Young at Heart (1954)

the audience applauded

Best movie ever!

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

.Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Quite a music fest, with the top male and female crooners of the time on display. Each got 4songs individually, plus a share of the very appropriate "You, my Love". However, I must say that Sinatra's songs, as a whole, were more memorable than Doris's. There has been much discussion on whether Sinatra's character, Barney, should have died in that head on collision, as in the original ending, or lived, without apparent lingering disabilities, as we see in the film. Barney's equivalent character in "Four Daughters", upon which the present film is based, died in a similar crash. Certainly , the playing of the title song in the fade out(as well as the beginning credits)was much more compatible with a hopeful ending. If there was to be a suicide attempt scene(and there needn't be), I believe some other means, more survivable and with less chance of lingering disabilities, should have been chosen. And what about the persons in the other vehicle?They had no desire to die in this manner.The screenplay generally was pleasant enough, if not very imaginative. Lots of pretty women and handsome men to experience. Ethel Barrymore was included as the family matriarch. This was her penultimate role in a Hollywood film. She is said to have been quite frail while participating in this film.The copy at YouTube comes in 5 installments, but otherwise was OK.

"Young at Heart" is a reworking of the 1938 film "Four Daughters", though in the process one of the daughters was inexplicably lost and so there are only three in this remake. Plus, this time it is more of a musical. Both are quite pleasant films but not a lot more.The film begins with a musical family--a father (Robert Keith), an aunt (Ethel Barrymore) and three daughters (Doris Day, Dorothy Malone and Elisabeth Fraser). They are quite happy but now that the daughters have grown, love and marriage are bringing change. Gig Young plays the sort of role you'd expect for Ralph Bellamy--the nice guy who ends up, inexplicably, losing the girl. Just like in the first film, it's really not clear WHY Doris Day's character would jilt Young for Frank Sinatra's character since he isn't particularly likable. Still, despite this central relationship and the chemistry not working, the film does make up for this, a bit, with very nice songs. Day is very good but Sinatra's theme song is among his very best, so it's hard to hate the film. However, don't be surprised at the very end of the film--it was NOT the same ending from "Four Daughters" as apparently Sinatra hated this ending and insisted it be changed. Worth seeing but not especially memorable except for the title song...now THAT is terrific.

A musicalization of a classic “woman’s picture” is about as unappetizing a prospect as can get for me film-wise, but the polished Hollywood expertise here wins out in the end and makes for a refreshing and appealing movie that I had long underestimated (it was shown several times on Italian TV but I never bothered with it).Doris Day and, especially, Frank Sinatra are well-matched as star-crossed lovers in small-town America; Day comes from a classically-trained musical family headed by Robert Keith and including Dorothy Malone (with spinster aunt Ethel Barrymore watching maternally from the sidelines). Amiable popular music composer Gig Young bursts in on their quiet, happy family life (all the girls naturally fall for his charms) but this is further exacerbated by the belated introduction of his arranger pal, embittered long-time loser Frank Sinatra. The film’s narrative is largely made up of the romantic entanglements of the trio of girls (two of whom are engaged to local guys but pine for Young) while Day is longed for by Young but is immediately drawn to outsider Sinatra. Robert Keith is really no match for Claude Rains – who had played the father in Michael Curtiz’s original FOUR DAUGHTERS (1938) – but Sinatra does manage to make John Garfield’s star-making, Oscar-nominated turn his own.Curiously enough, the screenwriters of YOUNG AT HEART – Julius J. Epstein and Lenore Coffee – were the very same duo who had earlier adapted FOUR DAUGHTERS to the screen; however, as is already apparent, the original movie had four daughters instead of three, the character names were also altered and the remake was even given a schmaltzy, happy ending! Naturally, both Day and Sinatra get to sing in the film but they only have a modest duo of sorts at the very end; incidentally, I was let down by the finale not just because of its improbable “all’s well that ends well” qualities but also because, after Sinatra is seen toiling at his magnum opus throughout the whole movie, the result is just a corny love song! At the very least, I was expecting the classic title tune to be it (which he does get to sing over the opening credits). Incidentally, he seems to have had a good working relationship with director Gordon Douglas – since they would reteam three more times in the next 14 years.

FRANK SINATRA followed up his "From Here To Eternity" triumph by starring opposite DORIS DAY in a musical remake of "Four Daughters" called YOUNG AT HEART. He gets even better song material than Day, including memorable versions of "Young at Heart" and "One for My Baby", but Day is compensated by a nice dramatic role that gets her brand of warmth and sincerity, as well as a duet with Sinatra on "You, My Love".ETHEL BARRYMORE is the elderly aunt and ROBERT KEITH is the father, while GIG YOUNG plays the young man that Day almost marries until she discovers that her sister is broken-hearted over their upcoming marriage. Instead, she runs off with the loner, Barny (Sinatra), and has a rather tumultuous marriage that she's determined to salvage. This version of the tale has her succeed, avoiding the downbeat ending of the original in which the John Garfield character (played by Sinatra)died.It's pleasant, nostalgic and the kind of musical they never make any more. Particularly sensitive performances from Sinatra, Day and Gig Young under Gordon Douglas' direction. Worth seeing for fans of Day and Sinatra especially.The only big difference between this and the original is that color and music have been added. Otherwise, the script is pretty close to the 1938 version directed by Michael Curtiz.