The Man with the Golden Arm (1955)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Otto Preminger

Writers:

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

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 | Heroin | Drug Addiction | Drug Withdrawl

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
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jered Barclay	...	Junkie in Lock-up (uncredited)
Leonard Bremen	...	Taxi Driver in Lock-up (uncredited)
Paul E. Burns	...	Suspenders (uncredited)
Pete Candoli	...	Musician: jazz sequences (uncredited)
Harold 'Tommy' Hart	...	Police Officer Kvorka (uncredited)
Shelly Manne	...	Himself (uncredited)
Frank Marlowe	...	Antek (uncredited)
Joe McTurk	...	Meter Reader (uncredited)
Gordon Mitchell	...	(uncredited)
Jack Mulhall	...	The Turnkey (uncredited)
Ralph Neff	...	Chester (uncredited)
'Snub' Pollard	...	Street Extra (uncredited)
Ernest Raboff	...	Bird-Dog (uncredited)
Frank Richards	...	Blind Barfly (uncredited)
Shorty Rogers	...	Himself (uncredited)
Charles Seel	...	Proprietor (uncredited)
Martha Wentworth	...	Vangie (uncredited)
Will Wright	...	Harry Lane (uncredited)

Directed by
Otto Preminger

Writing credits
Nelson Algren		(novel)
Walter Newman		(screenplay) and
Lewis Meltzer		(screenplay)
Ben Hecht		uncredited

Produced by
Otto Preminger	....	producer

Original Music by
Elmer Bernstein

Cinematography by
Sam Leavitt		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Louis R. Loeffler

Production Design by
Joseph C. Wright		(as Joe Wright)

Set Decoration by
Darrell Silvera

Makeup Department
Hazel Keats	....	hair stylist
Ben Lane	....	makeup artist
Helene Parrish	....	hair stylist
Bernard Ponedel	....	makeup artist
Jack Stone	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Jack McEdward	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
James Engle	....	assistant director
Horace Hough	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Jack Solomon	....	sound engineer

Stunts
Martha Crawford	....	stunt double: Eleanor Parker (uncredited)
Helen Thurston	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
James Almond	....	lighting technician
Albert Myers	....	camera operator
Morris Rosen	....	head grip
Robert Willoughby	....	special still photographer (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Joe King	....	wardrobe: men
Mary Ann Nyberg	....	costume supervisor
Adele Parmenter	....	wardrobe: women

Editorial Department
Tony de Zarraga	....	assistant editor (uncredited)

Music Department
Leon Birnbaum	....	music editor
Shelly Manne	....	musician: jazz sequences
Shorty Rogers	....	musician: jazz sequences
Shorty Rogers and His Giants	....	musician: jazz sequences (as Shorty Rogers and his Giants)
Elmer Bernstein	....	conductor (uncredited)
Fred Steiner	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
Saul Bass	....	title designer
Kathleen Fagan	....	script supervisor
Otto Preminger	....	presenter
Max Slater	....	assistant to producer (as Maximilian Slater)
Jack Entratter	....	technical advisor (uncredited)
David Haft	....	assistant to producer (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Otto Preminger Films

Distributors

• United Artists (1955) (USA) (theatrical)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1967) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Warner Home Video (1995) (USA) (VHS)
• United American Video (1996) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (1999) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Delta Expedition (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Passport International Entertainment (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• GMVS (2004) (UK) (DVD)
• Reel Media International (2004) (worldwide) (video)
• Reel Media International (2005) (worldwide) (TV)
• Dutch FilmWorks (DFW) (2006) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Reel Media International (2007) (worldwide) (all media)
• Brenno Rossi (Brazil) (VHS)
• Continental Home Vídeo (Brazil) (DVD)
• Kabaya Foods (2004) (Japan) (DVD)
• Punto Zero (2008) (Italy) (DVD)

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:

Except for a few exteriors on the RKO backlot, the entire movie was shot on a soundstage

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: In a scene very roughly twenty minutes in, as the camera exits the bar following Frankie, the jukebox can be seen to slide out of the way of the camera at the bottom of the screen.

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 "Jeopardy!: (#22.9)" (2005)

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.