The Man with the Golden Arm (1955)
US 119m, B&W
Director: Otto Preminger; Cast: Frank Sinatra, Eleanor Parker, Kim Novak, Arnold Stang, Darren McGavin
The Man with the Golden Arm is dark melodrama about a card dealing dope addict named Johnny Machine who attempts to go straight after getting clean while in prison. Returning home to his wheelchair-bound wife, Johnny hopes to become a professional drummer, but the odds seem stacked against him. A controversial film upon its release for its realistic portrayal of drug use, the film suffers from artificial-looking studio sets which felt out-of-place against Sinatra’s convincing performance and the film’s dramatic theme (Klaus Ming October 2016).
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I’ve always been fascinated with Sinatra in dramatic roles. I’m prone to give a film like this more license because of that. The sets ended up not bothering me because I liked everything else.
I’m definitely not a Sinatra fan when it comes to his musical comedies. He’s a much better dramatic actor, and i quite enjoyed his performance in this one.
Other than the phony sets, my only complaint was that it looks like he was playing a younger character than his own age – which Hollywood was often guilty of in the 50s and 60s.
Don’t you feel like slapping his wife? What a selfish ass.
How about the name “Johnny Machine”?
She’s a piece of work alright – selfish is putting it mildly. Her eventual fate is fitting. Though I had to laugh at how quickly the police / ambulance “doctor” dealt with her.
As for the name Johnny Machine, not sure if there was ever a better character title for a tough guy from the 50s.