credited.

When the New York Times reviewed the film, on its release, the critic hailed the writing and direction, but called the cast "comparatively second-flight". By today's standards, Glenn Ford, Ruth Roman and Nina Foch are considered first-rate, and they do seem to have a handle on the story. But I still allege that the story itself is flawed.

Ford plays Maxwell Webster, a Montana attorney with a misguided wife (Ruth Roman), who pushes him to get ahead. She is the one with the ideas. Maxwell is always muttering apologies and trying to make people like him. It's a role better suited to Wally Cox. But Ford does his best.

And so does Nina Foch as a sexy candidate for the bar who inexplicably latches onto him like a leech. And so does Denise Darcel as an exotic bombshell who Maxwell tries to collect from when he joins a debt collection firm. Each of these actors is fun to watch individually, but when their characters are forced to interact in this ill-fitting comedy, the effect is annoying.

Leisen's best years were behind him when he made "young man" .First of all,Glenn Ford is no longer a young man (36) in 1952 and he is not really good at comedy.Ruth Roman isn't either but she manages quite well in the scene of the dinner with chic people.Except for this scene and the appearance of the horrible child showing off ,there are not many funny moments in "young man...",even in the would be original sequences in which Max plays both the convict and the lawyer .The screenplay is poor compared to those of the forties ("Remember the night" " Arise my love" ) and the cast (which includes also Nina Foch and French Denise Darcel who never made a movie in her native country ) cannot hold a candle to Leisen's former actors such as Claudette Colbert,Ray Milland ,Don Ameche ,etc

Young Man With Ideas has Glenn Ford as a young very junior attorney at a law firm in some small Montana town who's not the most forceful fellow around. With a wife and three kids, he can't afford to be. Wife Ruth Roman sees something more in him and convinces him to be more assertive. Ford decides to move the family to Los Angeles where he can work and study to pass the California bar.

The rest of the film is the trials and tribulations they have in Los Angeles, some comic, some serious. Ford shakes off some of his inhibitions, not always in constructive ways.

Glenn Ford is one of the easiest to take actors around and his films reflect that. He's got the art of underplaying down to a science. and Young Man With Ideas is a great example of that.

Look for good supporting performances here, especially from Nina Foch, as a fellow aspiring lawyer, Denise Darcel as a nightclub entertainer, Rith Roman as the wife and Sheldon Leonard as a bookie.

By the way Foch gets Ford a job in a collection agency she works for and some of the film's best moments are from the mild mannered Ford working there.

If you've ever had to take a state bar exam, you'll get a kick out of Young Man with Ideas. It depicts the trials and tribulations of young lawyer Max Webster (Glenn Ford), who moves with his wife Ruth Roman) and kids from Montana to California--the big time!--and now needs to pass the California bar exam. Certain people--you know who you are--will find this very relatable. The poor sap is taking bar-review courses during the day, studying at night, and working part time as a debt collector, all while trying to keep his family safe from some thugs (led by Sheldon Leonard) who think he's a bookie and to keep his wife from going nuts. Oh, and he also is fighting off his man-hungry classmate (the great Nina Foch) who wants to do more than just study with Max. And he's helping out a nightclub singer who's down on her luck (Denise Darcel, the Anna Nicole Smith of her day).

If that sounds awfully sitcom-y, you're right. In a lot of ways, it feels like a supersized episode of I Love Lucy. But the cast is excellent, and the craftsmanship is good. It's a fun 84 minutes if the subject matter interests you.