Such a frustrating disappointment

Memorable, crazy movie

Highly Overrated But Still Good

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Glenn Ford renders his usual brand of under-played finesse in "Young Man With Ideas." Fortunately these roles offer a departure from earlier assignments for both he and his leading lady. With polished style Ford woos the audience to embrace Maxwell Webster, a shy "every-man" who longs to break free of a dismal law career in Montana. His wife Julie is delivered with verve by the competent Ruth Roman. Equipped with her trademark upturned collars Roman blossoms as an apt comedienne sidekick to Ford's straight man. Nina Foch perfectly balances this picture injecting some much needed sexual energy as Joyce Laramie a cool "blonde with a brain" law student. Standout supports include Denise Darcel playing Dorianne Gray, a broad lounge act (or a lounge act broad) singing "I Don't Know Why (I Just Do)." The beloved Mary Wickes pops in nearly tearing the scenery from it's hinges, as a kooky stage-mom neighbor she takes only her budding child-star Son as prisoner. In what otherwise may have been a ho-hum movie given the ordinary A minus treatment, this dusty gem shines like a new penny under expert direction of Mitchell Leisen, a largely well-paced screenplay by Arthur Sheekman and a stalwart cast.

Here, Glenn Ford plays a young, junior attorney in Montana. His wife urges him to be more assertive, which eventually leads the family to California where Ford studies to pass the Bar exam...with Nina Foch. Meanwhile, in their new modest home, Ford and wife (Ruth Roman) inadvertently get involved in a gambling scheme. So Ford spends his time worrying about tough guys coming to his home to demand money they feel they've won, studying with beautiful Nina Foch, temporarily becoming a bill collector, and trying to balance the many demands on his emotions.Okay, it's not Shakespeare, but it's a modestly entertaining comedy with some serious overtones. Ford pulls it off relatively well...although perhaps he just a bit too much of a nervous Nellie. Roman does nicely, although her character is not too likable. Nina Foch plays her part well, as well.Some of the better moments of the film include a very well designed fight segment. And, Sheldon Leonard in his gangster mode. But the movie wraps up poorly, though happily.Worth watching once, but not one for your DVD shelf!

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

Young Man With Ideas has Glenn Ford as a young very junior attorney at a law firm in some small Montana town who's not the most forceful fellow around. With a wife and three kids, he can't afford to be. Wife Ruth Roman sees something more in him and convinces him to be more assertive. Ford decides to move the family to Los Angeles where he can work and study to pass the California bar.The rest of the film is the trials and tribulations they have in Los Angeles, some comic, some serious. Ford shakes off some of his inhibitions, not always in constructive ways.Glenn Ford is one of the easiest to take actors around and his films reflect that. He's got the art of underplaying down to a science. and Young Man With Ideas is a great example of that.Look for good supporting performances here, especially from Nina Foch, as a fellow aspiring lawyer, Denise Darcel as a nightclub entertainer, Rith Roman as the wife and Sheldon Leonard as a bookie.By the way Foch gets Ford a job in a collection agency she works for and some of the film's best moments are from the mild mannered Ford working there.