Young Man with a Horn (1950)

Director: Michael Curtiz

Writers: Carl Foreman, Edmund H. North, Dorothy Baker

Starring: Kirk Douglas, Lauren Bacall, Doris Day, Hoagy Carmichael, Juano Hernandez, Jerome Cowan, Mary Beth Hughes, Nestor Paiva, Orley Lindgren, Walter Reed, Frank Cady, Keye Luke

More info: IMDb

Tagline: A White-Hot Drama about a Red-Hot Jazzman!

Plot: A young trumpeter enjoys highs (musical success, fame, and fortune) and lows (sour marriage, death of his mentor, bout with alcoholism).

My rating: 7.5/10

Will I watch it again?  Probably.

I've seen this a few times over the last 40+ years, for as long as I've been playing the trumpet.  Douglas does well in the role but he fails as a fake musician.  If you're not familiar with the horn then you won't see all of the little things he doesn't get right but getting it right isn't likely possible considering how there are bigger things to worry about.  He does as good as you'd expect for a big time Hollywood actor.  Now, as the story goes, it hits the beats from a rags to riches to rags story.  I recall hearing all those years ago that this was inspired by Bix Beiderbecke who had his promising horn career throughout the 20s cut far too short.  Harry James is the cat you hear playing the horn when Rick (Douglas) is on it.  Aside from Douglas not owning looking like a musician, the only issue I take with the film is how little of a transition Rick has going from an enthusiastic and nice guy to being a dick.  It bugs me when movies skip over this part of a character's arc.  I guess we're supposed to buy it without questioning it.  The Warner Bros. DVD looks great.  The only extra is the trailer.