I know this was a good film because I liked it, even though I don't really like Paul Newman, Brian Keith, Billie Burke, or Robert Vaughn. However, in this film each of them turned in really good performances.In fact the only thing that I can really criticize this film for in the ending, which came suddenly and I felt left the audience hanging. It was a real let-down.Paul Newman was strong here. I may have to take a second look at Newman's films. It's not that I've ever questioned that Newman was a fine actor...he just was never my cup of tea. Barbara Rush has always been an underrated actress; she does well here. I wasn't aware of Alexis Smith's role...I couldn't quite place her...not a very good part for her. Brian Keith has a great role here, as does Diane Brewster. In her later years, Billie Burke had only eccentric parts, but the other night I was watching her in "We Three" when she was a true star. John Williams was always a welcome addition to any cast, as was Otto Kruger. Most interesting here was Robert Vaughn. Vaughn is not an actor I saw much of over the years, although I do remember him from television's "The Man From UNCLE". The role he had here was somewhat challenging, and I couldn't quite decided if he was very good at it, or if he was guilty of overacting. The story is a good one, although the biggest flaw in the movie may have been how abruptly the movie ended. It deserved another ten minutes to resolve personal issues. However, the courtroom scenes here were interesting, although the judge was overly pompous.Overall, I think this is a very good film, and I enjoyed it more than many. Paul Newman as Anthony "Tony" Judson Lawrence / Narrator Barbara Rush as Joan Dickinson Alexis Smith as Carol Wharton Brian Keith as Mike Flanagan Diane Brewster as Kate Judson Lawrence Billie Burke as Mrs. J. Arthur Allen, Owner Allen Oil Co. John Williams as Gilbert Dickinson Robert Vaughn as Chester A. "Chet" Gwynn Otto Kruger as John Marshall Wharton, Partner at the law firm of Wharton Biddle Clayton

"The Young Philadelphians" begins on an odd note. A lady marries--only to have her new hubby say that he CAN'T consummate the marriage! I THINK this was implying he was a homosexual--but it was so vague you wonder if the man just didn't have a penis. All I know is that she stormed out--and later that night he killed himself. In the time between, she met with her old boyfriend (Brian Keith) and I THINK they implied they had sex. And, if we are to believe this odd build up, she became pregnant that night. The lady's brand-new mother-in-law wants to take the child and raise him herself--but the mother vows to do it without her dead husband's family's money. Years pass and the child is now a good looking college student (Paul Newman) who works for Keith (who you assume is his biological father). All this vagueness thanks to 1950s standards--which, in the case of this film, tended to weaken the narrative. I just wish they'd been a lot more explicit and this is by far the worst aspect of the film.As for the rest of the film, it's very, very good. It's all about Newman and his rise as a lawyer in Philadelphia--and his dealings with the city's elite families. Much of the film simply chronicles his life events--his first love, his attending law school, military service and his rise through the ranks in the legal field. Despite this sounding rather pedestrian, it isn't--Newman did a great job and the script is very well written and with excellent dialog.Later in the film, Newman has finally worked his way to being a very well-respected and successful lawyer. He has a chance to go into politics, marry a gorgeous women from the best of families and he has every reason to be happy. However, out of the blue, a new case comes along--one that could upset all of his plans. What's he to do? Overall, it's a film that is very, very good but with a small re-write it could have been a lot better. Either making the first portion tighter would have helped or simply eliminating this soap opera-like plot would have made the film stronger. But, looking past this, the film is still a very good and often overlooked Newman vehicle.By the way, a few final points. My daughter saw this film with me and said that the small portion that takes place at the University of Pennsylvania looks like it was filmed at the school--as she recognized some of the buildings. Although IMDb doesn't say it was filmed there, it does say that the filmmakers did a good job making it look right. Also, to my knowledge, it's the only film I've ever seen about a tax attorney--and I'll have to tell my friend, Terri (a tax lawyer) about it! Finally, although I sometimes have disliked Billie Burke in films as she sometimes dominated the film too much with her ditsy act, here her bit part was fantastic--and used very effectively. I loved her in the film.

