THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN ARM (Warner Bros. 1955) Warner Home Video
From its stark main title sequence, incorporating Saul
Bass’s animated cut-out of a heroin addict’s arm, to Elmer Bernstein’s jazzy
rift of a film score (a departure from the tradition of sweeping orchestral
music), Otto Preminger’s The Man With The Golden Arm (1955) is a
breakout motion picture, so controversial that, at the time of its release, the
MPAA refused to authorize its seal of approval. Based on Nelson Algren’s novel
as adapted by Walter Newman, Lewis Meltzer and Ben Hecht, The Man with the
Golden Arm was a project close to Frank Sinatra’s heart, and, he campaigned
loudly to play the lead, Frankie Machine – a prison parolee who returns to the
life he knew with a new outlook, tragically cut short and doomed to failure. Sinatra had, by 1955, rewritten the rules of
engagement on both his singing and acting careers. In the years that have since
followed, Sinatra’s larger-than-life presence as one of the most iconic and
legendary all-around entertainers of the 20th century has effectively
obscured, even expunged the seedier aspects of precisely how and why his
ascendance in both fields of entertainment was so swift and assured, and, after
survived a blackballing in the late 1940’s, otherwise to have put a distinct
period to any other star’s career, Sinatra, instead emerged stronger and hotter
than ever.
In fact, the FBI kept a file on Sinatra for well over
40-years, made public in 1998. According to that extensive dossier, Sinatra had
ties to the mob including, Sam Giancana, with whom he was close friends. And although
virtually all of the testimonials stop short of any clear-cut speculation in
support of Sinatra’s direct involvement with organized crime, documentation does
exist to suggest some of Sinatra’s ‘friends’ had a hand in exerting pressure on
his behalf to grant him an early release from his MGM contract in 1951. Sinatra was hardly apologetic for knowing,
even socializing with the Mafia and its gangster class. Whatever the
Teflon-coat to these alliances, Sinatra was never prosecuted or even brought
before the House Un-American Activities Commission, although the FBI files cover
his suspicious brand of liberalism, to include co-founding the Committee for
the First Amendment in defense of the infamous Hollywood Ten, blacklisted for
refusing to divulge themselves as members of the Communist Party.
The Man with The Golden Arm catches the
early years of Sinatra’s second act as a film star. Interesting to consider the
other two pictures ole blue eyes made in the same year; one, a featherweight,
but highly enjoyable rom/com with Debbie Reynolds - The Tender Trap; the
other, Samuel Goldwyn’s lavishly produced big-screen adaptation of Broadway’s
smash hit, Guys and Dolls – for which Sinatra desperately wanted, but
was denied the opportunity to play Sky Masterson (a role gone to Marlon Brando),
and instead, begrudgingly accepted the supporting part of gambling racketeer,
Nathan Detroit. Two years earlier, Sinatra had made the break from his screen
image as the scrawny wannabe in such movies as Anchors Aweigh (1945) and
Take Me Out to The Ball Game (1949), with his foray into drama, earning
a Best Supporting Actor’s Academy Award for From Here To Eternity
(1953). Even with that riveting
performance in his body of work, and more yet to follow, The Man with The
Golden Arm would be unlike anything Sinatra did, or would ever endeavor to
ever do again.
At first, Frankie Machine’s assimilation back into
society after a stint in the big house seems progressive and smooth. His old
buddy, Sparrow (Arnold Stang) a conman selling homeless dogs, is actually a
loyal friend who clings to Frankie like a brother. However, the devious card
shark, Schwiefka (Robert Strauss) and Frankie’s former heroin supplier, Louie
(Darrin McGavin) have ulterior motives for welcoming Frankie back into their fold. Frankie’s life is further complicated by his
marriage to Zosh (Eleanor Parker) – presumably paralyzed from the waist down
after a tragic wreck some years ago. Perhaps, weary of the life her husband
once led, Zosh is overprotective now – stifling Frankie’s need to move on with
auditions for a big band. On one of these, Frankie runs into his old flame, Molly
(Kim Novak). The two rekindle their spark for a romance that might have been. Broke
and desperate to make a first impression on the band, Frankie asks Sparrow to
lend him a new suit. Alas, to make good on this request, Sparrow steals the
clothes and Frankie – now wearing them – is arrested for petty theft; tossed
back into a cell. Schwiefka seizes upon this opportunity and bails Frankie out
with the understanding Frankie will work off his bail money dealing cards for
him. This reluctant alliance begins Frankie’s downward spiral into all-night
card-sharking and eventually, falling off the wagon.
