qormi On the whole, an excellent film. Kirk Douglas is a great leading man - he can read the phone book for an hour and go through a range of emotions. Doris Day played her role very well - a flawless performance. Lauren Bacall was perfect as the screwed up man eater. Hoagy Charmichael served as the narrator, bridging the stages of the story while playing Rick's best friend. The direction, the sets - Bacall's lavish apartment, the hotel bar, the African American church, the nightclubs.....all were unforgettable. The movie moved steadily along and got you involved. Douglas looked like he was actually playing he trumpet.It was so refreshing to see a black actor in a major role - as Rick's mentor. Also, the many black actors in the band and in the church - there were absolutely no stereotypes, as blacks were often depicted in a negative light at this time. The scene where it is revealed that Bacall's character is bisexual was very daring in 1950.The film could have been much better, however. The ending was rushed - more time should have been spent showing Rick's descent into alcoholism - instead, it was like he woke up one day and was a washed up alcoholic wandering the streets. Douglas should have been given the opportunity to depict all the heartache of gradually slipping into the hell he was in. He did a very good job, however, with what time he had - like I said, it was rushed. The ending was resolved as if by magic - it actually tarnished the entire film.

inhonoredglory A very, very interesting movie – such complex and compelling characters! It's not a plot-driven film, which makes it so large in scope and realistic, actually, as we follow Rick Martin from childhood to adult life. The symbolism is quite profound and the theme, very worthwhile. Amy's (Lauren Bacall) inability to play the piano boldly reflects her inability to find a purpose in life. Rick's (Kirk Douglas) struggle to reach the high note on his trumpet reflects the impossibility of finding life's purpose in musical talent alone. Jo's (Doris Day) simplicity exemplifies the honest, selfless, caring goodness we should all strive for to be truly happy. Art Hazzard's (Juano Hernandez) words to Rick are also quite didactic when you think about it. A quite inspiring film, I'd say, that wonderfully moves above the genre/cliché summaries it is given on the DVD cover! And the music, of course, was top-notch. I loved hearing Harry James do his magic! And Doris Day, of course. What a musical feast! The acting, especially by Kirk Douglas, was very good. I actually came into this not caring much for watching Douglas, but in the end, he came off as a very likable guy, the occasional boyish innocence confused by a world that does not make sense.

thinker1691 There are many films which depict the early artists and the legendary talents in the history of Jazz. This is one such story. It is the Black and white story of Rick Martin (Kirk Douglas) who has a unique craving to learn music and will spend the rest of his life searching for that 'Special' note produced by a trumpet. Early in his life, which is told in retrospect by Willie 'Smoke' Willoughby (Hoagy Carmichael) he meets with legendary musician Art Hazzard (Juano Hernandez) who introduces Martin to the Trumpet with which he becomes a true Artist. Thereafter he meets up with Jo Jordan (Doris Day) and later Amy North (Lauren Bacall) who seeks to learn what drives a man like Martin. The movie is in Black and White and becomes a tour-De-force for Douglas who there after becomes the foundation of a musical Classic. Terrific film and one which is well recalled from the early days of Movies. ****

bob-790-196018 This movie is generally described as "loosely based" on the Dorothy Baker novel, which in turn is "loosely based" or "inspired by" the career of Bix Beiderbecke. Wrong. The movie has absolutely nothing to do with Bix's life. Even the musical instrument involved is not the same--Bix played a cornet, which has a somewhat different sound quality from the trumpet "played" by Kirk Douglas here.I could list the details of the career of Rick Martin (the lead character played by Douglas)and compare them with those of Bix, but I would be here all day. There simply are no details that are similar.One good thing about the movie is the trumpet music supplied by "musical consultant" Harry James, which is dubbed for Douglas. Anyone who enjoy's Bix's wonderful solos, however, will see no similarity at all in sound or style between Bix and James. Not that it matters that much, given what I've already said about the movie.Kirk Douglas plays Kirk Douglas--not a bad thing, really. Lauren Bacall, who is really beautiful in this film, plays an unbearably self-centered, spoiled woman, and the character is really quite a bore. Every time she appears on screen, the movie grinds to a halt, unless you take all her posturing and foolish talk seriously.Bix pretty much killed himself by drinking and never developed into the great jazz master that he seems destined to have become. But even so he gained the respect of an undoubted master, trumpeter Louis Armstrong, and Bix was influenced early on by Armstrong's innovative performances, though the two men really did not play the same sort of music.In the movie, the "Armstrong" character is a trumpeter named Art Hazzard, played by Juano Hernandez. While Armstrong was a man of enormous gifts,appetites, and personality--a real force--the part written for Hernandez is more that of the "kindly Negro" favored in the 1950s by those professing to have no race prejudices. It's quite a comedown for Hernandez, who was wonderful, two or three years earlier, in his role as Lucas Beauchamp in the movie adaptation of Faulkner's "Intruder in the Dust." Hoagy Carmichael, who knew Bix Beiderbecke, does his usual shtik as the piano player who's been around. We see him at his piano, endlessly smoking. Another boring performance in the film.And then there's Doris Day--lovely and talented and delightful to see and hear. When she is on screen, this otherwise dumb movie just lights up.