The Man with the Golden Arm (1955)

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Frankie Machine is a drug addict. He has just been released from jail and wants to straighten out his life. However, his life is a perpetual struggle against his addictions and his past.One of the first, if not THE first, movies to cover the subject of drug addiction. Great, engaging, thrilling story, well-directed by Otto Preminger. The more you get into the movie, the more the lead character seeks trapped and running out of options - the claustrophobia is palpable. Solid performance in the lead role by Frank Sinatra. He brings all the street-cred he can muster to the role. Good supporting performances too.

Frankie Machine (Frank Sinatra) is a recovering drug addict newly released from prison after learning a new skill as a drummer. He returns to his old Chicago neighborhood. Louie is his former drug dealer. His bespectacled friend Sparrow runs petty scams. His wife Zosh is in a wheelchair resulting from his drunken car accident but she's only pretending to maintain his sympathy. He took the rap for card dealing but he doesn't want to return to his criminal past and his boss Schwiefka. He wants to play the drums encouraged by Molly (Kim Novak). He gets into police trouble and Schwiefka swoops in to corrupt his new hopes.Director Otto Preminger tackles the tough subject with skill. He is pushing the envelope. Sinatra shows his acting skills which are well beyond just a suave operator. He has a nice and slow transformation. It all adds up to a good if somewhat dated drama stylistically.

An interesting look at heroin addiction, lacking the power and gravitas of the boozy nightmare that was THE LOST WEEKEND, but nonetheless a well-made and well-directed film from Otto Preminger. THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN ARM sees Frank Sinatra playing an ex-con who works as a dealer in illegal card games but dreams of becoming a famous musician. Unfortunately, he's also a former heroin addict who must attempt to resist the temptation of another fix.This kind of story tends to write itself and indeed there aren't many surprises in the narrative. Sinatra is adequate as the lead, but I found his character rather underwritten and difficult to warm to. He has a lot of negative qualities but few genuinely likable elements to his personality. Still, with a plot-driven film such as this, such lightness of characterisation is easy to overlook when the rest of the plot ingredients are so interesting.The supporting characters are enlivened by some actors giving very good performances. Particularly fine are Kim Novak (in a dry run for VERTIGO) as the object of Sinatra's obsession and Darren McGavin (THE NIGHT STALKER) in an early part as a completely amoral drug dealer. My favourite character is the morally murky Eleanor Parker playing Sinatra's wife who has a few hidden secrets of her own; she gets all of the best scenes and is involved in the dark heart of the movie. The set-piece in which Sinatra attempts to kick the habit is dramatic, but Hackman had it beat in THE FRENCH CONNECTION 2. Still, THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN ARM is a very well made film, one that's there's no reason to dislike.

This is a unique film whose story and origin marked the evolution of Frank Sinatra as an entertainer and elevated the status of its director, Otto Preminger, one of the most respected masters in Hollywood in the golden years. The Man with the Golden Arm is based on the controversial novel of the same name by Nelson Algren who had already tried previously to take his work to the silver screen. His attempt came to naught owing to its tough storyline and the harshness of some parts. The text by Algren was regarded by some literary critics as "a pessimist, negative novel", rating it as a "bitter, squalid chronicle of a heroin addict who goes back to his area after six months rehabilitation". When the first draft of the story was submitted, the text failed to get past the censors, arguing that the hyper-realistic recreation of heroin addiction was excessive for a movie filmed in Hollywood. John Garfield had bought the rights to the book, but owing to his decease he could not take the novel to the cinema. That's where Otto Preminger came in, interested in directing and producing the cinematographic adaptation of the novel by Algren. Preminger acquired the rights to the work and through his own producer Otto Preminger Films he started production of the film in association with Carlyle Productions with whom he had produced his previous film, Carmen Jones (1954) and with whom he would stay until 1960, the year in which Preminger shot the wonderful Exodus. United Artists agreed to distribute the film, lending the right amount of trust and seriousness required to successfully complete a production of this magnitude.After winning an Oscar for his supporting role in From here to Eternity (1953), Frank Sinatra fell into a deep depression owing to problems with his voice and the termination of his contracts with several musical producers. The star was not having a good time of it and he needed a shot in the arm, something to drive him forward, motivating him to shine again as brightly as in days of yore. At that time Sinatra was married to Ava Gardner and she was the one who spurred him on to prepare the role of Frankie Machine, a role which would help him re-emerge and hit the heights again. With Sinatra leading the cast, the name of the actresses who would accompany him throughout the film was yet to be decided, his disabled wife and his understanding lover. Otto Preminger chose two actresses with strong characters, very attractive and effective, namely Eleanor Parker, who had just triumphed in the amazing The Naked Jungle and Kim Novak, the star of Picnic.Frank Sinatra plays the part of Frankie Machine, a former drug addict who returns to his beloved Chicago after spending a spell at a detox center. Frankie comes back with one set idea: to join a jazz band as a percussionist. The doctors who treated him congratulated him on his progress and even Frankie himself is proud to have kicked the habit. His good friend Sparrow (Arnold Stang) celebrates his return and spurs him on to dedicate himself to jazz professionally, helping him in all he can. Sparrow will remain by his side, spurring him on so Frankie is happy. At the other end of the spectrum is Zosch Machine (Eleanor Parker), Frankie's bitter wife, confined to a wheelchair because of an accident. Zosch tries to convince Frankie to give up his musical dreams and devote himself to a more profitable occupation such as going back to his former profession as a high-stake poker croupier (hence the title, the "golden arm" dealing out the cards). Frankie still thinks his future lies in jazz and not in cards and he bitterly comments on the total lack of communication between him and his wife.Frankie is still dreaming about becoming the drummer with a big jazz band and during his efforts he re-encounters a former flame Molly (Kim Novak). To turn up for an audition he asks his friend Sparrow to get him a suit and good old Sparrow gets it roughly and readily, stealing it in the hope he won't be found out. Unluckily for them both, not everyone agrees that Frankie should be professionally dedicated to music and the police soon find out about the theft and Frankie and Sparrow end up in jail. His former employer Schwiefka (Robert Strauss), the organizer of underground poker games, takes advantage of the situation and offers to pay his bail if he works for him on a major poker game he is organizing. The Man with the Golden Arm, (Frankie's nickname as a croupier) has no other choice but to accept unless he wants his dreams to vanish overnight. After working days and nights long enveloped in smoke and alcohol, surrounded by characters of dubious morality, Frankie starts feeling the need to take heroin again and he doesn't feel confident of his skills unless he is under the influence of drugs. Beside himself, he attacks an old acquaintance, the drugs dealer Louie (Darren McGavin) and then goes on the run. The dealer recovers from the attack and goes out to look for Frankie to get his revenge. In his quest he ends up at Frankie's apartment and by chance discovers that his wife, Zosch, has been faking disability all along, and the latter, having been revealed, is obliged to act, triggering a series of dramatic events which will force Frankie to go back to a detox center, overcoming his addiction by abstinence and suffering.