The Man With The Golden Arm (1955)

[Umaril The Unfeathered]

I got to see this on AMC earlier today as I was going thru movies on my DVR. I decided to give it a look, and what a good movie  

A lost classic starring Frank Sinatra as a heroin addicted backroom poker dealer trying to quite the habit, and the usual struggle he has trying to break away from the people and influences that got him started on it.  Also stars Kim Novak as the girl with the heart of gold that tries her best to stand by and do right by him.

The film, while tame and paling in comparison to the real-life struggle of drug addiction,  portrayed a very grim daily picture,  and an uncertain future for Sinatra's character.

And for someone, somewhere, the struggle is real, and this film does it's duty in being  a cold hard reality check as well as cautionary tale of the reel (sorry, that's real)    horrors of drug addiction.

[RCMerchant]

I have this film on dvd-I agree-it's a great film.
About the time this film was being made,Frank sent some money to Bela Lugosi-who was in the hospital for addiction. He also sent a crystal punch bowl to Bela and Hope as a wedding gift after Lugosi's release. I wonder if his role in this film gave him some insight into Bela's condition-or was he just a fan?

[The Burgomaster]

I love this movie.  I have the DVD and have watched it many times.

[Umaril The Unfeathered]

I have this film on dvd-I agree-it's a great film.
About the time this film was being made,Frank sent some money to Bela Lugosi-who was in the hospital for addiction. He also sent a crystal punch bowl to Bela and Hope as a wedding gift after Lugosi's release. I wonder if his role in this film gave him some insight into Bela's condition-or was he just a fan?

I've actually heard the same about Mr. Sinatra helping Bela Lugosi, as did Ed Wood Jr. And no matter what these two achieved in life, their biggest career accomplishment (to me anyway) is what they did for Mr. Lugosi and how they helped to give him star power once more before his passing. At least Bela didn't pass away as a total unknown.

[JaseSF]

An old review of it I wrote over during my Scifilm days I found:

THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN ARM (1955)

Stars Frank Sinatra, Eleanor Parker, Kim Novak, Arnold Stang and Darren McGavin. Directed by Otto Preminger.

Source: Front Row Entertainment Double D DVD. 88 cents at Wal-Mart. Another in one of those small booklet cases that I put into a proper snap case after purchasing. The print shows some definite signs of wear and tear and it looks as though the tracking was adjusted on the picture several times when you play this making me suspect it's source was an EP video. It's watchable enough aside from this.

Plot: Just getting released from a six month drug rehabilitation program and having served his time for dealing cards in illegal games, Frankie Machine (Frank Sinatra) has high hopes for going clean and finding a new life as a drummer. However upon his return to his old crime-ridden Chicago neighborhood, he soon finds the pressure mounting from those around him, including his wheelchair-ridden wife Zosch (Eleanor Parker), to return to the old money-making "Dealer" lifestyle that first got him started on the path of self-destruction that is being an heroin addict.

Comments: It's very rare that a film has so many great character performances as this one does. Frank Sinatra is superb as Frankie Machine, and realistically portrays the symptoms of a drug addict going through withdrawal arguably better than anyone else had ever been done before him. Sinatra seems to possess a keen understanding and awareness of his character here and expresses the constant battle for control over his own life that is going on inside the man that is Frankie Machine. Parker as his crippled wife Zosch wants to possess Frankie forever, to have him "deal" in order to make good money in order to be able to take care of her and pay her ever-mounting medical bills, and is terrified by anything she sees as a threat to her control over him such as the freedom the life of a drummer might offer, or anything else that might change the status quo between them.

Onlooker Molly (Kim Novak), a girl who lives in the same building and seems to possess real, strong genuine feelings for Frankie, who has no desire to control him but only wants to help him proves the best thing Frankie has going for him in the world if he can just stay straight long enough to wake up and realize it. Darren McGavin as the heroin drug peddler Louie however is always there just waiting in the wings knowing just the right buttons to push, just the thing to say, to get a former addict to revert back to that old habit, one profitable to Louie back deadly for the addict. The setting too seems to take on a life of its own, constantly dark, gritty, seedy and crime-ridden with nowhere near enough positive things to look forward to in life, a place where it's all too easy to escape via a bottle or drugs, a quick "fix" that's truly no fix at all but only keeps one in the dark away from all the bright prospects the world might have to offer. It's a neat touch that when Frankie is on the right track, the setting always seems brighter than when he's headed down the wrong road. While some argue it is a bit dated, to me this is a gritty film featuring a realistic inner war within a man for control of his own fate, one that features very strong character performances by all involved. THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN ARM does get my highest possible recommendation.

[Umaril The Unfeathered]

VERY NICE,  xJaseSFx!  

BTW: Otto Preminger, aka Mr. Freeze in the Batman TV series directedthis movie, huh?  Interesting!

[Hammock Rider]

The novel was written by a great Chicago writer named Nelson Algren. You should check out all his stuff, especially Chicago: City on the Make, A Walk on the Wild Side, and Neon Wilderness.