IMDb RATING
7.1/10
8.9K
YOUR RATING
The lives of three young men, a German and two Americans, during WWII.The lives of three young men, a German and two Americans, during WWII.The lives of three young men, a German and two Americans, during WWII.
- Nominated for 3 Oscars
- 1 win & 7 nominations total
John Alderson
- Cpl. Kraus
- (uncredited)
John Banner
- German Town Mayor
- (uncredited)
Stephen Bekassy
- German Major
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaDuring filming, Montgomery Clift called Marlon Brando a slob and commented that he was using only about one third of his talent.
- GoofsEarly in the movie, Marlon Brando's character is riding in some sort of staff car. The car is right-hand drive; the Germans did not use right-hand drive. However, the staff car is a French-made Laffly V15T, which is, indeed, right-hand drive and was used by the French Army in WWII. The vehicle was probably captured from the French Army.
- Quotes
Michael Whiteacre: Look, I've read all the books. I know that in 10 years we'll be bosom friends with the Germans and the Japanese. Then I'll be pretty annoyed that I was killed.
- ConnectionsFeatured in V.I.P.-Schaukel: Episode #8.2 (1978)
Featured review
A Tale of Four Soldiers
I've always liked The Young Lions because it has the best explanation for the phenomenon that was Nazism in Germany. Always the question is asked how did they come to power? At the beginning with Marlon Brando romancing vacationing Barbara Rush in Bavaria on New Year's Eve, he provides one of the most lucid explanations of why people would choose to follow Adolph Hitler. It is one of Brando's finest moments on screen.
At the time of course he didn't know he was romancing the main squeeze of Dean Martin who with Montgomery Clift play the two American soldiers who's stories and growth as human beings is told. Martin is a Broadway musical comedy entertainer and Clift is just a department store clerk at Macy's who meet by chance at the draft board. Martin is trying to dodge the draft, Clift is fatalistically accepting what comes. Martin proves to be a man of far more character than we first think. Clift is a Jew and a man who with enough reason to be going to war against Hitler, has to deal with anti-Semitism here in America.
Clift and Martin's stories are told alternately with that of Brando and also Maximilian Schell. This was Schell's first appearance in an American production and he scores well as a proud Nazi officer. Let us just say that he gets quite a comeuppance all around during the course of this war he was so proud to be part of.
The two male actors who are always cited as the rebel heroes of post World War II America are Marlon Brando and Montgomery Clift. Too bad in their one film together they didn't exchange any dialog. Still I can't praise a film like The Young Lions too highly.
At the time of course he didn't know he was romancing the main squeeze of Dean Martin who with Montgomery Clift play the two American soldiers who's stories and growth as human beings is told. Martin is a Broadway musical comedy entertainer and Clift is just a department store clerk at Macy's who meet by chance at the draft board. Martin is trying to dodge the draft, Clift is fatalistically accepting what comes. Martin proves to be a man of far more character than we first think. Clift is a Jew and a man who with enough reason to be going to war against Hitler, has to deal with anti-Semitism here in America.
Clift and Martin's stories are told alternately with that of Brando and also Maximilian Schell. This was Schell's first appearance in an American production and he scores well as a proud Nazi officer. Let us just say that he gets quite a comeuppance all around during the course of this war he was so proud to be part of.
The two male actors who are always cited as the rebel heroes of post World War II America are Marlon Brando and Montgomery Clift. Too bad in their one film together they didn't exchange any dialog. Still I can't praise a film like The Young Lions too highly.
helpful•7317
- bkoganbing
- May 9, 2005
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $3,550,000 (estimated)
- Runtime2 hours 47 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
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