Rising young lawyer faces ethical and moral issues as he tries to defend a college buddy charged with murder. The movie wanders on too long, feeling like a season's worth of a soap opera condensed into a feature film. As soap opera, it's neither very absorbing nor deliciously trashy, but instead occupies the ho-hum middle ground. Newman is by turns earnest, ambitious, bitter, greedy, and noble. He heads a large cast featuring familiar faces, but the acting is uneven. With its episodic construction, the climactic courtroom scene is rather poorly executed and seems more like something that has been tacked on instead of something that the film builds towards.

By 1959, Paul Newman's career was moving into high gear, with CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF, THE LONG, HOT SUMMER, and SOMEBODY UP THERE LIKES ME all critical and commercial successes. Even his harshest critics grudgingly admitted he was far more than just a "Brando look-alike" (as he had been labeled in his first films), but his contract to Warner Bros. forced him to also appear in potboilers (THE HELEN MORGAN STORY), and misguided comedies (RALLY 'ROUND THE FLAG, BOYS!), and Newman was chafing at the bit to be able to pick and choose his own projects.Vincent Sherman's THE YOUNG PHILADELPHIANS, the last film under Newman's WB contract, proved to be one of the best, and he showed the dazzling sexuality and near-arrogant confidence that would mark many of his films of the next decade. As Anthony Judson Lawrence, illegitimate son of Brian Keith (performed with a brogue and a wink, as Keith was, actually, less than 4 years older than Newman), and social climbing mother Diane Brewster, he carried the name of an 'upper crust' father (Adam West, as wooden as he would be in "Batman"), whose homosexuality had been carefully hidden and whose inability to 'perform' and suicidal death on his wedding night would result in a 'deal' between mother and in-laws; the boy could keep the name, but would not have access to the family fortune.Flashing ahead a few years, Lawrence is a strapping, 'blue collar' kind of guy, much to the chagrin of his mother, who hopes that his name will gain him inroads into Philadelphia 'society'. Working construction with his (yet unknown to him) birth father, between semesters at law school, he meets pretty socialite Joan Dickinson (Barbara Rush), who quickly falls for his sweaty, sexy charm. Lawrence's best friend, to his mother's relief, is alcoholic fellow student 'Chet' Gwynn (Robert Vaughn, in an Oscar-nominated role), heir of another elite family, who sees in Lawrence a personal courage he lacks. Vaughn's performance is a film highlight, quite similar to Lew Ayres' role in HOLIDAY, twenty years earlier, through the early part of the film.Young Lawrence is fighting his mother's battle for acceptance, and, in the first of several 'upwardly mobile' decisions, he postpones a quick marriage to Joan, in return for help in his law career. While he is convinced the delay would help the two of them, it costs him her love. Bitterly, he decides to 'play the game', using whatever means necessary to get ahead. With a brief interruption by the Korean War, his career flourishes, aided by a willingness to use 'inside' information to obtain a choice clerking appointment, while toying with a near-affair with the 'younger' wife of the aged lawyer he is studying with (Alexis Smith, gloriously beautiful at 38). When he achieves a spot in a prestigious law firm, he 'woos' a major client (Billie Burke) over to him. With unscrupulous ease, he reaches a pinnacle his mother had only dreamed of.But Lawrence's world is about to come crashing down, as Gwynn, his college friend, crippled in Korea, has been arrested for murder, and begs the lawyer to represent him. The trial promises to expose the seamy underbelly of Philadelphia society, revealing secrets that could destroy many lives, including his own.Lawrence faces a moral dilemma, whether to save his friend, or preserve the fiction of his own life...Entertaining and at times powerful, THE YOUNG PHILADELPHIANS is a fitting conclusion to the early stage of Paul Newman's career; ahead was EXODUS, and a decade of roles that would cement his position as a superstar!