MovieChat Forums > The Young Lions (1958) Discussion > why I remember this film

why I remember this film

posted 18 years ago by jaykaybuck
7 replies | jump to latest

This film sticks in my mind because I saw it in a theatre near Times Square the day before I took the btrip to Ft. Dix to begin basic. Clift was, as always, great, but Brando stands out. At that time WWII was still fresh in people's minds, and to portray a German soldier in a sympathetic manner, and to pull it off as Brando did, was just another indication of the talrnt of this strange fellow from Nebraska. If Mai Britt was throwing herself at me, like she did at Christian, I woiuldn't have had the strength to resist. Wonder if Sammy Davis Jr. saw this film {with Dean probably} and what he thought of it?

[–] Wuchak (8835) 4 years ago

It would be difficult to resist the charms of the Captain's sultry wife (May Britt) -- especially as man-hungry as she is depicted -- but Diestl is too honorable to commit adultery with his commander's spouse.

[–] jriley555 (8360) 2 years ago

No, he did, the first visit. When she later told him his CO had committed suicide after she had rejected him after his disfigurement, he was enraged.

[–] Wuchak (8835) 2 years ago

Yes, I realize why he was enraged, but I don't remember him actually committing adultery with her on the first visit. Does the sequence actually suggest they had sex or that they just momentarily kissed/hugged/caressed each other? I'll have to re-watch the scene.

[–] jriley555 (8360) 2 years ago

Oh yea. They did it. Like filthy rutting beasts. Seriously, though, they did it.

[–] Wuchak (8835) 2 years ago

I don't doubt it. I'll pay close attention to that scene the next time I view it. If true, I made Diestl out to be more honorable than he was in my above post. But at least he increasingly came to his senses about Nazi Germany and his misplaced loyalties.

[–] jriley555 (8360) 2 years ago

I don't think he was above bedding the beautiful wife of a comrade who through herself at him. He was not a thorough-going hero. In the novel, as I understand it, he went through a process of degradation as a result of his experiences in the Wehrmacht. They somewhat cleaned him up for the film.

[–] jriley555 (8360) 2 years ago

I read that in the novel, he was not a sympathetic character but a degraded character, at the end. He was cleaned up in the screenplay. The writer was not pleased.