Siflutter It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Brainsbell The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

Kirandeep Yoder The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

Zlatica One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

evanston_dad Director/producer bad boy Otto Preminger enjoyed giving the Hollywood Production Code the finger throughout the 1950s, and he did it again with this pretty harrowing movie about a heroin addict trying desperately to thwart his addiction.This was strong stuff for 1955. Good Lord, two years earlier Preminger's "The Moon Is Blue" had been denied a seal of approval from the Production Code for including the word "virgin," so I can only imagine what audiences at the time made of this. It's of course pretty tame by today's standards, but this movie had some major cajones to tackle the subject of heroin addiction, including a scene showing what it's like to detox, so frankly.Speaking of Frank, Sinatra proves himself to be a damn fine actor in this, and scored himself his second Academy Award nomination for his performance. Knowing the Academy, it's his showy scenes, like the detox one mentioned above, that wowed them, but it's his quieter ones, where you can see the struggle within him happening in his eyes only, that are more impressive. Darren McGavin, a long way from "A Christmas Story," is both terrifying and mesmerizing as a dealer who keeps Sinatra wanting a score. I could have done without a far-fetched side plot involving Eleanor Parker as Sinatra's enabler girlfriend (or wife? I was never sure) that feels like something from a different movie. On the other hand, this film's art direction and score (by Elmer Bernstein) are sensational, and both were also singled out by the Academy. The set in particular is impressive, a meticulous recreation of a seedy city block, which serves as a constant visual reminder of the cage Sinatra's character lives in and which he has to break out of if he ever has a chance of going clean. Grade: A

williwaw Framk Sintara is splendid in this film, and duly was recognized for his fine acting. Eleanor Parker always professional stands out in this film as well. Can anyone ever recall a performance Ms. Parker was not superb? The real surprise here is the starring role of Ms. Kim Novak on loan from her studio Columbia up the street from RKO where this movie was filmed. Otto Preminger directs the Star so well here and Kim Novak one of the movie industry great beauties displays an accomplished acting style. If there is any Star whose work deems reappraisal it is Kim Novak! Preminger and Novak would go on to form a life long friendship of mutual respect. Too bad they never made another movie. One touted for them was The Hustler but that went to Paul Newman and Piper Laurie.

loveballet12 Date: August.26, 2012 -First Time Watch- Frankie Machine (Sinatra) returns home after six months in rehab, determined to not fall back into all ways. But his wife, Zosh (a complete psychopath if you ask me) and his card buddies continue to try to bring him back down and get hooked again. This is one of the first movies to address drug addiction and the writers did a real job presenting it. The movie itself is like a six or seven but what boosted it up to a nine for me was Sinatra's performance. He was outstanding! He played a drug addict so good and the scene when he's in Molly's apartment quitting cold turkey is just so raw. It was like what you expected a person to be going through with drawls. I'm really surprised Sinatra didn't win the Oscar for this, he was nominated but it went to Ernest Borgnine for 'Marty'. I haven't seen 'Marty' yet but I find it hard that Borgnine was able to beat Sinatra's performance in this. I read that Sinatra firmly believed that this movie was more deserving of the Oscar then his role of Maggio in 'From Here to Eternity' and honestly I can see why he said it. The movie was very solid and very worth wild watching.9/10

seymourblack-1 "The Man With The Golden Arm" is a disturbing drama about one man's battle against heroin addiction. It depicts very effectively some of the powerful forces around him which make it so difficult for him to break his habit and also shows the levels of despair and disillusionment that he experiences as he discovers that he's completely powerless to avoid the loss of his dreams and aspirations.This movie is widely credited as being the first Hollywood production to tackle the issue of drug addiction and at the time of its release was considered to be both challenging and controversial. It certainly defied the censorship standards of the time and although it obviously looks dated now, it's still clear to see just how fascinating and shocking it must have seemed to audiences in the mid 1950s.Ex-criminal and drug addict Frankie Machine (Frank Sinatra) returns to his Chicago neighbourhood after serving a six month sentence during which he successfully managed to "get the monkey off his back". The new Frankie is full of good intentions as he plans to stay clean and make a career for himself as a jazz drummer. Soon it becomes clear, however, that his plans conflict with the interests of some of the people around him.Frankie was responsible for the car accident in which his wheelchair bound wife Zosh (Eleanor Parker) had been seriously injured and ever since she'd played on his feelings of guilt to get him to do whatever she wanted. She opposes his ambition to become a musician and would prefer him to return to his old job as a dealer in illegal poker games run by a guy called Zero Schwiefka (Robert Strauss). Frankie's skill as a dealer had been so admired that he'd become widely known as "The Man With The Golden Arm".After having made an appointment with a music agent, Frankie decides he needs a new suit and his loyal sidekick Sparrow (Arnold Stang) quickly acquires one for him. When he meets Schwiefka again, Frankie tells him that he has no desire to return to dealing cards and in retaliation Schwiefka informs the police that Frankie and Sparrow had stolen the suit. Both men then end up in a cell until Schwiefka bails them out subject to Frankie's agreement to go back into dealing.Things become difficult for Frankie when his agent fails to call him about an audition and money is needed to pay Zosh's medical bills. It's at this point that his old drug dealer Louis Fomorowski (Darren McGavin) offers him a fix and Frankie finds it impossible to resist. Louis triumphantly tells him that "the monkey never dies" and once again Frankie finds himself in the grip of his addiction.Life just gets progressively worse for Frankie from that point on as he finds himself compelled to deal for Schwiefka and when he makes an error in a particularly important game involving a couple of professional gamblers, gets beaten up by one of them. He fails an audition with a band because he's suffering from withdrawal symptoms and when Louis dies in suspicious circumstances, becomes the prime suspect. Even more torment follows when he goes into hiding and with the help of his ex-girlfriend Molly (Kim Novak) suffers more excruciating agonies when he goes cold turkey. The way in which his innocence is eventually established provides further evidence of Zosh's deceitful and controlling nature.Frank Sinatra gives an extraordinary performance as the junkie who's surrounded by a bunch of predators who all want to manipulate him for their own individual reasons. His character is a man who's trapped by his addiction but also by a group of people who are only concerned about using his skills or weakness for their own profit. Sinatra plays the role of the victim in situations which are sometimes poignant or distressing and creditably never sinks in to sentimentality or self pity.The supporting cast are also good with Darren McGavin standing out as the creepy pusher who's so confident in his beliefs about addict behaviour that he can comfortably bide his time until his prey inevitably turn to him in desperation at a point when they'll be ready to pay any price to satisfy their cravings.The success that this film achieved with the public and the critics provided a fitting reward for the courage shown by Otto Preminger in tackling a subject which, at the time, was taboo and challenging the censors in the process. The design of Saul Bass' opening title sequence is typical of the originality and quality that he showed in his work on a number of movies and Elmer Bernstein's theme from "The Man With The Golden Arm" is still one of the most distinctive and well known pieces of music in cinema history. This movie is definitely a film of its time but also merits the classic status that it's acquired in the years since its initial release.