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"The Young Philadelphians" begins on an odd note. A lady marries--only to have her new hubby say that he CAN'T consummate the marriage! I THINK this was implying he was a homosexual--but it was so vague you wonder if the man just didn't have a penis. All I know is that she stormed out--and later that night he killed himself. In the time between, she met with her old boyfriend (Brian Keith) and I THINK they implied they had sex. And, if we are to believe this odd build up, she became pregnant that night. The lady's brand-new mother-in-law wants to take the child and raise him herself--but the mother vows to do it without her dead husband's family's money. Years pass and the child is now a good looking college student (Paul Newman) who works for Keith (who you assume is his biological father). All this vagueness thanks to 1950s standards--which, in the case of this film, tended to weaken the narrative. I just wish they'd been a lot more explicit and this is by far the worst aspect of the film.

As for the rest of the film, it's very, very good. It's all about Newman and his rise as a lawyer in Philadelphia--and his dealings with the city's elite families. Much of the film simply chronicles his life events--his first love, his attending law school, military service and his rise through the ranks in the legal field. Despite this sounding rather pedestrian, it isn't--Newman did a great job and the script is very well written and with excellent dialog.

Later in the film, Newman has finally worked his way to being a very well-respected and successful lawyer. He has a chance to go into politics, marry a gorgeous women from the best of families and he has every reason to be happy. However, out of the blue, a new case comes along--one that could upset all of his plans. What's he to do? Overall, it's a film that is very, very good but with a small re-write it could have been a lot better. Either making the first portion tighter would have helped or simply eliminating this soap opera-like plot would have made the film stronger. But, looking past this, the film is still a very good and often overlooked Newman vehicle.

By the way, a few final points. My daughter saw this film with me and said that the small portion that takes place at the University of Pennsylvania looks like it was filmed at the school--as she recognized some of the buildings. Although IMDb doesn't say it was filmed there, it does say that the filmmakers did a good job making it look right. Also, to my knowledge, it's the only film I've ever seen about a tax attorney--and I'll have to tell my friend, Terri (a tax lawyer) about it! Finally, although I sometimes have disliked Billie Burke in films as she sometimes dominated the film too much with her ditsy act, here her bit part was fantastic--and used very effectively. I loved her in the film.

The Young Philadelphians is a curious mixture of Ross Hunter like soap opera together with a Tennessee Williams like hero and surprisingly enough it works most of the time.

Paul Newman is the hero whose very existence on the planet is a source of scandal. His mother Diane Brewster was disinherited by her husband's family when he killed himself on their wedding night. Newman's had to scrap for what's his in the world and isn't above using the bedroom to advance himself.

He's got a friend in Robert Vaughn who's also a black sheep in his Philadelphia Main Line family who gets himself in a jackpot when he's arrested for murdering his uncle. Newman, who's a tax lawyer, gets some on the job training in a criminal case, in defending Vaughn.

Like Katharine Hepburn in Suddenly Last Summer, characters like John Williams, Robert Douglas, and Frank Conroy seem above all to want to protect the family name. Hepburn was willing enough to have a lobotomy performed on Elizabeth Taylor and this crew seems ready willing and eager to send Vaughn to prison or the electric chair for the same reasons. Straight out of Tennessee Williams.

Newman shows some of the flash in his courtroom scenes, especially in his examination of Richard Deacon that he later showed in his Oscar nominated The Verdict which is my personal Paul Newman favorite. He trips Deacon the witness up with a piece of legal wizardry worthy of Perry Mason.

In the prologue of the film when the death of Adam West is shown on his wedding night to Diane Brewster the film is very discreet as to his reasons for doing what he did. It's explained this was a marriage arranged by his mother for the purpose of carrying on the family name even if it meant wedding a girl not from their crowd. He explains he has no interest in his wife and promptly goes out and dies in a speeding car crash. Today it would be far more explicit to say that maybe Adam West's character was gay. But we had the code in place back then and gay was invisible.

