Young Man with Ideas

Moviecut—Young Man with Ideas

Maxwell Webster (Glenn Ford) and his wife Julie join his bosses for a dinner party. Julie gets drunk and Maxwell doesn't get the recognition he wants. It all ends badly. Max is good lawyer but a pushover. Julie convinces him to quit and move the family to L. A. They could only get a house which is a former bookie joint. Joyce Laramie inserts herself as his class study buddy to get a Californian law license. She gets him a collection job but he's ill-equipped for the work. This has some fun. Glenn Ford plays a flustered guy pretty well. There are some good moments and good comedic side characters. The child actor bit is very funny. Max is a little too pathetic at times but it fits his character. I would like less of that. The trial is an interesting turn but it's a bit too serious. All in all, it's good fun for the most part.

Leisen's best years were behind him when he made "young man" .First of all,Glenn Ford is no longer a young man (36) in 1952 and he is not really good at comedy.Ruth Roman isn't either but she manages quite well in the scene of the dinner with chic people.Except for this scene and the appearance of the horrible child showing off ,there are not many funny moments in "young man...",even in the would be original sequences in which Max plays both the convict and the lawyer .The screenplay is poor compared to those of the forties ("Remember the night" " Arise my love" ) and the cast (which includes also Nina Foch and French Denise Darcel who never made a movie in her native country ) cannot hold a candle to Leisen's former actors such as Claudette Colbert,Ray Milland ,Don Ameche ,etc