The Man with the Golden Arm

"An 'untouchable' theme… an unusual motion picture!"

1955 1h 59m EN

👍

7.1

SOLID

🍅

81%

FRESH

👌

METACRITIC

⭐

7.3

IMDB

★7.1TMDB · 264🍅81%Rotten Tomatoes●63Metacritic★7.3IMDB · 12,767

DramaCrime

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

When illegal card dealer and recovering heroin addict Frankie Machine gets out of prison, he decides to straighten up. Armed with nothing but an old drum set, Frankie tries to get honest work as a drummer. But when his former employer and his old drug dealer re-enter his life, Frankie finds it hard to stay clean and eventually finds himself succumbing to his old habits.

“An 'untouchable' theme… an unusual motion picture!”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Frank Sinatra
Frankie Machine
Eleanor Parker
Zosh Machine
Kim Novak
Molly
Arnold Stang
Sparrow
Darren McGavin
Louie
Robert Strauss
Schwiefka
John Conte
Drunky
Doro Merande
Vi

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Otto Preminger
Writers: Walter Newman, Lewis Meltzer
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $1.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 4.3× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

71 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Otto Preminger, shot by Sam Leavitt. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Elmer Bernstein. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Louis R. Loeffler shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Frank Sinatra and Eleanor Parker and Kim Novak carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "An 'untouchable' theme… an unusual motion picture!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Otto Preminger directs. Sam Leavitt behind the camera. Elmer Bernstein scores. Louis R. Loeffler cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $1.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
2Made its money back 4.3× over at the box office.
371 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
4Directed by Otto Preminger, shot by Sam Leavitt. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Elmer Bernstein. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Louis R. Loeffler shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Frank Sinatra and Eleanor Parker and Kim Novak carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "An 'untouchable' theme… an unusual motion picture!".
9IMDB entry: tt0048347 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 15 themes, including "prison", "drug dealer", "underground world", "jazz".

The technical file

Cinematography: Sam Leavitt
Original score: Elmer Bernstein
Editing: Louis R. Loeffler
Production design: Joseph C. Wright
Makeup / hair: Hazel Keats
Runtime: 119 min · 1h 59m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $1,000,000
Box office: $4,350,000
Return: 435% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: The Man with the Golden Arm (1955)
Rotten Tomatoes: 81% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 63/100
IMDB rating: 7.3/10 · 12,767 votes
MPAA: Approved

Awards

Nominated for 3 Oscars. 3 wins & 8 nominations total

Also by

Otto Preminger

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

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Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2022-11-14
★ 7/10
This story has quite a well trodden feel to it. Frank Sinatra's "Frankie" is released from a stint in prison and heads straight back to the drug-infused melting pot from whence he came. Initially intent on staying clean, soon peer pressures and his struggle to survive, with his high-maintenance wife "Zosh" (Eleanor Parker) have him back at square one. It might just be that his salvation can come from his lover, the excellent Kim Novak ("Molly"), and from his drum kit? Sinatra proves he has some versatility as an actor here, and both Parker and Novak - alongside an un-nerving effort from Robert Strauss as his supplier "Schwiefka", makes this a far grittier, harder hitting drama than we might have expected. It shows us the relentlessness and hopelessness of his situation; also of the relative futility of the attempts at rehabilitation he went through in jail. It is too long, the first twenty minutes establish the characters, but at the expense of any decent pace - but once the ducks are in a row here, Otto Preminger elicits characterful performances from the cast that make this film quite realistic, and tough to watch at times.
r96sk2024-05-29
★ 8/10
Bit of a slow-moving picture, one that might've ended sooner, though I do class <em>'The Man with the Golden Arm'</em> as something rather quite good. Frank Sinatra and Kim Novak keep events moving along with strong showings, Sinatra especially. Eleanor Parker is, though, the person onscreen that I appreciated most whilst watching, there's just something about her performance that puts her ahead of her co-stars; I'd even say she overacts in parts, yet it absolutely still worked for me. The story does go round the houses a little, but even with that being the case it didn't actually affect my personal enjoyment all that much - it just totally could've been trimmed and we probably wouldn't have missed anything. Elsewhere, the score is excellent - especially the theme for when Frankie desires his habbits. I'd have to be in the right mood to revisit this. Nonetheless, it do be a very good film from 1955 - ahead of its time, that's for sure.