Intro.
I'm finding the 1950's to be a very fascinating era to study. Right now I've been watching a lot of films that pushed the limits and broke the rules of the strict Hollywood codes put in place by the Breen office (see The Moon is Blue), thanks to TCM's recent film series. Otto Preminger is quickly becoming one of my favorite directors, mainly because of his sheer determination to break as many of the constricting codes as possible. In The Man with the Golden Arm he goes after the rule that drugs, drug paraphernalia, usage and all things associated with drugs are forbidden. You couldn't show someone taking drugs and it could never be said out loud. So this film, which centers on a man struggling to kick his heroin addiction, exploded out of the box. And what an explosion!Overview
Right from the get-go we know that Frankie Machine (Frank Sinatra) is coming back home from some time in drug rehab. He first stops at the local bar, where he is greeted by all of his colorful neighbors, including his good friend, petty thief Sparrow (Arnold Stang). His old boss is there too, Zero Schwiefka (Robert Strauss), who runs high-stakes, back room poker games. Frankie's heroin dealer Louie (Darren McGavin), is also there, and offers him a free "fix". Frankie refuses and keeps refusing as he tries to get away from that kind of life. He returns home to his wife Zosch (Eleanor Parker), who is in a wheelchair and tells her he has learned to play the drums in rehab and wants to go into the music business. She begs him to go back to being a dealer for Schwiefka because she doesn't want anything to change (she doesn't want him to ever leave again). It seems like Frankie can't get a break though, as he waits to hear back about auditions and has to constantly turn down offers from Louie and demands from his wife to go back to the shady poker games. He gives in to both though, and from there he begins a downward spiral. The only people on his side are Sparrow and Frankie's neighbor Molly (Kim Novak). Molly and Frankie are in love, but Frankie won't leave Zosch until the doctors can cure her. What he doesn't know is that Zosch has already been cured and is only pretending to be disabled to keep Frankie from leaving her. Frankie hits bottom when he first flubs his one real chance at getting a job as a drummer in a big band (his one dream) and then gets caught cheating as he deals at poker (losing his valuable "golden arm" reputation). He had cheated in an exchange with Louie so he could get another fix. Pushed to the edge, he decides to do his own withdrawal. He has Molly lock him up in a room of her apartment and begins the long, painful process of recovery. But an angry Louie shows up and catches Zosch up and walking. From there the tensions keep rising until, much like the Breen codes, the film's ending shatters the lives of all the characters.
Highlights
Frank Sinatra may have won his Oscar for From Here to Eternity but man, he should have gotten an Oscar for this film. TCM host Robert Osborne said that Sinatra had researched and prepared for this role for weeks and never worked harder to get such a realistic performance. Sinatra always has a bit of that manic side showing through, and he puts it to good use here. The withdrawal sequence especially showcased just how hard he worked - it's painful and heartbreaking to watch, even when you tell yourself he's only acting. He's also joined by some equally talented co-stars like Kim Novak and Eleanor Parker (who I finally found out looked familiar because years later she played the Baroness in The Sound of Music).
The relationship between Frankie and Zosch needs to be discussed. It's such a tragic situation - we learn that Zosch was injured in a car crash where an intoxicated Frankie was driving. Once in the hospital, doctors said she'd never walk again and not long thereafter she and Frankie married (out of guilt, you think?). They've been together three years and her passive-aggressive nature just turns on the guilt whenever Frankie wants to do something different that may take him away from her. The worst part is that she really can walk! You go from feeling kind of sorry for her to despising her. She's just as dependent on Frankie as he is on heroin. She needles him constantly (no pun intended) to give up his hopes of joining a band and instead do exactly what she wants him to do. Their whole relationship runs on guilt. That's probably why Frankie and Molly get along so well - she's the exact opposite of Zosch and willing to do whatever it takes to help Frankie kick his habit for good, even at the risk of jail time. Her own crutch is an alcoholic boyfriend, whom she finally banishes from her apartment.
Finally, the storytelling in the film is really well done. I liked the intertwining stories of Frankie being a dealer (at poker) and his need for a dealer (in drugs). It took me awhile in the beginning to realize the difference, as everyone kept calling Frankie a dealer - I thought he had been a heroin dealer who had gotten addicted. Then there's the name of the film. Frankie's called "the man with the golden arm" because of his prowess as a card dealer, but he's also got a golden arm for playing the drums and of course those are the same arms that he's destroying with his shots of heroin. It all creates a tight, compelling tale of addiction that anyone can relate to - like Frankie says, "everybody's a habitual something".
Review and Recommendations
One of the reasons directors like Preminger wanted to break the codes in the fifties was to create films with more adult themes and lure consumers away from the new fad called television and back into the movie theaters. And you can't break out of the code any more than The Man with the Golden Arm does. Not only is it an engrossing story, but one of Sinatra's best performances. Definitely worth watching!
