Reviews on movie The Man with the Golden Arm (4)

You are the best player in the game!
- I stopped being that, now I'm a drummer.

A brilliant movie by Otto Preminger. The most powerful dramatic play of actors. The painting made an indelible impression on me. Particularly striking is the skill of the director. I haven’t seen such a great psychological drama in a long time. The action is skillfully compressed like a spring, the tension gradually increases and the agonizing wait for the finale is felt literally in the gut. This is especially emphasized by the deliberately inflating, I will not fear the word, chic music of Elmer Bernstein. The film received three Oscar nominations.

Close-ups of faces, lights - now it is not removed. And the black and white image and penumbra generally make this drama look like noir. And those who think Sinatra is just a singer, let them watch this movie. So play the breakup of an obsessed drug addict, naturally convey nervous tension and mental throwing. His hero is trying with all his might to fight the addiction that devours him, to tie up with a criminal past. It literally moves between good and evil. I didn't expect that from Frank, who used to play gangsters. I especially remember the drumming scene. He is a born musician.

Here all the actors are luxurious without exception. What colorful types, faces. Arnold Stang's eyeglass is simply impossible to forget. And how good is the snake tempter performed by Darren McGavin and the beautiful Kim Novak in the role of a good angel instructing on the true path. How subtly illustrated is the struggle between good and evil. It is surprising that Preminger was not afraid to openly show the unsightly side of life in all its glory, because of which the film had considerable problems at the box office. After all, it was quite brave, at the time, to raise the topic of drug addiction. Although Nelson Algren's novel was written even earlier...
10 out of 10

Let me just say, the movie is good. And Sinatra is very organic in the role of "the guy from the next door." Female characters are feminine and colorful. And the plot gradually enters the rut of a not weak thriller. Cho-cho? I wonder if poor Frankie will be able to completely change her life on her way to her dream. Overcoming the unloved work, the psychological pressure of the sadistic wife, as well as the drug dealer. The culmination is cold turkey syndrome. Breaking off dry, he will say in the morning to his heroic mistress: “More sugar”, and will hold his hands. The work of composer Bernstein (with the one West Side Story is not related) deserves special praise. The sound. track qualitatively harmonizes with the video sequence, perceived as ambient, natural and inseparable background of action.

A spoonful of tar turns out to be a general naive acting pitch (I understand retro conventions). Simplified, poster-like representations of heroin addiction (although infantile behavioral patterns are generally correct). And the very undisclosed ambiguity of the gorgeous Mrs. Parker as Frank's wife. In fact, the mental anguish that led to the tragic outcome of this “dark horse” was left behind brackets, and after all, what kind of Dostoevsky nature of the experience could be reflected. An infernal figure could have come out, and so it turned out to be some unfinished affective psychopath in a robe and home slippers. Failure.

The potential of the film was rich, not enough attention to some details.
8 out of 10

Many films have been made about the problems of drug addiction, this topic, unfortunately, does not lose its relevance. But I didn’t think that half a century ago it was very important.
It was interesting to look at this problem through the eyes of a man of the 50s of the twentieth century. Some moments looked naive, but the morality remained the same: drug addiction is a pernicious habit that destroys a person physically and morally, forcing without regret to change their plans, dreams and ambitions for another dose.
At the beginning of the film, we are introduced to the main character. His name is Frankie, he just got out of a drug treatment center and is going to change his life: never take drugs again, never play cards and become a successful drummer. It is clear that it is not so simple and he is ready to return to the power of his habits at any time. A film about how he struggles with his temptations.

And the film is about how important support, respect and understanding are for a person. The director shows us two women. The first is a legitimate spouse who doesn’t believe in Frankie’s success and keeps telling him about it. The second is the mistress. This is a sensitive, wise woman who is ready to support her beloved in all his undertakings and help get rid of a drug ailment. They both love Frankie. The difference is that the wife’s love is hysterically selfish, and the other love is reverently sincere, ready to pass both fire and water.
The film is interesting to understand how the problem of drug addiction was seen half a century ago, to find out what changed after this considerable period of time. And has it changed at all, if this topic is still relevant?
7 out of 10

P.S. The habit does not disappear, the habit does not disappear. You think you held her, and she just hid around the corner and waited.

Preminger is one of the first to shoot a serious social drama on the topic of drug addiction. Now few people will be surprised by the film about a player who suffers from drug addiction and lives in constant tension associated with his addiction. In those years, the film was considered very “breakthrough” and iconic. By the way, he had a significant impact on the work of Scorsese.

Very pleased with the acting work of Sinatra. Traditionally, media people are not always eager to play their roles in movies. Frank Sinatra creates a really serious acting work: we see not a star actor in the next role, but his character.
He very correctly selects the keys to the character of Frankie Makine - a simple person who found himself in a difficult life situation and reconciled with it.
The drawbacks of the film include its protracted nature, however, traditional for many Preminger films.
However, in the second half of the film, Preminger focuses on the personal life of the hero. I think he offers us his understanding of Frankie’s drug addiction: in order to fight on, he needs a change in his personal life.
7 out of 10