James Hitchcock "The Man with the Golden Arm" is a rare example of a film deliberately made in defiance of the Production Code. The film rights to Nelson Algren's novel were first acquired by John Garfield in 1949, but Joseph Breen, the head of the Production Code Authority, informed him that the story's subject-matter, dealing with drug dealing and drug addiction, would be unacceptable. Otto Preminger, who acquired the rights after Garfield's death, was determined to make the film in the teeth of Breen's opposition, believing that this was a story which should be told. (Ironically, the plot of the film as eventually made is very different from that of the novel. Preminger initially hired Algren as screenwriter, but Algren was fired after the two quarrelled and Preminger brought in a new writer, Walter Newman. Algren so hated the changes Newman made that he virtually disowned the finished movie).The central character is Frankie Machine. (That appears to be his genuine surname, not a nickname). As the film opens, Frankie has recently been released from prison. Before going inside he was a dealer in illegal poker games and a drug addict. In prison he has got rid of his drug habit and learned to play the drums, and is hoping to earn a legitimate living as a drummer in a band, but finds that going straight is not as easy as he thought. The film tells the story of how Frankie slips back into his old job as a dealer and his old drug habit and of how he struggles to get clean again.The film also deals with Frankie's complicated love-life. His wife Zosh has supposedly been crippled ever since being injured in a car crash some years ago; in fact she has recovered from her injuries and can now walk again, but she pretends to be wheelchair-bound in order to play upon Frankie's guilt feelings about the accident. (He was driving at the time). Zosh realises that Frankie does not love her and that it is only guilt which prevents him from leaving her. The real love of Frankie's life is his ex-girlfriend Molly, who is unhappily married to an alcoholic husband.When the film was released in 1955 the Production Code Authority, objecting to its drug-related theme, predictably refused to grant it a seal of approval, despite Preminger's argument that it condemned rather than condoned drug use. At one time such a refusal would have been the kiss of death for any American film, but in this case many cinema chains defied the PCA and agreed to screen it. Perhaps equally predictably, the controversy had precisely the opposite effect to the one the PCA were hoping for, and the film turned out to be a box-office success.Its success, however, was not solely due the controversy, because it contains elements which are excellent in their own right, including the acting. Kim Novak as Molly is perhaps a bit bland, although she looks stunning, but Frank Sinatra gives one of his best performances as the tormented Frankie, desperate to escape from the world of drugs and crime yet seemingly trapped in it. He won a well-deserved the Oscar nomination for "Best Actor". The other great performance comes from Eleanor Parker as the equally tormented Zosh, whose strange name and accent suggest that she is a foreign immigrant. In some ways she is a selfish and despicable character, but in others a pitiable one. She is desperately in love with Frankie, but so terrified of losing him to a younger, more attractive woman that her love has turned to obsession and her whole system of values has become distorted. Her return to health after her injury, which should be a cause for joy and celebration, becomes instead something she feels constrained to hide from the world.Another excellent feature is the jazz-based musical score, for which Elmer Bernstein also received an Oscar nomination. Preminger tells the story of using the expressionistic film noir style which was popular for crime dramas in the fifties. The film is remembered as one of the first serious treatments of a then-taboo subject, but it also deserves to be remembered as a fine human drama. 8/10

clanciai I haven't seen this film since 1971, but then it made e such an impression, that it stuck for life, and I felt no need to see it again, as the memory of it was sharp enough. Just for curiosity, I decided to renew its acquaintance after 44 years just to see what would happen, - and the impact was repeated and as good as new. This is probably the best junkie film ever made, in its naturalistic and actually horrific realism, with Frank Sinatra (100 years just the other day) in his best performance in the lead as the junkie with a crippled wife in a wheel- chair (Eleanor Parker, splendid acting on her part too,) and Kim Novak as the saving angel - it stands clear from the beginning that only she can save him, and she does, in also one of her best performances, actually better than in "Vertigo". The triumph however is the direction combined with the music by Elmer Bernstein. It's asphalt jungle music all the way, hard and merciless in its ruthlessly importuning rough disharmonics and nightmare style (with a few exceptions for a change), and Sinatra is even convincing as a failed drummer. Otto Preminger stands for the direction, one of many original films of his, and they are many, but this black-and-white social documentary naturalistic gutter nightmare is perhaps the one most sticking out - you recognize much of this half slum humdrum environment as he returns to it in "Porgy and Bess" three years later. In brief, it's a triumph of a film, completely naked in shocking social realism with as perfectly convincing and natural performances as in any Italian neo-realistic masterpiece. It was a perfectly enjoyable nightmare to see it again after 44 years to observe it had lost nothing of its timeless actuality - this could happen to you.

