The Man with the Golden Arm (1955)

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

If you only see one Frank Sinatra movie in your lifetime, watch The Man with the Golden Arm. Not only was it the best performance of his acting career, but Frankie himself always felt he should have won his Oscar for this film, instead of From Here to Eternity. I wholeheartedly agree.Frankie plays "Frankie Machine", a former heroin addict and card dealer who returns to his hometown after a stint in jail. While he's been away, his wheelchair-bound wife, Eleanor Parker, has been taken care of by his drug dealer, Darren McGavin, who expects Frankie to show his gratitude now that he's returned. But Frankie wants a new life, a clean life. As he struggles to fight intense temptation, he learns how hard it is to stay sober.Kim Novak is inarguably beautiful, and I love her in Picnic, so I don't want to dis her that much. Sufficed to say, her performance was the only lackluster one in the film. Darren McGavin, best known for his bumbling, laughable performance in A Christmas Story, plays a wonderful villain: slimy, motivated, and convincing as he pretends to care. Eleanor Parker is unrecognizable in her haggard, desperate role. I watched The Sound of Music for the hundredth time and asked my mom, "Eleanor Parker was so pretty. Did she make any other movies?" My mom said, "She was in a movie you love: The Man with the Golden Arm!" My response was, "She was? What part did she play?" That says everything.Sometimes composers write themes within a film for specific characters, like in Ben-Hur or The Best Years of Our Lives. In Elmer Bernstein's fantastic score, Temptation itself is given a theme. Once you've heard the music to The Man with the Golden Arm, you'll never forget it. Combined with Otto Preminger's wonderfully rugged and classy directing style, whenever the music starts, you'll get goosebumps as the scene of temptation plays out. The story is heart-breaking and incredibly real.Nowadays, making movies about drugs isn't a novelty. Showing the use of heroin doesn't even shock audiences anymore. In 1955, during the reign of the Hays Code, a movie like this just wasn't made. In fact, it wasn't granted a seal of approval and wasn't allowed to be shown in some movie theaters during the release. Although there's no escaping the classic feel of Otto Preminger's masterpiece, it's just as gruesome and realistic as if it were made today. Drug use is shown, as well as the ungodly horrors of withdrawals. Every time I watch it, I still can't believe it was made in 1955—so groundbreaking! I've said before that this was Frank Sinatra's best performance, but in fact, it's one of the best screen performances of all time. Watch it. I'm sure you'll agree.Kiddy warning: Obviously, you have control over your own children. However, due to some drug use and adult content, I wouldn't let my kids watch it.

Brilliant Story, Brilliant Performances, Brilliant Direction And Brilliant Movie ... Frank Sinatra Is Amazing As An Ex-Junkie Desperate To Stay Straight, While The World Around Him (With Few Exceptions) Is Hell Bent On Breaking Him ... He Even Suffers A Relapse And If You Have Ever Been Unlucky Enough In Your Life To See A Real Junkie Kick Heroin Than Sinatra's Performance Will Leave You Speechless ... Eleanor Parker Is Excellent As The Crippled Wife (In A Car Accident While Frank Was Driving) Who Will Do Anything To Keep Her Man ... The Always Beautiful Kim Novak Turns In A Perfect Performance As A Woman In Love (With Frank) But Never Crossing The Line Of Self Respect ... Even Darren McGavin Turns In An Excellent Performance As A Dope Dealer Looking To Turn Sinatra Back Into A Paying Customer ... If There Are 3 Most See Sinatra Movies They Are "The Manchurian Candidate" (Please Not The Denzel Version), "Suddenly" And This One "The Man With The Golden Arm" ... If Movie Making Gets Better Than This It Is Not By Much ...

Still somewhat Powerful Look-See at the Life of a Drug Addict. Frank Sinatra's sincere Performance is near Flawless and considering the Limitations of the Era was about All He Could Do.Sometimes the heavy handed Jazzy Score, meant to be Linked to the Underclass, is OK but borderline Pretentious. The Cast does a Good Job, more so for the Drug Dealers and the Gamblers,and the Women are Acceptable if Not that Special.Kim Novak doesn't Stretch much and is OK, but Nothing Exceptional (Her sweater emotes as much as She does), and Eleanor Parker manages a Difficult Role as the Film's other Addict. She is Addicted to Sinatra. The Cops are not shown in a very Good Light and that is Refreshing and Refrains from 1950's Preaching and Self-Righteousness.Then We have the Overrated Otto Preminger. He chooses to Film this Downbeat Story with a Backbeat of Highly Lit Sets. A Strip Club, a Seedy Bar, and most of the City Environment is so Bright and Glaring it is Disastrously Distracting in a Story that is about the Dark Side. There is just No Excuse for this Display and Preminger is to Blame.The Director must be Given Credit for at least Attempting some Daring Film Subjects and Explorations. It's just too Bad His Talent was very Limited and His Ego usually Overrode any Awareness His Movies delivered on Topical Considerations. He is an example of an Awkward AuteurOverall, Worth a Watch for Sinatra's Performance and for its place in Helping to Erode the Code. Above Average all around, but Hampered by a Director that was too Self-Involved to Speak about anything Outside His Pride.

