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| The Man With The Golden Arm (1956) |
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Well here is a
bit of a surprise. In my life I have not heard as many wildly different views
of any film as with this one. Maybe it is the subject matter?!
Ignoring
all other reviews, the fact that a film in 1956 features heroin addiction with
the worlds most famous performer is an incredible thing. or that they show
heroin at all is also strong. We should rate the film with that period in
mind.
Why we are considering it is because Sinatra (one of our heros) is
playing Frankie Machine, a junkie poker dealer. He is recovering after a period
in re-habilitation and has decided on a new career as a big band
drummer.
From the outset this looks like a film pretending to be a play
because the sets are so so cheap and superficial that you believe only in the
characters as metaphors. |
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| OK, lets ignore all that
because there was some artistry intent here that never got out. The interesting
thing for gamblers is a really good scene of Frank dealing poker in 1956
America. Its quite real and the short number of frames where he is accused of
cheating is very much like several scenes from The
Cincinnati Kid. The makers of that film certainly copied something from
this. |
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I will always watch Frank
but this was very short of a complete script. However it still had my attention
just because of the year it was made and because of the subject
matter.
Otto Preminger had a strange idea directing this movie. At least
the poker turned out to be quite a revelation. I don't know what else did in
this budget set movie. Quirky! 5/10 |
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| Director |
Otto Preminger
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Frank
Sinatra |
Frankie
Machine |
| Writing |
Nelson Algren
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Molly |
Kim Novak
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| Cinematography |
Sam
Leavitt |
Sparrow |
Arnold
Stang |
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