The Man With the Golden Arm [M]

Ex-addict, ex-con, and card shark Frankie has been released from his stint in a clinic and come home to the seedy underworld of crime, junkies, heartbreak, and gambling. Determined to keep the junky monkey off his back for good, Frankie leans on his reputation of having a ’golden arm’, applying his talents to music rather than cards. As he tries to slip back into the swing of home the temptation to start using again begins to harass him and with a wheelchair-bound wife to support and old gangster contacts on his back, his strength and self-restraint begins to crumble. 

Before wading in the waters of the stimulating courtroom drama and shocking audiences with the open use of the terms ‘rape’ and ‘panties’ in Anatomy of a Murder, Otto Preminger was thrilling and chilling audiences with a brutal and frightening look into the world of drug addiction, shady gambling and the seedy underworld. The Man With the Golden Arm is a beautiful, heart-wrenching, and at times frightening film that puts me in mind of a splice between Days of Wine and Roses and Requiem For a Dream. 

Ex-addict, ex-con, and card shark Frankie has been released from his stint in a clinic and come home to the seedy underworld of crime, junkies, heartbreak, and gambling. Determined to keep the junky monkey off his back for good, Frankie leans on his reputation of having a ’golden arm’, applying his talents to music rather than cards. As he tries to slip back into the swing of home the temptation to start using again begins to harass him and with a wheelchair-bound wife to support and old gangster contacts on his back, his strength and self-restraint begins to crumble. 

Whilst on the surface the story may seem to hold very little of interest in terms of cinematic techniques and blockbuster punch-ups, special effects: all the whistles and bells that a fair portion of audiences go to a movie to see, what keeps arses glued to seats for this movie is the captivating performances from Frank Sinatra, Kim Novak, and Eleanor Parker. A simple story like this that can very well cut very close to home for a number of people allows itself to be completely driven by the cast and the man with his camera without the novelty aid of trinkets and shiny things. 

Frank Sinatra delivers a stunning performance as Frankie. A good guy and charmer from the start, his slow spiral into desperation and dependence is enough to churn stomachs and make hearts bleed, crescendo-ing into a most memorable and heart-wrenching climactic cold turkey scene. Musicians who then become actors are often met, particularly nowadays, with a slight scepticism and are often looked at quite critically: almost like they shouldn’t be there. It’s then a really beautiful and moving experience to see a musician take on a role like this and achieve such great things. The more I watch of him, the more I adore Frank Sinatra. 

Eleanor Parker as Frankie’s fragile, wheelchair-bound wife is a contrasting performance that threatens Frank’s whenever the two of them are on together. Eleanor plays the role with a great passion and ferocity that can sometimes border on the scary and obsessive, and it’s her story that we’re all most interested in and keeps us in our seats. 

Kim Novak stars as Molly, Frankie’s love interest. She’s the good girl, the loyal friend, the strong woman, and the girl that every other girl wants to be. She plays the role with a still and silent approach in comparison to Eleanor: a beautiful exhibition of that old adage ‘good things come to those who wait’ and I really loved her. 

Starring Arnold Stang, Darren McGavin, Robert Strauss, John Conte, Doro Merande, George E. Stone, George Mathews, and Emile Meyer, The Man With the Golden Arm is a great movie filled with action, love, betrayal, drama, and frightening images of desperation and drug dependence. By no means a light movie that you can watch over and over, this film is not without its charm and there are so many things in that work together making it a movie that won’t be denied.