Robert Vaughn got an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor and his harrowing scenes with Newman in the drunk tank got him that. He lost to Hugh Griffith for Ben-Hur, but it was the first real notice he got and the start of a long career. Look for good performances by Alexis Smith as the older woman Newman woos, Billie Burke as the daffy dowager, and Barbara Rush whose on and off relationship with Newman guides most of the film.

The Young Philadelphians is kind of old fashioned today, somewhat dated, but still is good entertainment and recommended here.

This unbelievable (but no less enjoyable) legal soap opera comes complete with dark family secrets, coincidental encounters, tragic misunderstandings, and a courtroom finish Hitchcock might have loved, in which the fate of a man perhaps wrongly charged with murder waits to be decided by a butler's sense of smell. Paul Newman stars as a young lawyer rising through Philadelphia society using his wits, his charm, and a few unscrupulous tactics never taught in law school, and Barbara Rush is the hot-and-cold love interest. But Robert Vaughn steals the film playing an unfortunate friend who, in less than two hours of screen time, descends from an amiable barfly to a crippled war veteran to a skid row derelict facing the electric chair.

It has commonly been said that full-fledged soap opera can never be a real work of art, but this excellent film proves to be a glorious exception to that rule. Director Vincent Sherman's luminous film adaptation of author Richard Powell's best-seller THE PHILADELPHIANS manages to tell the story of at least two generations in a single picture without ever feeling cramped, forced, or haphazard. The film's story line that begins as a romance, evolves into an underdog business story, and ends as a courtroom drama, and Sherman impressively manages to take all of these various story threads and create a completely coherent motion picture that never feels disjointed or episodic. Sherman also keeps things movie at a remarkably brisk pace – the film never feels even half as long as it's 136-minute runtime.

The entire cast turns in superlative work, with Newman being particular well-suited to his role as a good-natured-but-flawed lawyer (he would return to this type of role with even better results in the 1982 classic THE VERDICT). Barbara Rush, Brian Keith, Dianne Brewster, Billie Burke, and Robert Vaughn are all excellent, and Alexis Smith is particularly memorable as sexy socialite. Speaking of sex, the film retains a surprisingly sensual aura throughout, which helps to keep it from aging for modern audiences. Inexplicably forgotten by many classic film fans, THE YOUNG PHILADELPHIANS is a moving, compelling motion picture that holds up remarkably well nearly fifty years after it's original release.

Vincent Sherman directed this long but interesting drama that stars Paul Newman as Anthony Judson Lawrence, an ambitious young man in Philadelphia society who rises from construction foreman to law school student with a good offer of employment that is interrupted by the Korean War, which sees Tony distinguish himself even more. After his discharge, he resumes his successful career, finding love along the way. There is a sad development when old friend(and fellow war veteran) 'Chet'(played by Robert Vaughn) has fallen on hard times, now an alcoholic accused of murder, and wanting Anthony to defend him, despite his inexperience... Despite the potential simple soap opera story, this is a well acted and written film that is surprisingly interesting. Glossy but entertaining.

The Young Philadelpians which was made in 1959 is tame by today's standards; out-dated for sure. Yet, when it was made it was not only controversial, but very daring for it's time; dealing with homosexuality, child-birth out of wed-lock, mental illness, adultery, suicide and alcohol abuse.

Paul Newman was out-standing in the role of Anthony Judson Lawrence, a career driven lawyer, whose mother is hiding a deep dark secret. Newman is at his physical prime; handsome and lean. Everyone in this classic black and white soap opera was great. Just a really entertaining rainy night movie.

The Young Philadelphians had all the ingredients to become the most horrid American melodrama, in the worst 1950's style. Instead, it was cooked up to be one of the fine 1950's movies.

William Lawrence III (Adam West) was not, indeed could not be, the father of young Tony (Paul Newman). After William kills himself in a horrible car crash (suicide?), his Mother wants Kate (Diane Brewster) to give up the family name for her and her baby boy. Because she could reveal the reason for this horrid condition (Gasp! Is it possible that the marriage was not consummated because William the third could only "do it" with boys?), Kate secures the Lawrence name, if not the Lawrence money, to give Anthony a chance in Philadelphia society. Can you see the most awful melodrama developing?