"The Man With The Golden Arm" is a disturbing drama about one man's battle against heroin addiction. It depicts very effectively some of the powerful forces around him which make it so difficult for him to break his habit and also shows the levels of despair and disillusionment that he experiences as he discovers that he's completely powerless to avoid the loss of his dreams and aspirations.This movie is widely credited as being the first Hollywood production to tackle the issue of drug addiction and at the time of its release was considered to be both challenging and controversial. It certainly defied the censorship standards of the time and although it obviously looks dated now, it's still clear to see just how fascinating and shocking it must have seemed to audiences in the mid 1950s.Ex-criminal and drug addict Frankie Machine (Frank Sinatra) returns to his Chicago neighbourhood after serving a six month sentence during which he successfully managed to "get the monkey off his back". The new Frankie is full of good intentions as he plans to stay clean and make a career for himself as a jazz drummer. Soon it becomes clear, however, that his plans conflict with the interests of some of the people around him.Frankie was responsible for the car accident in which his wheelchair bound wife Zosh (Eleanor Parker) had been seriously injured and ever since she'd played on his feelings of guilt to get him to do whatever she wanted. She opposes his ambition to become a musician and would prefer him to return to his old job as a dealer in illegal poker games run by a guy called Zero Schwiefka (Robert Strauss). Frankie's skill as a dealer had been so admired that he'd become widely known as "The Man With The Golden Arm".After having made an appointment with a music agent, Frankie decides he needs a new suit and his loyal sidekick Sparrow (Arnold Stang) quickly acquires one for him. When he meets Schwiefka again, Frankie tells him that he has no desire to return to dealing cards and in retaliation Schwiefka informs the police that Frankie and Sparrow had stolen the suit. Both men then end up in a cell until Schwiefka bails them out subject to Frankie's agreement to go back into dealing.Things become difficult for Frankie when his agent fails to call him about an audition and money is needed to pay Zosh's medical bills. It's at this point that his old drug dealer Louis Fomorowski (Darren McGavin) offers him a fix and Frankie finds it impossible to resist. Louis triumphantly tells him that "the monkey never dies" and once again Frankie finds himself in the grip of his addiction.Life just gets progressively worse for Frankie from that point on as he finds himself compelled to deal for Schwiefka and when he makes an error in a particularly important game involving a couple of professional gamblers, gets beaten up by one of them. He fails an audition with a band because he's suffering from withdrawal symptoms and when Louis dies in suspicious circumstances, becomes the prime suspect. Even more torment follows when he goes into hiding and with the help of his ex-girlfriend Molly (Kim Novak) suffers more excruciating agonies when he goes cold turkey. The way in which his innocence is eventually established provides further evidence of Zosh's deceitful and controlling nature.Frank Sinatra gives an extraordinary performance as the junkie who's surrounded by a bunch of predators who all want to manipulate him for their own individual reasons. His character is a man who's trapped by his addiction but also by a group of people who are only concerned about using his skills or weakness for their own profit. Sinatra plays the role of the victim in situations which are sometimes poignant or distressing and creditably never sinks in to sentimentality or self pity.The supporting cast are also good with Darren McGavin standing out as the creepy pusher who's so confident in his beliefs about addict behaviour that he can comfortably bide his time until his prey inevitably turn to him in desperation at a point when they'll be ready to pay any price to satisfy their cravings.The success that this film achieved with the public and the critics provided a fitting reward for the courage shown by Otto Preminger in tackling a subject which, at the time, was taboo and challenging the censors in the process. The design of Saul Bass' opening title sequence is typical of the originality and quality that he showed in his work on a number of movies and Elmer Bernstein's theme from "The Man With The Golden Arm" is still one of the most distinctive and well known pieces of music in cinema history. This movie is definitely a film of its time but also merits the classic status that it's acquired in the years since its initial release.