Product Description

Drummer Frankie Machine is out of detox and eager to get on with a big band career. He’s sure he’s kicked his habit. But the habit kicks back. In The Man with the Golden Arm, Frank Sinatra gives a piercing, Academy AwardÒ-nominated* portrayal many call his best. (The film’s art direction and Elmer Bernstein’s smoky jazz score also earned OscarÒ nominations.) Pioneering moviemaker Otto Preminger directs this landmark that first defied Production Code taboos against on-screen depictions of drug abuse. A Hatful of Rain, The Panic in Needle Park, Clean and Sober, Drugstore Cowboy, Rush and Blow would offer later portraits of narcotic terror. But it all started with this harowing, grown-up film.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #22346 in DVD
• Brand: Warner Brothers
• Released on: 2008-05-13
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.77:1
• Formats: Black & White, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, French
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .25 pounds
• Running time: 119 minutes

Amazon.com essential video
When Frankie Machine (Frank Sinatra) comes back to the old neighborhood after a spell in the big house, he wants to stay straight and become a drummer. But his old life--as a poker dealer and heroin addict--comes rushing back to meet him. The subject matter of Nelson Algren's novel was still shocking in 1955, and The Man with the Golden Arm was released without the seal of approval from Hollywood's Production Code. The director, Otto Preminger, used the controversy to whip up interest in the film, and his championing of non-Code pictures such as The Moon Is Blue and The Man with the Golden Arm helped end the influence of the restrictive policy. For Frank Sinatra, the role was a high point; his performance is searching, honest, and (in long scenes of going cold turkey to kick the habit) frighteningly naked. He's touchingly matched with Kim Novak, in one of her best performances; adding a bit of method-acting madness is Eleanor Parker as Frankie's hysterical wife. Sinatra was nominated for the Best Actor Oscar, but lost to Ernest Borgnine--the same guy who beat him senseless in From Here to Eternity. The propulsive jazz score is by Elmer Bernstein. Even the credits sequence staked out new territory: the mod images created by Saul Bass were among his first in a long-standing collaboration with Preminger, and were highly influential on other designers. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews

broken spirits, wasted lives
Viewing this film is like lifting a rock to see what has been existing under its dark weight, and from the stylish Saul Bass titles and jazzy Elmer Bernstein score, it is a riveting film, with a brilliant, intense Sinatra performance.
As an ex-con trying to beat a heroin addiction, "Frankie" (Sinatra) slips back into his old habits and friends upon release from prison, and is chained to a guilt-based relationship with Eleanor Parker, who is excellent as "Zosch", a woman who manipulates from her wheelchair, blaming "Frankie" for her fate, and resenting his friendship with "Molly", beautifully played by the gorgeous Kim Novak, who exudes vulnerability and a soft, sweet soul.

Well written from the Nelson Algren novel, and visually interesting with superb b&w cinematography by Sam Leavitt, the details of the costuming are also worth noting...I love Molly's old threadbare chenille bathrobe...and like much of the clothes in the film, looking like it was bought in a thrift shop.
I don't find this 1955 film dated at all; its themes and "types" are timeless and occur in every class and level of society, and the characters can be found in the Bowery or Beverly Hills.
The film was nominated in three Oscar categories: Best Actor (losing to Ernest Borgnine in another gritty film, "Marty"), Best Art Direction/Set Decoration ("The Rose Tattoo"), and Best Score (losing to the romantic "Love is a Many Splendored Thing").
Total running time is 119 minutes, and this film has been released under many labels in many grades, including some "cheapies" that are less than perfect in clarity and audio, but present a good value for the price.

Sinatra The Actor At His Best
Frank Sinatra received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor for this performance, and its easy to see why. Playing a role that could have easily drifted into campish over-acting, Sinatra perfectly captures the desparation and hope that Frankie Machine felt as he was trying to get over an addiction that was obviously destroying him, physically and mentally.

Hollywood lore says that Sinatra visited a rehab clinic while preparing for this film in order to see what a herion addict going through withdrawal really looked (and acted) like. If true, it certainly must have given him an insight into a world that its impossible for most people to understand.

Judged against Sinatra's other film performances, this certainly has to rank as the best; the only other film roles that come close are Maggio in "From Here to Eternity" and "The Manchurian Candidate". Its this performance, however, and the despiration of a man who wants to take control of his life, but can't, that has to be at the top of the list.

In the end, Sinatra didn't win that Best Actor Oscar, losing out to Ernest Borgnine for his role in "Marty". After watching this movie, one wonders what more Frank could've done. As far as I'm concerned, he should'a won it.

Disappointing DVD release
I've not seen another release of this film; but I received it today, and I am highly disappointed. The transfer is awful, apparent right from the start. Titles are blurry. Scratches and dust are visible. The video compression is muddy. Speed seems off. Dolby 5.1 is okay at best. Strange green colors are visible, most likely from compression. It's odd to see green patches on clothing, etc., in a black and white film. The main discs is only 5.7 GB, so there was clearly no need for 2 discs. All of the remaining extras would have fit. The 2 disc edition is clearly, a marketing gimmic. Avoid purchasing. May be worth renting just for some of the limited extras.