Young Man with a Horn is a 1950 American musical drama film starring Kirk Douglas, Lauren Bacall, Doris Day, Hoagy Carmichael, and Juano Hernandez.

Tutored by Black jazzman Art Hazzard (Juano Hernandez) Rick grows into an outstanding, intuitive jazz musician (played by Kirk Douglas).

He lands a job playing for a large dance band, getting to know piano player Willy "Smoke" Willoughby (Hoagy Carmichael) and beautiful featured singer Jo Jordan (Doris Day).

In spite of being ordered to stick to the song arrangements, Rick prefers to improvise, and one night during a band break he leads an impromptu jam session, which gets him fired.

Unable to keep his fury pent up, and disgust at allowing himself to be stultified playing in a dance band, he immediately gets fired, then neglects even his own music.

When Smoke has him transferred to a hospital, Jo hurries to his side and he magically recovers his health, rediscovers his music, and falls in love with her.

Composer-pianist Hoagy Carmichael, a friend of the real Bix Beiderbecke,[4] added realism to the film as Rick's sidekick and gave Kirk Douglas an insight into playing the role.

Famed Big Band trumpeter Harry James dubbed Douglas' playing[5] in a Swing Era soloist's style.

[6] In the Baker novel, Amy is described as having lesbian tendencies; the film employs period Hollywood connotations and hints to circumvent the Motion Picture Production Code and strongly imply her bisexuality.

"[7][8] Later, Amy, who has already come to refusing Rick's physical advances, dismisses their future together by telling him she may leave for France with a new girlfriend to study art, whom she later shares an affectionate goodnight with in front of her already fuming husband.

According to the contemporary The New York Times, "banalities of the script are quite effectively glossed over in the slick pictorial smoothness of Michael Curtiz's direction and the exciting quality of the score.

"[5] In spite of the screenplay, 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.