Well, it turns out that further developments provide us with a balanced mix of humor, cynicism, drama, real emotions. This movie shows first rate acting and directing, and superb black and white photography. It gives us a glimpse of what appeared to be a pretty gruesome society scene. Apart from the unlikely happy end (I'm not giving too much away by saying this about an American movie of the 1950's), this is an interesting incursion in the period, with a healthy dose of social realism. As a bonus, we get to see Paul Newman out of his shirt in a steamy scene with a frustrated woman married with Newman's much older boss, a delightful Billy Burke in one of her last screen appearances, a tortured Adam West trying to deal with... (Oh! no, I can't say it), and a whole cast of believable, if not overly subtle, characters. We even get a bit of courtroom drama, à la Perry Mason.

This is an excellent way to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon...

Set in Philadelphia society in the 1940s/1950s. The two leads- Newman and Rush are excellent, but it is Vaughan as Newman's alcoholic buddy who gives the best performance- he was nominated for an Oscar. Billie Burke as the rich, eccentric little old lady is a delight. Alexis Smith as the attractive frustrated wife married to Newman's elderly boss gives a great performance. Several of the other supporting players- Keith, Picerni, John Williams as Rush's father, and Krueger as Newman's boss are excellent. I own the video and have watched the movie numerous times.

"The Young Philadelphians" is like an entire thirty-year soap opera crammed into one two-hour movie.

Paul Newman had my wife salivating as a young hotshot attorney who learns to balance his ambition with his morals. She couldn't decide if he was hotter as a sweaty construction worker in an early scene or as a dapper man about town in a tux later in the film. I think she would have thought he was hot if he had appeared wrapped in newspaper. But if fetching females are more your thing, no worries, as Barbara Rush is incredibly appealing as his love interest. They have sizzling chemistry in their first scenes together, which makes it a bit of a disappointment when Rush falls out of the film for long periods of time, and their contentious relationship is one of the movie's more tiresome story lines.

Robert Vaughn received a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award nomination for playing Newman's dissolute friend who he ends up defending in a murder trial. Vaughn gets to play most of his scenes as an unshaven raving alcoholic, so no wonder he was nominated for an Oscar. The best actual performance in the movie, or at least the most memorable one, probably comes from Billie Burke in a small role as a goofy society lady who deftly steals the movie right out from under everybody just by making smoochy faces at her dog.

This is an entertaining yarn of a movie, but don't expect to be too intellectually taxed.

"The Young Philadelphians" was also nominated for Best Black & White Cinematography and Costume Design, back when it was common to nominate costume designers for creating attractive evening wear in contemporary movies.

Grade: B+

Absolutely agree about the high quality of Oscar-nominee Robert Vaughn's performance. It must be his finest movie moment. And Barbara Rush does herself proud, too. Film's reality holds up even 40 years later; one of the era's more credible dramatizations.

We begin with a prologue. In 1924, poor lower-class Diane Brewster (as Kate Judson) marries wealthy upper-crust Adam West (as William "Bill" Lawrence). On their honeymoon, he says, "I can't love you, Kate, I can't love anyone!" Apparently, he can't have sex. She goes crying to working class Brian Keith (as Michael "Mike" Flanagan), who she previously rejected as too poor, and becomes impregnated by him, instead. Though Mr. Keith wants to marry widow Brewster, she wants her son to grow up with the advantages of the "Lawrence" name. It doesn't make a lot of sense, but that's the back-story...

Jumping to the present, we find Princeton class of 1947 student Paul Newman (as Anthony "Tony" Lawrence) working for Keith's construction company, while studying to become a lawyer. One of Mr. Newman's co-workers has fender-bender with beautiful Barbara Rush (as Joan Dickinson). Newman sides with Ms. Rush, probably because she is prettier than "big ape" Leonard Bremen, and they fall in love. However, Rush's upper-crust father John Williams (as Gilbert Dickinson) doesn't approve of lower-class Newman. Yes, this is a soap opera, revolving around the protagonist's climb to the top...

