Young Man with Ideas

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.

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.

It was the early 1950s, when a lot of young couples were moving to California in what has since been called "The Great Migration." It seemed to be a land of opportunity.

Glenn Ford is a young attorney who's doing fairly well at a Montana law firm, but who's clearly propping up some of the partners. His wife (Ruth Roman) sees his talents going to waste, and at dinner one night, having had a few drinks, she tells off her husband's bosses. All is more or less forgiven, but then she urges him to assert himself, one thing leads to another, and they decide to try L. A.

Arriving in California, they find that the home they had wired ahead to rent is unavailable. They end up in a rather seedy bungalow court, with a lot of telephones, because it's a former bookie joint. This figures in a whole series of misunderstandings, that should be funny (and occasionally, dangerous). And gets the couple involved with gangsters.

Meanwhile Glenn has been cramming for the California bar, along with law student Nina Foch, who gets him a job in the collection agency where she works to support herself. Glenn is not exactly the type to go after deadbeats. He even ends up helping out an aspiring French singer played by Denise Darcel. So now he has three attractive women in his life.

Lovely Ruth Roman is fine, in a change-of-pace comedy role, but Jean Arthur she's not. Darcel is cute and sexy, Foch is charming and attractive, and gives possibly the best performance in the movie. Ford is a good actor who sometimes overdid the shambling-mumbling-bashful routine, as he does here.

The final scenes give Glenn's character, Max, a chance to show off his legal skills in a courtroom, and it all ends happily.

Unfortunately, film is slightly contrived. I found myself wishing it had been simpler. Focusing more on how a young married couple adjusts to a new life in Southern California. In a more realistic manner.

Glenn Ford is a "Young Man with Ideas" in this 1952 comedy directed by Mitchell Leisen and also starring Ruth Roman, Nina Foch, and Denise Darcel.

Ford is attorney Max Webster, living in Montana. He does the grunt work for the law office where he works -- research, writes summaries, etc., all things that the partners take credit for. His wife Julie (Roman) pushes him to ask for a partnership. He is rejected, so he quits, and the family moves to Los Angeles. There he crams for the bar with an attractive fellow student (Foch), who also gets him a job at a collection agency, something he is ill-suited for. Not only can't he collect, but he ends up paying part of a singer's (Darcel) bill.

But the Websters have much bigger problems than Max's failure at the collection agency. Their house was a gambling joint for bookies, and people keep calling and placing bets. Though they keep telling the callers that "Mike" has moved away and they have the wrong number, one day, Julie, in disgust, takes a $10 bet for Kimo, who comes in at 80 to 1. The caller on the other end wants his money.

Amusing comedy that could have been uproarious, but Leisen, who did such great work in the '40s, was a fallen star by then. Glenn Ford was always a very charming and attractive actor, and while his comedy talent was limited, he still manages to be likable. Still, we have two stars who usually do dramatic roles -- three really, if you count Foch -- in a comedy. They probably had to make the film to fulfill their contracts.

Cute but ultimately disappointing. The story had some fun things in it, including Glenn Ford trying to sing "Mother," and Mary Wickes having her son show off his acting expressions. It wouldn't have taken much to make this much better. but it needed a Leo McCarey or a Howard Hawks in the director's chair.

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.