The Man with the Golden Arm (1955)

THIS IS 'THE' COPY TO GET! BEWARE PUBLIC DOMAIN VERSIONS!

As other reviews have focused on this fine ***** star movie, I'd like to just make a comment about THIS version. It's been a long time coming to finally get this pristine version on DVD. Not since the final days of LaserDisc when Warner's finally released a near perfect transfer of this movie, have I been waiting for them to do the same on DVD - and they did not disappoint (I tink it's actually the same transfer except this DVD is 1.85:1 and anamorphic wide screen - the original was academy ratio). This movie is actually in 'The Public Domain', that is, it is free to distribute and copy legally. So there are many versions of this movie floating around, often at the bargain bin of $5- or so... However this Warner's transfer is THE copy to get. If you want to experience the beautiful B&W photography of Sam Leavitt in chrystal clarity or the remastered sound with Elmer Bernstein's Jazz score, then do yourself a favor and purchase immediately, it will not disappoint! September 27, 2008

Heavy drama but good

I was too young to see this film first run and was happy to catch up to it. The story is grim, but it is fascinating. sinatra shows his acting skills again, interesting to see darrin mcgavin aainst type as a drug pusher. more drama than noir i would say. this film is excellent August 26, 2008

OTTO PREMINGER, OPUS 21

**** 1955. THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN ARM was based on Nelson Algren's The Man with the Golden Arm: 50th anniversary critical edition and produced and directed by Otto Preminger. Three Academy awards nominations. A former heroin addict comes back home to become a drummer in a jazz orchestra but, after a few disenchantments, he starts to take heroin again. The choice of a contentious theme, a hero with weaknesses, a woman who reminds us of the dangerous heroin of Angel Face are unmistakably trademarks of Otto Preminger. Saul Bass's titles and Elmer Bernstein's musical score will simply increase your pleasure. Highly recommended. June 15, 2008

Down Those Mean Streets

Part of this review was used to review Nelson Algren's book of the same name and on which the film was based.


Growing up in a post World War II built housing project this reviewer knew first hand the so-called `romance' of drugs, the gun, the ne'er do well hustler and the mechanisms one needed to develop to survive at that place where the urban working poor meet and mix with the lumpen proletariat- the con men, dopesters, grifters drifters and gamblers who feed on the downtrodden. This is definitely not the mix that Damon Runyon celebrated in his Guys and Dolls-type stories. Far from it.

Nelson Algren has gotten, through hanging around Chicago police stations and sheer ability to observe, that sense of foreboding, despair and just plain oblivion of America's mean streets down pat in a number of works, including this one. Here the plot revolves around Frankie Machine an urban hustler with a jones (and more than just the dope jones, his whole life is twisted by the vagaries of his fate). Along the way we meet an array of stoolies, cranks, crackpots and nasty brutish people who are more than willing to put obstacles in the way of our anti-hero. And we have, at this point, not even mentioned his `home' life with his `ever-loving' disabled wife (or so he thinks). She might make anyone reach for the needle.

We, of late, have become rather inured to dope stories either of the death and destruction type or of the rehabilitation kind but at the time that this story was put together in the late 1940's this was something of an eye-opener for those who were not familiar with the seamy side of urban life. The dead end jobs, the constant run-ins with the `authorities' in the person of the police, many times corrupt as well. The dread of going to work, the dread of not going to work, the fear of being victimized and the glee of victimizing. The whole jumbled mix on people with few prospects and fewer dreams. Algren has put it down in writing for all that care to read. These are not pretty stories. And he has centered his story on the trials and tribulations of a dope addict trying to get clean, to boot. That fight is a near thing. Damn, as much as I knew about the kind of things that Algren was describing this is still one gripping story. And, the truth be told, you know as well as I do that unfortunately this story could still be written today. Read Algren if you want to walk on the wild side.

In the movie version of this film that unfortunately cannot capture the pathos of the mean urban streets Frank Sinatra plays the lead role of the Frankie Machine in a very understated way. He gives an extremely strong performance, especially in those scenes when he is going `cold turkey' to break his habit. Probably overrated as a singer Sinatra nevertheless was underrated as an actor, especially in his early career (think From Here to Eternity, Some Came Running and Suddenly). Kudos Frank. Kim Novak as his love interest and Eleanor Parker as his wife also stand out.
June 6, 2008

The Horrors of Addiction

This B&W film begins in an urban area in the 1950s ("Hot Dogs 10 cents") that seems like a Hollywood setting. Frankie gets off the bus and steps into a beer joint. "The monkey is gone", he has been in Lexington and kicked the habit. Frankie has big plans for his future. His wife welcomes him back. $50 a month goes a long way. Frankie must break with his past as a card dealer to keep straight. His wife Zosche wants more time with him. Frankie turns down his old job as a card dealer, but the police arrest him for wearing a $37 suit. The card game owner will bail him out if he returns to work (some double dealing here?). Frankie likes Molly but won't leave his wife. He has a chance to audition as a drummer for big band (but this form of entertainment was becoming obsolete). Frankie tells Molly about his past problem with drugs; he had to cheat at cards for money.

Louie arranged a big game with new players, but Frankie didn't show up for the game. Frankie is afraid to work as a card dealer in case he gets arrested again. Louie says "$250 pays a lot of doctor bills". Frankie joins Louie and they walk away. Molly knows what happened and makes a decision. Frankie deals cards at an illegal game. Thousands are wagered, the losers are angry at the dealer. Are they running a clean game? The players are addicted to their game while they are winning. Then something happens to end the game. What about that audition?

There is a dramatic confrontation that ends badly. The police question Zosche about it, but she says she was sleeping and heard nothing. Can Frankie quit "cold turkey"? Will they show the torments of withdrawal symptoms? "The newspapers can't twist your statements if you don't talk to them." Then there is a miraculous recovery for someone, and a dramatic ending to this story that ties up the loose ends. The story of addictions overlays a romantic triangle and a murder mystery. It certainly tested the limits of the Hollywood Production Code. May 31, 2008

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