Watch for Newman's alcoholic roommate and best friend Robert Vaughn (as Chester "Chet" Gwynn) to steal the movie. Taking center stage for the film's last, and most engaging, story, Mr. Vaughn received "Best Supporting Actor" consideration for his performance. The delightful Billie Burke entertains as a millionaire avoiding taxes, attractive Alexis Smith offers Rush some competition, and Richard Deacon makes a strong impression as a booze-sniffing butler. This probably should have been titled "The Young Philadelphian" (singular) as it is mainly about the character played by Paul Newman.

******* The Young Philadelphians (5/21/59) Vincent Sherman ~ Paul Newman, Barbara Rush, Robert Vaughn, Richard Deacon

... by not marrying his father in the first place. Let me explain.

Kate Judson (Diane Brewster) marries socialite Bill Lawrence (Adam West... yes THAT Adam West). Kate marries him because her mother wants the marriage into high society. But apparently, Bill is gay. The film comes as close to saying that as you could in 1959. He runs out of the honeymoon suite. Kate runs to the man she really loves, construction company owner Mike Flanagan (Brian Keith). When she returns home later that night she learns Bill has died in an accident. Nine months later a son is born. But the mother in law has PIs all over the place and tells Kate she knows this is not her grandson and offers to pay her off as long as she and the baby relinquish the Lawrence name. Kate refuses, because the Lawrence name will open doors for her son some day. She also refuses to marry the father whom she loves, because "people will talk" and possibly figure out his real parentage.

So the son grows up to be Paul Newman, Mike Flanagan overpays him to work at his flourishing construction business, and as he grows into manhood he is now rubbing elbows with some of the most insufferable snobs ever committed to celluloid. They lie. They cheat. They steal. They mess with him professionally and romantically. He tries to keep his honor, but they don't make it easy for him.

If Kate had married Mike in the beginning she would have had all of the money she ever needed because Mike was very successful, avoided both her and her son's suffering, and yes, those snobs would have had nothing to do with her family, but after watching this film that seems like a plus.

Billie Burke as a widow worth a billion dollars in today's money is hilarious. She ventures out on Christmas just to make sure her dog is mentioned in her will. Robert Vaughn is a standout as a blue blood friend of Newman's character who drinks heavily to deal with the hypocrisy of his relatives.

The Young Philadelphians (1959) : Brief Review -

Two major foolish conflicts in the script, yet the masterclass by Paul Newman and Vincent Sherman carries the film on its own. The Young Philadelphians is one of the best directorial works of Vincent Sherman, I'd say, despite two major flaws in the script. Mostly known for his engrossing dramas, Sherman must be aware of those foolish conflicts in the script, yet he decided to go ahead. He knew what he was doing. He knew he couldn't score well there, so he scored on other aspects. Human drama, ambitions, relationship issues, dignity, and morality-these are the points he played with, and so smartly. The film starts off with Kate marrying a rich man, who, on their wedding night, tells her that he can't love her. She runs off to her boyfriend, and obviously they have sex, unseen to us. She returns home to find out about her husband's death, and the next month she learns about her pregnancy from her boyfriend. She keeps the name of her husband and declines wealth, and the boyfriend stays unmarried. For what? The hell, don't ask me. That's one of those two foolish conflicts. The second one concerns her son, who grows up to be an honest young man. He falls in love with the rich girl, but their marriage is tainted by her father. She goes off to marry somebody else, and this young man learns a lesson of a lifetime. Guess what? After a year or two, these two get back together. The hell, don't ask again. I don't know how Sherman tolerated such stupid writing pieces at that time, and thank God, I had other good things in the movie to watch; otherwise, I would have shut it down halfway. By the time you reach the climax, you find this one a good one-time watch, with a solid performance by Paul Newman and flawless direction by Sherman. But the script, I believe, should have been better. It is still hurting me. Why those reconciliations when Hollywood had been through so many intellectual classics by the late 50s? Nonetheless, a fine watch, but conditions apply*

RATING - 6.5/10*

By - #samthebestest.

