Youngblood Hawke

Trailer—Youngblood Hawke

Youngblood Hawke is the pen name for James Franciscus, an aspiring writer. The film boasts a strong supporting cast with Suzanne Pleshette, Eva Gabor, Mary Astor, John Dehner, Mildred Dunnock and Edward Andrews. But what drags this film down is the fact that James can't act and his affair with a married woman, Genevieve Page, is not only boring, but depressing, too. And, add the fact that the film talks you to death with little to no action, and you get this mess. The film drags and drags and drags and you feel beaten to death and down-trodden by the end. And the film is so long at almost two hours and a half. Of course, Suzanne Pleshette is a knockout, and it's always nice to see her. But she can't salvage trash by herself.

Youngblood Hawke is a film treasure. The plot is timeless and the movie flows with the grace of an Olympic skater. This movie, along with The Fountainhead give us two of the strongest and most creative heroes of our day - Howard Roarke (Gary Cooper) and Youngblood Hawke (James Franciscus. Both of these individuals express through their art form (Roarke the architect and Hawke the author) their passion and individuality and allow us to dream of overcoming temptation and triumphing in the end. The performance of both leading actors stand the test of time and are worth viewing again and again. The supporting casts are outstanding and the two authors of original texts Herman Wouk and Ann Rayn are without peer.

Of all the melodramas Delmer Daves made in the sixties,"Youngblood Hawke" is perhaps the least interesting ;it was probably intended to match the scale and the duration of "Parrish",James Franciscus replacing Troy Donahue -who in "Susan Slade " was also a writer who finally found an editor .Suzanne Pleshette was Donahue's co-star in "Rome adventure".Daves ,who ditched westerns ,his forte in the fifties,is on home ground.But there is something hollow in this success story:unlike "Parrish" ,the movie drags on -you could easily cut 30 min-and French Genevieve Page's (and her deep voice)role is too underwritten to justify the tragedy that happens to her -compare to Ingrid Bergman's one in Rosselini's "Europe 51" to see what THAT tragedy means. Even social criticism -overnight success whereas your books ,if we are to believe the critics ,are nothing but novelettes- does not ring true for we know little or almost nothing of the writer's literary talents.

James Franciscus was perfectly cast in the title role of Youngblood Hawke. he was a excellent intense actor who always gave his all. fact is he was handsome and very talented who should have became a major star and this film should have given him the success he deserved. Franciscus commands the film along with great dramatic scenes with Genevieve Page. don't know why the film was poorly received and why his critics on here make false comments about him and his acting. if you wanna see a good soap opera story with attractive leads, then watch this film. i liked it and it keeps your interest. the film is loosely based on Thomas Wolfe from a novel by Herman Wouk.

This film feels more like an 80s miniseries, glossy, melodramatic, padded and EIGHT HOURS LONG. There is no need for this film to be nearly 150 minutes long. The three stars are the reason to watch this. James Franciscus is handsome and incredibly appealing as the lead. Suzanne Pleshette is wasted again as the second banana beautiful smart girl. Even if Warner Brothers rarely found her a good role while they had her under contract, they at least knew how to coif and dress her. She is gorgeous. Genieve Page is glamorous, stunning and gives the best performance of the movie. This films seems to meander along with some melodramatic moments thrown in to keep it going. It is stilted and doesn't gel or flow. It is still glossy and entertaining.