- The Man with the Golden Arm is the story of Frankie Machine (Frank Sinatra), a former drug addict and card dealer just returned from a minor jail stint. Although Frankie's rehabilitation may have left him a changed man, the old neighborhood gang hasn't changed one bit. Small-time con operator Sparrow (Arnold Stang), for example, sets aside his inexplicable dog-painting scam to return to his position as Frankie's wise-cracking sidekick. More ominously, the shady Schwiefka (Robert Strauss) wants Frankie to resume dealing cards while the unscrupulous Louie (Darren McGavin) wants to resume dealing him drugs. Frankie's shrewish wife Zosch (Eleanor Parker) hasn't forgotten about him either, and she certainly hasn't forgotten that his old flame Molly (Kim Novak) lives downstairs. All things considered, Frankie might have been better off in jail.
- Although Frankie has ambitions of becoming a musician, it doesn't take long for this crowd to reduce him to his former state. Schwiefka, Louie, and Zosch all want Frankie under their thumbs, and they use money, drugs, and guilt to get him there. The situation finally comes to a head when Frankie is coerced into dealing a game of cards for Schwiefka. It's one of those brutal all-night sessions in which the gamblers pour water over themselves to stay awake, but Frankie needs to get some sleep before his big band rehearsal. Although Frankie tries to leave, he ends up getting dragged back in--in short, it's the story of Frankie's life. Soon, he's jobless and strung out, "down and dirty," and he desperately turns to Molly. Fortunately, she happens to be the only person in the world who really cares about him.
- This is an excellent film populated with a whole host of memorable and colorful characters, not the least of whom is the immensely sympathetic golden-armed man himself. While the film is best known for its treatment of drug addiction, that is really just one of the many monkeys on Frankie's back. Frankie's other problems stem from characters like Zosch, whose fake handicap ploy may rival dog-painting for strangeness and originality, and Louie, whose natural amiability ("I was addicted to candy once") nearly masks his efforts to get Frankie hooked. These strange figures occupy a world in which Otto Preminger's startling close-ups reveal dilated pupils and Elmer Bernstein's jazz score swells to the size of Frankie's problems. It's a frightening place, but thankfully the Man with the Golden Arm manages to survive.
- Titles by Saul Bass.
- The film was not approved by the MPAA because of its depiction of drug use.