Building a Hollywood resume as outstanding as he did, actor Paul Newman selected roles which in one way or another tapped his enormous talent. This movie is a prime example of that legendary persona. The Film is called " The Young Philadelphians " and is the story of Anthony Judson Lawrence (Paul Newman) who is born into an upper social class family. Although raised as an up and coming Laurence, his mother Kate (Diane Brewster) and father (Brian Keith) keep from him a dark family secret which involved his biological father (Adam West). Having graduated from a prestigious Ivy league school, believes he can contribute to his family name. However ambitious he is, there are several outside influences which seek to bar his success. There is a young lady (Joan Dickinson) whom he wishes to marry, but who's father (John Williams) is against it. Then there are the In-laws who believe Lawrence's mother is a disgrace by fathering an illegitimate child. In addition, there are faltering friends like Chester Gwynn (Robert Vaughn) who calls on him when charged with murder. Then there are influential millionaire friends like Mrs. J. Arthur Allen (Billie Burke) who is impressed with Lawrence's ability to succeed when put in real jeopardy. This happens when he is chosen as defense counsel for his friend Chester in a real life drama which endangers his family, his friends and himself if he should fail. All in all, this is one film not to be missed by fans of Paul Newman. The end result is another milestone and a definite Classic for his career. ****

At a Main Line club party, Princeton law student Tony Lawrence (Paul Newman) is introduced to Dr. Shippen Stearnes (Frank Conroy). "World-famous geneticist, Dr. Ship," is the way his hard-drinking great-nephew Chet (Robert Vaughan) describes him, adding "He's a very big expert on heredity versus environment. He's still trying to find out if guinea pigs are born that way or if they have to learn it." Later, a second stuffy Stearnes uncle (Robert Douglas) says of Tony, "Interesting heredity there."

Not the way he means it. Everyone believes Tony has the blue blood of William Lawrence III in his veins, but he is the illegitimate son of Kate Judson Lawrence (Diane Brewster) who spent her wedding night with blue-color Mike Flanagan (Brian Keith) because Bill (Adam West) couldn't or wouldn't perform. In fact, he drove off and was promptly killed in an auto accident, probably a suicide. But Kate kept the Lawrence name because social status mattered to her as much as it did to her momentary mother-in-law, Mrs. DeWitt Lawrence (Isobel Elsom), who forced Bill to marry in the first place because she wants a grandchild.

I was expecting the story to keep that eugenics theme going, revealing how Tony's humble DNA was not a handicap, while aristocratic Chet crawled into a bottle. But, although Tony's career is helped because he's believed to be elite, little is made of genetics until a strong scene toward the end when Flanagan tells Tony the truth. Instead, the movie becomes an above-average boy-meets-girl, -loses-girl, -gets-girl-back story, with Barbara Rush as the girl, Joan, the astute daughter of yet another society attorney, Gilbert Dickinson (John Williams).

The bulk of the movie happens in the boy-lost-girl years, and it clips right along with help from a cast that includes Anthony Eisley as the Other Man for Joan, Alexis Smith as equivalent for Newman, Otto Kruger as her elderly husband, and Billie Burke using her ditzy demeanor and a chihuahua to obscure the savvy and greedy businesswomen she is.

The only disappointment is the contrived boy-loses-girl stuff. When Joan dumps Tony, it's because of a misunderstanding which could have been cleared up with a five-minute conversation. But the twists and turns, good and bad, of Tony's rise to becoming a respected lawyer are believable and engaging, and the final sequence is a crackerjack murder trial, with Newman doing sterling work as a fish-out-of-water tax specialist trying to defend his old friend, Chet.

