Spotlight

Spotlight Date: 4-April-10
Spoiler Rating: High

Young Man with a Horn (1950)

At first blush Young Man with a Horn looks like a typical tormented artist piece — you know, where the protagonist rides his talent out of poor beginnings only to ruin himself through booze and bad choices. But it is not really that. Or rather, it is that plus a lot more. Bolstered by a fine soundtrack and a strong performance by Kirk Douglas, the movie uses the ups and downs of a musician's life to explore several interesting aspects of the human condition.

Douglas' character, Rick Martin, is drawn from a real person but not constricted by biography. His story begins when he is a newly orphaned boy put in care of a sister who lacks motherly inclinations. Wandering the city streets alone, he is attracted to the sound of music wherever he finds it, whether in slum churches or back-alley bars. With great good luck he meets a jazz trumpeter (Juano Hernandez) who recognizes his creative hunger and becomes his mentor and sole childhood friend. Both the friendship and hunger will stay with Rick for years to come.

Indeed, the hunger is key. Young Man with a Horn shows how fine the line is between enviable passion and pitiable narrowness of scope. As Rick enters adulthood all he wants is to play the trumpet in a way that stirs his soul; his natural ability utterly defines him. His new pals, a faithful piano player (Hoagy Carmichael) and sweet singer (Doris Day), understand the hardship of building a career from nightclub and dancehall gigs. But they don't have a vision of perfection like Rick does and aren't driven by a need to create something beautiful. They stop to think about mundane affairs like making money, getting enough sleep, and falling in love, which Day's character would like to do if Rick gave her the chance.

But no, the love that finally distracts Rick comes with exactly the wrong woman, the seductive and mystifying Amy (Lauren Bacall). A poor little rich girl, Amy longs to achieve brilliance but cannot find her niche. The one thing she has in common with Rick is that her childhood made her unsuited for intimacy, although she manifests this in outright coldness instead of indifference. She is both jealous and enamored of his devotion to a single pursuit without having any idea how to honor it or their marriage. As for Rick, the only way he knows to approach a fascination is to let it devour him. Given that Amy was the first thing to tempt him from the trumpet, and also caused him to neglect his friends, the failure of their romance is a bitter pill to take.

The ending feels a bit rushed, with Rick blaming his pain on his true love, music, and descending into a destructive tailspin, then suddenly bouncing back with a quick swipe between scenes. And yet this makes sense when you consider that the film is concerned with his journey, not his arrival. The question at the heart of Young Man with a Horn is whether the young man can simultaneously overcome and nurture his passion: overcome it by broadening his view to other (healthy) things around him, and nurture it by appreciating how much it contributes to the boy he was, the man he is, and the artist he hopes to become.

Copyright © 2010 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.