Full Movie Reviews
Rating of
2.5/4
"The Man With The Golden Arm" by Yojimbo
Yojimbo - wrote on 05/19/2012
Once again Otto Preminger prodded at the boundaries of cinema in this dramatization of drug addiction starring Frank Sinatra as an "ex" junkie trying to rebuild his life. Although a little tame by todays standards, it was ground breaking at the time and it contains some intelligent insights into the psychology of addiction. Darren McGavin is great as the seductively smooth-talking pusher, and Kim Novak is a doll as the true object of his affections; the only weak link is the sub plot involving Frankie's "crippled" wife which would feel overcooked even if you could ignore Eleanor Parker's often painful over-acting. The happy ending also fails to ring true to the rest of the story, but the film belongs to Sinatra who really gets to prove his mettle as a serious actor.