Once more a heroin addict, Frankie resorts to violence
to satisfy his fixes, then flubs his audition with the band – his one real
chance to get out of ‘the life.’ Meanwhile, Louie discovers the truth
about Zosh. She has been faking paralysis
in order to keep Frankie at her side. When Louie threatens to tell Frankie the
truth, Zosh pushes him down a flight of stairs to his death. Unfortunately for
Frankie, the police are all too quick to perceive that, as a junkie, Frankie
has murdered his supplier in a drug-induced fit of rage. Fleeing to the
relative safety of Molly’s apartment, Frankie goes cold turkey in a haunting
scene of withdrawal. He confesses to Zosh his intentions of leaving her for
Molly. The jealous Zosh pretends she saw Frankie kill Louie and testifies to as
much to keep Frankie and Molly apart. In
the heated exchange that follows, Zosh proves to Frankie she can walk; her
shame, forcing Zosh to flee to a balcony where she falls to her death.
Exonerated of the charges and free of Zosh’s possessive hold, Frankie and Molly
depart into the sunlight for their first real chance at a ‘fresh’ start.
We ought to give Sinatra props and high marks for
recognizing that the era of the Hollywood musical was fast coming to an end,
and movies like The Man with The Golden Arm represented a turning point
in audience’s tastes for ‘reality’ at the movies. And Sinatra, unlike most of
his contemporaries stuck in the musical’s milieu, instead seemed to
effortlessly transition from musicals into dramas, actioners and war pictures. The
Man with The Golden Arm is a dour, but interesting picture to reconsider in
Sinatra’s pantheon. Without question, he is superb in it. And, the rest of the
cast is as compelling to watch; particularly, the usually glamorous – but on
this occasion, dowdy Eleanor Parker – a real standout. Preminger begins with a cautious
lay of the land, escalating the tempo of his set pieces before inducing the
audience with a fast slalom of events, indicative of Frankie's downward spiral
and self-induced malaise. The screenplay, co-authored by Walter Newman and Lewis
Meltzer (with an uncredited assist from Ben Hecht) is a bit heavy-handed in its
sensationalizing ‘anti-drug’ message. But Sinatra’s fragile Frankie continues
to pack quite a wallop.
Screen rights to Nelson Algren's novel were first
acquired in 1949; the picture, in fact, meant for John Garfield whose untimely
death from a heart attack in 1952, and the Production Code’s absolute refusal
to even entertain a picture based on the salacious material in Algren’s book,
led to multiple set-backs. But the property appealed to Otto Preminger who had
only just directed The Moon Is Blue (1953) – another movie about a
supposed taboo subject – teenage sex. And
Preminger’s clout was unimpeachable. Thus, United Artists agreed to
distribution, provided the finished product met with their usual high standards
where taste was concerned. In the initial phase, Algren was hired to adapt the
screenplay. Regrettably, he and Preminger were at each other’s throats, and the
alliance was decidedly short-lived. Interesting to consider what the picture
might have been had Brando won the coin toss on this one too – relations between
Brando and Sinatra already strained as the former was now playing the lead in
Goldwyn’s Guys and Dolls. Sinatra
countered the insult by releasing his own version of ‘Luck Be A Lady’ –
Brando’s solo, to coincide with the picture’s release. In preparing for his part in The Man with
The Golden Arm, Sinatra toured drug rehabilitation clinics, quietly allowed
to observe addicts in treatment. Shot on a shoe-string in six scant weeks at
RKO, The Man with The Golden Arm kick-started its own controversy after
Preminger decided to release the picture without first obtaining the Production
Code’s seal of approval. UA went along with these plans, fined $25,000 by the
Code, even as UA’s Arthur Krim proposed Preminger’s movie had “immense
potential” as a “public service.” As the Code absolutely refused to
bend for Preminger’s movie, UA resigned from the MPAA. Remarkably, The National
Legion of Decency sided with Preminger instead of the Code, rating the picture
with a ‘B’ as “morally objectionable in part for all”, instead of the
dreaded ‘C’ that would have condemned it outright.
Warner Home Video’s anamorphic DVD exhibits a fairly
solid transfer. The B&W image is respectable. Blacks are deep and solid.
Whites are slightly gray. Contrast levels are slightly weaker than expected.
Film grain is evident, as are age related artifacts, though nothing that will
distract. The audio is mono but well represented. There are NO extras and NO
menu for ‘Chapter Stops’! Given its cultural significance, it is rather
disappointing The Man with The Golden Arm has yet to arrive on Blu-ray.
While hardly a spectacular movie, it certainly was a game changer for industry
standards. Nothing quite like it had ever been screened before.
FILM RATING (out of 5 - 5 being the best)
3.5
VIDEO/AUDIO
3.5
EXTRAS
0
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