The Man with the Golden Arm
The Man with the Golden Arm is a 1955 American drama film with elements of film noir directed by Otto Preminger, based on the novel of the same name by Nelson Algren. Starring Frank Sinatra, Eleanor Parker, Kim Novak, Arnold Stang and Darren McGavin, it recounts the story of a drug addict who gets clean while in prison, but struggles to stay that way in the outside world. Although the addictive drug is never identified in the film, according to the American Film Institute "most contemporary and modern sources assume that it is heroin", although in Algren's book it is morphine. The film's initial release was controversial for its treatment of the then-taboo subject of drug addiction.
Plot
Frankie Machine is released from the federal Narcotic Farm in Lexington, Kentucky, with a set of drums and a new outlook on life, and returns to his run-down neighborhood on the North Side of Chicago. A drug addict (the drug is never named, but heroin is strongly implied), Frankie became clean in prison. On the outside, he greets friends and acquaintances. Sparrow, who runs a con selling homeless dogs, clings to him like a young brother, but Schwiefka, whom Frankie used to deal for in his illegal card game, has more sinister reasons for welcoming him back, as does Louie, Machine's former drug dealer.
More details
| author | Ben Hecht Walter Newman |
|---|---|
| contentLocation | Chicago |
| director | Otto Preminger |
| editor | Louis R. Loeffler |
| events | criminality heroin musician non-controlled substance abuse Precariat social exploitation substance dependence unemployment |
| genre | drama |
| keywords | big band build car crash card game cheat chicago police department chicago police precinct cold turkey driving drunk drug addict drug dealer land learn locked in old flame poker game police precinct scar spinal injury stool pigeon than the trap walk yell |
| musicBy | Elmer Bernstein |
| nomination | Academy Award for Best Actor Academy Award for Best Art Direction, Black and White Academy Award for Best Original Dramatic or Comedy Score |
| producer | Otto Preminger |
| productionCompany | Carlyle Productions |
| publisher | United Artists |
| theme | film noir |