The Man with the Golden Arm (1955)

Strung-out junkie deals with daily demoralizing drug addiction while crippled wife and card sharks continue to pull him down.

Director:

Otto Preminger

Writers:

Walter Newman (screenplay), Lewis Meltzer (screenplay),

Stars:

Frank Sinatra, Eleanor Parker, Kim Novak

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 2 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Frank Sinatra	...	Frankie Machine
Eleanor Parker	...	Zosch Machine
Kim Novak	...	Molly
Arnold Stang	...	Sparrow
Darren McGavin	...	Louie
Robert Strauss	...	Schwiefka
John Conte	...	Drunky
Doro Merande	...	Vi
George E. Stone	...	Sam Markette
George Mathews	...	Williams
Leonid Kinskey	...	Dominiwski
Emile Meyer	...	Detective Bednar

Storyline

Frankie Machine is a skilled card dealer and one-time heroin addict. When he returns home from jail, he struggles to find a new livelihood and to avoid slipping back into addiction.

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Plot Keywords:

drugs | card dealer | heroin | drug addiction | drug dealer | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 January 1956 (Brazil)

Also Known As:

Der Mann mit dem goldenen Arm

Filming Locations:

RKO Studios - 780 Gower Street, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Otto Preminger Films, Carlyle Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

119 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Ray Bradbury turned down offers to collaborate on the screenplay, along with the screenplay for Anatomy of a Murder, which Bradbury claimed was $200,000 worth of work. Bradbury said of the refusal "I don't give a goddamn about drugs; it bores the hell out of me. I don't understand the people who take them. So why would I write a screenplay? I'd get a writer's block immediately."

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Goofs

Zasha's scrapbook is titled "My Scrapbook of Fatal Accidence" (instead of "accidents").

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Quotes

Louie: The monkey is never dead, Dealer. The monkey never dies. When you kick him off, he just hides in a corner, waiting his turn.

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Connections

Featured in Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker (1991)

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Soundtracks

"Jazz sequences"
Played by Shorty Rogers and His Giants with Shelly Manne

User Reviews

One of the best movies of the '50s

This is easily one of the best movies of the 1950s. Otto Preminger directed only four or five really good movies and this is one of them. Frank Sinatra gives his best performance and the music score by Elmer Bernstein is dynamite. From the opening titles (by Saul Bass) to the hysteria of drug addict Frank going cold turkey, this is a riveting movie! With Kim Novak (giving a very good performance), Eleanor Parker (giving a very bad performance) as well as Darren McGavin as the reptilian pusher and Arnold Stang as Frank's grifter pal. Beware of bad prints: this movie is in the public domain so some copies are pretty rough.