Young at Heart (1954 film)

Plot

When song-writer Alex Burke (Gig Young) enters the lives of the musical Tuttle family, each of the three daughters falls for him. The family lives in the fictional town of Strafford, Connecticut. Alexs personality is a match for Laurie Tuttle (Doris Day), as both she and Alex are seemingly made for each other. Soon they are engaged, but when a friend of Alexs, Barney Sloan (Frank Sinatra), comes to the Tuttle home to help with some musical arrangements, complications arise. His bleak outlook on life couldnt be any more contradictory to Alexs, and Laurie falls in love with him. Meanwhile, Lauries two other sisters, Fran (Dorothy Malone), and Amy (Elisabeth Fraser) each marry, despite still having feelings for Alex. Although the family welcomes Barney into their lives, a feeling of genuine self-worth escapes him, even after both he and Laurie marry. Barney, with a black cloud perpetually hanging over his head, decides one evening to kill himself, feeling Laurie would be better off with Alex, as he was a better provider. Barney drives into oncoming traffic during a snowstorm with his windshield wipers off. Barney lives, and with a newfound affirmation of life, finally writes the song he had been working on, finding his self-esteem in the arms of Laurie and their new baby.

Original ending

The character of the self-destructive Barney Sloan was originally written to die at the end of the film when Sloan drives into on-coming traffic during a snow-storm. Sinatra, whose characters in his two previous films (From Here to Eternity [1953] and Suddenly [1954]) perished at the end, thought Sloan should live and find happiness. Sinatras growing influence in Hollywood was enough to have the ending re-written to accommodate his wishes.

Cast

Score and soundtrack

When this film was released, the conductor Ray Heindorf was not given credit, because of the new ruling at that time that stated that he had to be credited as a "Music Supervisor and conducted by" policy, which he disliked. This is one of the Warner musicals that bears no credit to any composer or conductor.

Songs from the soundtrack were released as an album by Frank Sinatra and Doris Day, also titled Young at Heart. The album peaked at #11 on Billboard while the single reached #2 and was considered as Sinatras comeback single after several years away from the top of the pop singles chart. So popular was the song "Young at Heart" that the film was also titled Young at Heart, having had no title until the songs success. The songs popularity led to its being used not only for the title, but also for music over the opening and closing credits.

Iconic resonance

Frank Sinatras persona in the film Young at Heart helped somewhat cultivate the image of the romantic loner that was often personified in the singers albums. Sinatras outstanding musical solo-pieces alone at a piano with shot glass, tilted hat and dangling cigarette, helped establish an oft-identified image with the singer/actor.