YOUNG MAN WITH A HORN (1950)

Young Man with a Horn (1950). Drama. Based on a biographical novel of the same name about the life of Bix Beiderbecke. Cast: Doris Day, Kirk Douglas, and Lauren Bacall.

Musician Smoke Willoughby thinks back to when he first meet his friend legendary trumpet player Rick Martin. After his mother dies , Rick moves in with his sister in California. Rick sees a trumpet in a pawn shop window and gets a job in a bowling alley to pay for it. Next to the bowling alley is a Jazz club, where Rick hears jazz for the first time. He quickly makes friends with the trumpet player Art Hazzard, who teaches his young friend how to play the trumpet. As Rick gets older, he finds odd jobs playing for carnivals and dance marathons. Rick decides to follow Art to New York and gets a job playing trumpet for big band leader Jack Chandler where he meets Smoke and singer Jo. Chandler insists that Rick play the music exactly as written. Chandler fires Rick after he plays a jazzy number. Despite Jo's efforts, Rick refuses to go back when Chandler offers to rehire him. Rick learns that his friend Art has been sick and he returns to New York. Jo gets him a job with another orchestra. Some evenings Rick goes over to help out Art at Louis Galba's nightclub. Jo brings her friend Amy to hear Rick play. Amy, who is studying to be a psychiatrist, blames her father for her mother's death and believes that she is not capable of love. They fall in love and are married, soon after Rick and Amy start to have problems because of his dedication to music. Will Rick be torn away from playing the trumpet to save his marriage?

For anyone who loves jazz, this is a wonderful movie. The soundtrack to this movie is awesome.(trumpet played by Harry James). Kirk Douglas is perfect for Rick's character. Lauren Bacall performance as a manipulative heiress was perfect.


Soundtracks:
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"In the Sweet By and By"
(uncredited)
Music by J.P. Webster (1868)
Lyrics by S. Fillmore Bennett
Sung by chorus

"Moanin' Low"
(uncredited)
Music by Ralph Rainger (1929)
Lyrics by Howard Dietz
Performed by Juano Hernandez (dubbed by Jimmy Zito)
Used instrumentally in score throughout film

"Shadow Waltz"
(uncredited)
Music by Harry Warren
Lyrics by Al Dubin
Introduced in Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933)
Part played by Kirk Douglas (dubbed by Harry James)

"Chinatown, My Chinatown"
(uncredited)
Music by Jean Schwartz (1910)
Lyrics by William Jerome
Used instrumentally

"The Very Thought of You"
(uncredited)
Written by Ray Noble (1934)
Sung by Doris Day with Harry James on trumpet

"Baby Face"
(uncredited)
Music by Harry Akst (1926)
Lyrics by Benny Davis
Part played by Kirk Douglas (dubbed by Harry James)

"Get Happy"
(uncredited)
Music by Harold Arlen (1930)
Lyrics by Ted Koehler
Jazz version played by Hoagy Carmichael, Harry James and others

"Sweet Georgia Brown"
(uncredited)
Music by Maceo Pinkard
Lyrics by Kenneth Casey (1930)
Excerpt played by Hoagy Carmichael, Harry James

"Lovin' Sam (The Sheik of Alabam)"
(uncredited)
Music by Milton Ager (1922)
Lyrics by Jack Yellen
Sung by Hoagy Carmichael and Kirk Douglas

"Silent Night, Holy Night"
(uncredited)
Music by Franz Gruber (1818)
Lyrics by Joseph Mohr
Played by Kirk Douglas (dubbed by Harry James)

"Ain't She Sweet"
(uncredited)
Music by Milton Ager (1927)
Lyrics by Jack Yellen
Part played by Kirk Douglas (dubbed by Harry James)

"Too Marvelous for Words"
(uncredited)
Music by Richard A. Whiting (1937)
Lyrics by Johnny Mercer
Sung by Doris Day

"The Blue Room"
(uncredited)
Music by Richard Rodgers (1926)
Lyrics by Lorenz Hart
Played by Kirk Douglas (dubbed by Harry James)

"Can't We Be Friends?"
(uncredited)
Music by Kay Swift (1929)
Lyrics by Paul James (aka James Warburg)
Played by Kirk Douglas (dubbed by Harry James)

"I Only Have Eyes for You"
(uncredited)
Music by Harry Warren
Lyrics by Al Dubin
Introduced in Dames (1934)
Performed in part by "Phil Morrison Orchestra"

"Tea for Two"
(uncredited)
Music by Vincent Youmans (1925)
Lyrics by Irving Caesar
Part played by Kirk Douglas (dubbed by Harry James)

"The Man I Love"
(uncredited)
Music by George Gershwin (1928)
Lyrics by Ira Gershwin
Part played by Kirk Douglas (dubbed by Harry James)

"I May Be Wrong (but I Think You're Wonderful)"
(uncredited)
Music by Henry Sullivan (1929)
Lyrics by Harry Ruskin
Sung by Doris Day

"What Is This Thing Called Love?"
(uncredited)
Written by Cole Porter (1930)
Played in part by uncredited band

"'S Wonderful"
(uncredited)
Music by George Gershwin (1927)
Lyrics by Ira Gershwin
Part played by Kirk Douglas (dubbed by Harry James)

"Limehouse Blues"
(uncredited)
Music by Philip Braham (1924)
Lyrics by Douglas Furber
Jazz version played by Hoagy Carmichael, Harry James and others

"Swing Low, Sweet Chariot"
(uncredited)
Traditional (circa 1872)
Music by Wallis Willis
Lyrics by Henry Thacker Burleigh
Sung by chorus

"Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen"
(uncredited)
Traditional (circa 1865)
Lyrics by Henry Thacker Burleigh
Sung by chorus

"Someone to Watch Over Me"
(uncredited)
Music by George Gershwin (1926)
Lyrics by Ira Gershwin
Played by "Phil Morrison Orchestra" with Kirk Douglas (dubbed by Harry James)

"With a Song in My Heart"
(uncredited)
Music by Richard Rodgers (1929)
Lyrics by Lorenz Hart
Sung by Doris Day

"Carolina in the Morning"
(uncredited)
Music by Walter Donaldson
Played by Young Rick and other kids

"Pretty Baby"
(uncredited)
Music by Egbert Van Alstyne and Tony Jackson
Played during the scene with the hula dancer

"The Japanese Sandman"
(uncredited)
Music by Richard A. Whiting
Played by Hoagy Carmichael when Smoke first meets Rick

"Love for Sale"
(uncredited)
Written by Cole Porter
Played when Rick first meets Amy at the club

"If I Could Be with You"
(uncredited)
Music by James P. Johnson
Whistled by the elevator operator

"Nocturne, Op. 9, No. 2 in E Flat Major"
(uncredited)
Music by Frédéric Chopin
Played on the piano by Amy