The Man with the Golden Arm (1955)
Runtime: 119 minutes
Directed by: Otto Preminger
Starring: Frank Sinatra, Eleanor Parker, Kim Novak, Arnold Stang, Darren McGavin
From: United Artists
I saw Man on Turner Classic Movies this morning; they had a marathon of Sinatra movies due to today being his birthday. It's a famous anti-drug screed from the past that had never been seen before now. While of course it being a product of 1950's Hollywood this is far less explicit than something like Christiane F or Trainspotting, the message is still effective.
Ol' Blue Eyes portrayed the somewhat improbably-named FRANKIE MACHINE, a heroin addict who takes the rap for a rat fink and becomes clean while serving his time in prison. Technically, “heroin” is never said and in the novel this is based on, the drug was morphine, but the context clues suggest H. He tries to stay clean and become a jazz drummer; however, he still has his old friends and some of them are also rat finks. He also has a wife in a wheelchair (Eleanor Parker), although Kim Novak-a flame from the past-seems to be a better partner for him, not because of his wife requiring a wheelchair.
As others have proclaimed, Darren McGavin as the guy who forced H on an addict attempting to recover for good might as well have twirled his mustache if he could. The movie was still controversial for its time in its frank depiction of drug addiction-including attempting to go cold turkey-and demonized the drug rather than the individuals hooked to the poison. The cast was swell... Frank Sinatra as the lead, McGavin, Parker, Novak, and while I finally noticed that Arnold Stang resembled a tortoise w/ glasses, he did a fine job as Frankie's annoying/energetic lackey.
Buttressed by solid direction from Otto Preminger and a great score from Elmer Bernstein, The Man with the Golden Arm is well worthy of your time if the premise/individuals involved pique your interest whatsoever. It also has a sweet opening credits sequence from the legendary Saul Bass.
No comments:
Post a Comment