The Man with the Golden Arm
Nelson Algren turned a few heads when he released this novel about heroin addiction and when it was announced Frank Sinatra would play the lead in the film version a few more heads started spinning. Some feel Sinatra did his best work in THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE but for my money his work as Frankie Machine is his finest. A man who shakes the monkey from his back returns to his old life only to face the same demons once again. Otto Preminger presents this dark and gritty underbelly world finer than anybody and with amazing work from Kim Novak and Darren McGavin THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN ARM will leave you feeling dirty days after watching it. Of all the fine talent on display here, Arnold Stang, who many of us generation Xers best know as the voice of TOP CAT, stands out in his portrayal of Frankie's pal Sparrow. At times the film will remind you of OF MICE AND MEN...it's simply that powerful and you would well do yourself a great service to read Algren's book at least once in your lifetime.
posted by Ink Casualty at 1:34 PM
1 Comments:
Good film.
I'm also partial to another Preminger film, Anatomy of a Murder. The book it was based upon was written by a retired district attorney named John Volker, whose pen name was Robert Traver. It was set in the little village of Big Bay (known in the book and movie as Thunder Bay), west of Marquette on the Upper Michigan Peninsula. I visited Big Bay last summer and enjoyed a burger and fries and a beer at the Lumberjack Tavern, where parts of the film were shot, and camped in the same campground used in the movie.
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