Young Man with a Horn.

BAKER, Dorothy.

$100.00

Item Number: 127005

Cambridge: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1938.

First edition of this novel, which was the basis for the classic 1950 American film directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Kirk Douglas, Lauren Bacall, Doris Day, Hoagy Carmichael, and Juano Hernandez. Octavo, original cloth. Near fine in a very good dust jacket.

Loosely based on the life of Bix Beiderbecke, Dorothy Baker's first novel Young Man with a Horn was adapted into the American musical drama of the same name in 1950 directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Kirk Douglas, Lauren Bacall, Doris Day, Hoagy Carmichael, and Juano Hernandez. The Times praised the performances of Douglas, Day, and Carmichael, but noted "the unseen star of the picture is Harry James, the old maestro himself, who supplies the tingling music, which flows wildly, searchingly, and forlornly from Rick Martin's beloved horn. This is an instance where the soundtrack is more than a complementary force. It is the very soul of the picture because if it were less provocative and compelling, the staleness of the drama could be stultifying."