All in all, another solid movie directed by Vincent Sherman (what a life he had!), based on a Richard Pitt Powell novel, and scripted by blacklisted Dalton Trumbo with Ben L. Perry as his front.

Topnotch Hollywood professionalism characterizes this melodrama, with a fine cast, screenplay (James Gunn) and director (Vincent Sherman), a duo responsible for the excellent "Affair In Trinidad" (1952)). Leads, Paul Newman and Barbara Rush, are cast in the 1950s roles that made them famous, hard-nosed ambitious young man on the way up and paragon of bourgeois virtue with an undercurrent of passion simmering beneath the surface. Robert Vaughn was Oscar-nominated by being cast against type an a helpless, sniveling alcoholic. The twists and turns of the plot and astonishing revelations, which climax in the courtroom, maintain interest for the full 136 minutes.

The Young Philadelphians from 1959 stars Paul Newman, BarbaraRush, Alexis Smith, Brian Keith, and Robert Vaughn.

Someone posted that the beginning is a mess. Well, it's the story of a young man, Tony Lawrence (Newman) before he was even conceived, and it gives the background.

A socially-conscious woman, Kate Judson (Diana Brewster) married a man, Bill Lawrence, from a mainline family instead of a lower class individual, Mike Flanagan. On the wedding night, Lawrence confesses he "can't" love her or anyone and leaves, later killing himself. I guess that is 1950s for being gay.

Kate goes running to Mike - nice to have options - and has his baby nine months later. She keeps the name Lawrence, though the family disowns her. Mike knows the child is his, and keeps an eye on him as he grows up. Ultimately he works for Mike's construction company as he works toward being an attorney.

On the job, due to car trouble, he meets the beautiful Joan Dickinson. They fall in love, but on the night of their elopement, her attorney father (John Williams) manipulates his daughter into breaking up with Tony. She at least could have talked with Tony but she doesn't and winds up with someone else.

From then on, Tony is bitter and feels like he needs to smarten up to deal with these mainline types.

The film takes us through his career as he climbs the ladder of great success and ends with a courtroom drama when he defends his friend (Robert Vaughn) against a murder charge.

Very absorbing and entertaining with a great performance by young Newman. Barbara Rush is radiantly beautiful as Joan. The showy role, of course, is Robert Vaughn, who received an Oscar nomination for his role as Chester, an alcoholic who loses his arm in Korea and is cheated out of money by his family.

The other showy role is s delightful performance by Billie Burke, a wealthy woman who changes law firms after meeting Tony.

A soapy movie about class, mainline Philly, scheming, and money, well directed by Vincent Sherman.

Rising young lawyer faces ethical and moral issues as he tries to defend a college buddy charged with murder. The movie wanders on too long, feeling like a season's worth of a soap opera condensed into a feature film. As soap opera, it's neither very absorbing nor deliciously trashy, but instead occupies the ho-hum middle ground. Newman is by turns earnest, ambitious, bitter, greedy, and noble. He heads a large cast featuring familiar faces, but the acting is uneven. With its episodic construction, the climactic courtroom scene is rather poorly executed and seems more like something that has been tacked on instead of something that the film builds towards.

2/3 of this movie is very good. Nothing profound but enjoyable in much the same way as the also-Newman starring "From The Terrace". Especially enjoyable is the always enjoyable Billie Burke (if you haven't seen it, catch the marvelous "The Young In Heart"). Then...it devolves into a pedestrian court room drama. The ending is never in doubt and just getting there is a slow slog. This is no slight on Richard Deacon, who does well with his role as a fussy butler. There just isn't enough interest in what happens. The key plot point on whether Newman will do something to endanger his career is just diluted to the point of indifference. The movie simply needed a better ending. Otherwise, there's nothing offensive here and nothing to tax the brain. Amongst the cast, John Williams stands out in my eyes. Robert Vaughn got the Oscar nomination for one chew-the-scenery scene that left me unmoved. So, I'd skip this one and stick with "Terrace"