The Man with the Golden Arm (1955)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Otto Preminger

Writers:

Nelson Algren (novel)
Walter Newman (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

16 January 1956 (Brazil)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Strung-out junkie deals with daily demoralizing drug addiction while crippled wife and card sharks continue to pull him down.

Plot Keywords:

Drugs | Heroin Addict | Drug Addiction | Heroin | Husband Wife Relationship

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 3 nominations

Cast

Frank Sinatra	...	Frankie Machine
Eleanor Parker	...	Zosch Machine
Kim Novak	...	Molly
Arnold Stang	...	Sparrow
Darren McGavin	...	Louie
Robert Strauss	...	Schwiefka
John Conte	...	Drunky
Doro Merande	...	Vi
George E. Stone	...	Sam Markette
George Mathews	...	Williams
Leonid Kinskey	...	Dominiwski
Emile Meyer	...	Detective Bednar

Runtime:

119 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #17011) | Portugal:M/12 | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | Argentina:13

Company:

Otto Preminger Films

Trivia:

In a conversation with Robert Osborne, Frank Sinatra Jr. said the hands in the tight shots of Frankie's second dealing belong to Milton Berle.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: In the first scene between Frankie and Zosch the shadow of the camera is frequently visible as it moves around the set.

Quotes:

Frankie Machine: I don't need it is all, I kicked it.
Louie: Oh, kicked it... wanna bet?
Frankie Machine: I mean it.
Louie: Sure, I'll be around.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Sinatra raconté par le FBI (2007) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Jazz sequences

Only the subject matter of this film is dated.

We have moved far beyond this tentative foray into a forbidden area-drug addiction-for the 1950s. As such, the film may seem dated. The Man with the Golden Arm served its function is peeling back a layer of the underside of society, an eye-opener to a Southern country boy in 1955 when I first viewed this film in the theater. After some serious consideration about being too young, I was allowed to go. It was powerful and affecting then and still maintains some sharp, painful moments of the soul stripped naked. As a movie depicting the loneliness at the core of being, it succeeds.

Filled with angst, Frank Sinatra, in his best role, creates a vulnerability that makes him sympathetic to the viewer. He conveys his helplessness and ineffectualness in a beautifully restrained performance. As a voice of common sense in the dead-end urban jungle, Kim Novak as Molly is quite good. She is compassionate and yet stands on solid ground. The interaction between Sinatra and Novak is really good. Darren McGavin plays a slimy character and does it very well. Eleanor Parker is superbly irritating and painfully insecure in her role of the pathetic Zosch, the crippled wife of Sinatra. Arnold Stang is another unlikely survivor of the street. Regarded as pitiful and despicable, his character Sparrow provides tart comedic moments.

The music is almost the star of this film-brooding, frenetic, moody, poignant. Elmer Bernstein's score perfectly accentuates the tensions of Frankie Machine's spiritual weakness and physical need for heroin. Molly's theme is bittersweet and captures aurally what the film depicts visually. I know of no other soundtrack that effectively complements the tension and defeat within a man as effectively as does this one.