Rent The Man with the Golden Arm (1955)

Downbeat - The Man with the Golden Arm review by CH

A narrow partition divides the raw from the melodramatic. Slip the wrong way and a film can rattle as much as a studio set. The Man with the Golden Arm, which was filmed in Hollywood rather than the Chicago of Nelson Algren's novel, does not entirely escape this. It depicts a drug addict (Sinatra) who is fresh from gaol and clean awhile before again caught in criminal, card-dealing circles while his attentions are given to women, Kim Novak and Eleanor Parker) neither of whom leads a blameless existence. Along with a roster of sharpsters and those with an eye on the main chance (including Woody Allen lookalike Arnold Stang), Sinatra's is a torrid existence well drawn by that variable director Preminger as the jazz score (including a classic scene of Sinatra's drumming) echoes across scenes in many a boarding-house room.

Ghetto Blues - The Man with the Golden Arm review by Steve

This is mainly remembered for its code-busting treatment of heroin addiction, which still stands up fairly well. It's a loose adaptation of a bestseller by Nelson Algren, who was sacked from the screenplay by director/producer Otto Preminger, which isn't so much a sign of malign studio interference as a reflection of the author's limitations.

The novel is hard to read, and not because of the challenging themes. Still, Otto has a reputation as a tyrant on the set and he doesn't get quality performances from the browbeaten cast. Including Frank Sinatra as the jazz drummer/junkie trying to get the monkey off his back while being dragged down into the criminal underworld.

This is well outside his range, and neither Eleanor Parker, as his neurotic wife, nor Kim Novak, as the other woman/cashier in a burlesque joint, are convincing ghetto rats. It's shot entirely on a soundstage which feels theatrical without boasting the Broadway level script which sometimes makes that work. Plus it's over-lit...

There are redeeming factors: Elmer Bernstein's jazz-blues score conveys a frisson of dangerous sleaze; and Saul Bass' title cut ups are cool. Maybe it's harsh to commend a film for its poster! What is best about this is still the groundbreaking depiction of the curse of addiction. But old Hollywood rarely went slumming with much authenticity.