Cheese Hoven Although dated in some ways, the man with the golden arm still packs a powerful punch. Yes, it is melodramatic and rather too stagey for modern tastes and there is a lot of scenery chewing from some of the actors, but this piece still has a level of intensity and integrity beyond what most films can achieve this days. Frank Sinatra, giving perhaps his finest performance, is magisterial throughout as Frankie Mahine, but it is in the druggy scenes where he is most convincing. Other characters are less well defined particularly Sinatra's 'comical' sidekick Sparrow, obviously thrown in to lighten the mood of what otherwise would be an overly bleak film. He is however merely an annoyance and detracts from the intensity more than anything. The script is probably rather too in love with its own metaphorical cleverness. The 'golden arm' angle refers not only to Machine's drumming ability and his love of injecting himself with heroin but his gifts as a card dealer. Incidentally it is hard to see what about Sinatra would make him so highly prized as a dealer; dealing cards is hardly a difficult activity. It suspect that he is a 'dealer' only because the writer wish to play on the card dealer/drug dealer ambiguity. Again, perhaps the theme of dependency is rather overplayed with the women in Machine's life all exhibiting some sort of co-dependent behaviour. Kim Novak has a parasitic boyfriend she cannot leave and Eleanor Parker (in a hysterical performance) is dependent on the sympathy she receives from an accident which apparently left her wheelchair bound. The ending is rather contrived too and obviously designed merely to bring the strands together but that should not deter the viewer from checking this remarkable film out.

seymourblack-1 "The Man With The Golden Arm" is a disturbing drama about one man's battle against heroin addiction. It depicts very effectively some of the powerful forces around him which make it so difficult for him to break his habit and also shows the levels of despair and disillusionment that he experiences as he discovers that he's completely powerless to avoid the loss of his dreams and aspirations.This movie is widely credited as being the first Hollywood production to tackle the issue of drug addiction and at the time of its release was considered to be both challenging and controversial. It certainly defied the censorship standards of the time and although it obviously looks dated now, it's still clear to see just how fascinating and shocking it must have seemed to audiences in the mid 1950s.Ex-criminal and drug addict Frankie Machine (Frank Sinatra) returns to his Chicago neighbourhood after serving a six month sentence during which he successfully managed to "get the monkey off his back". The new Frankie is full of good intentions as he plans to stay clean and make a career for himself as a jazz drummer. Soon it becomes clear, however, that his plans conflict with the interests of some of the people around him.Frankie was responsible for the car accident in which his wheelchair bound wife Zosh (Eleanor Parker) had been seriously injured and ever since she'd played on his feelings of guilt to get him to do whatever she wanted. She opposes his ambition to become a musician and would prefer him to return to his old job as a dealer in illegal poker games run by a guy called Zero Schwiefka (Robert Strauss). Frankie's skill as a dealer had been so admired that he'd become widely known as "The Man With The Golden Arm".After having made an appointment with a music agent, Frankie decides he needs a new suit and his loyal sidekick Sparrow (Arnold Stang) quickly acquires one for him. When he meets Schwiefka again, Frankie tells him that he has no desire to return to dealing cards and in retaliation Schwiefka informs the police that Frankie and Sparrow had stolen the suit. Both men then end up in a cell until Schwiefka bails them out subject to Frankie's agreement to go back into dealing.Things become difficult for Frankie when his agent fails to call him about an audition and money is needed to pay Zosh's medical bills. It's at this point that his old drug dealer Louis Fomorowski (Darren McGavin) offers him a fix and Frankie finds it impossible to resist. Louis triumphantly tells him that "the monkey never dies" and once again Frankie finds himself in the grip of his addiction.Life just gets progressively worse for Frankie from that point on as he finds himself compelled to deal for Schwiefka and when he makes an error in a particularly important game involving a couple of professional gamblers, gets beaten up by one of them. He fails an audition with a band because he's suffering from withdrawal symptoms and when Louis dies in suspicious circumstances, becomes the prime suspect. Even more torment follows when he goes into hiding and with the help of his ex-girlfriend Molly (Kim Novak) suffers more excruciating agonies when he goes cold turkey. The way in which his innocence is eventually established provides further evidence of Zosh's deceitful and controlling nature.Frank Sinatra gives an extraordinary performance as the junkie who's surrounded by a bunch of predators who all want to manipulate him for their own individual reasons. His character is a man who's trapped by his addiction but also by a group of people who are only concerned about using his skills or weakness for their own profit. Sinatra plays the role of the victim in situations which are sometimes poignant or distressing and creditably never sinks in to sentimentality or self pity.The supporting cast are also good with Darren McGavin standing out as the creepy pusher who's so confident in his beliefs about addict behaviour that he can comfortably bide his time until his prey inevitably turn to him in desperation at a point when they'll be ready to pay any price to satisfy their cravings.The success that this film achieved with the public and the critics provided a fitting reward for the courage shown by Otto Preminger in tackling a subject which, at the time, was taboo and challenging the censors in the process. The design of Saul Bass' opening title sequence is typical of the originality and quality that he showed in his work on a number of movies and Elmer Bernstein's theme from "The Man With The Golden Arm" is still one of the most distinctive and well known pieces of music in cinema history. This movie is definitely a film of its time but also merits the classic status that it's acquired in the years since its initial release.