The Man with the Golden Arm

Strung-out junkie deals with daily demoralizing drug addiction while crippled wife and card sharks continue to pull him down.

• Director: Otto Preminger
• Genre:Drama
• Runtime:119 minutes

Cast

Frank Sinatra : Frankie Machine
Eleanor Parker : Zosch Machine
Kim Novak : Molly
Arnold Stang : Sparrow
Darren McGavin : Louie

Frankie Machine (Frank Sinatra) is released from prison with a set of drums and a new outlook on life. A heroin addict, Frankie became clean in prison. On the outside, he greets friends and acquaintances. Sparrow (Arnold Stang), who runs a con selling homeless dogs, clings to him like a young brother, but Schwiefka (Robert Strauss), whom Frankie used to deal for in his illegal card game, has more sinister reasons for welcoming him back, as does Louis (Darren McGavin), Machine’s former heroin dealer.

Frankie sees his wife Zosh (Eleanor Parker), who is wheelchair-bound after a car crash some years ago. Zosh smothers her husband and hinders his attempt to make something of himself. He thinks he has what it takes to play drums for a big band. While calling to make an appointment, he bumps into an old flame, Molly (Kim Novak).

Frankie soon gets himself a tryout and asks Sparrow to get him a new suit, but the suit is a stolen one and he ends up back in a cell. Schwiefka offers to pay the bail. Frankie refuses, but soon changes his mind when the sight of a drug addict on the edge becomes too much for him. Now, to repay the debt, he must deal for Schwiefka again. Louis is trying to hook him on heroin again, and with no job and Zosh to please, pressure is building from all directions.

Soon Frankie succumbs and is back on drugs and dealing marathon, all-night, card games for Schwiefka. He gets a tryout as a drummer, but spends 24 hours straight dealing a poker game. Desperately needing a fix, Frankie follows Louis home, attacks him, and steals enough heroin to calm his nerves. At the audition however, Frankie gets the jitters and ruins his chance. When Louis goes to see Zosh to try to find him, Louis discovers that Zosh has been faking her paralysis and can walk. Zosh, scared of being found out, accidentally pushes him over the railing of the stairwell to his death, but things backfire when Frankie is sought for murder. Read more