Review of Man With The Golden Arm, The

Introduction

"The monkey never dies"
If you think "Trainspotting"is shocking then go back 47 years and imagine the impact of this film. The, then taboo, subject of drug abuse was tackled full on, with almost explicit scenes of heroin abuse. The film was released without production code approval but went on to become one of the most successful of that year. It earned Sinatra and Bernstein Oscar nominations but probably because of the subject matter Otto Preminger received no Best Director nomination. Despite the controversy it did no one who was associated with it any harm in the career stakes.
The plot is simple. Frankie Machine returns from jail having taken the rap for dealing in an illegal gambling game. His wife, who he maimed in a drunken car crash, is in a wheelchair but has a secret. The girl downstairs, who works in the local strip joint as a hostess, happens to be in love with him. The drug dealer across the road is keen to control him by getting him hooked on heroin again. Frankie has learnt to play the drums and believes everything will be all right if he can get a proper job away from his old neighbourhood. Of course it`s not that simple to get away with all those demands and an addiction to fight. Life grinds him down, the only escape is the temporary relief of the drugs and everyday he needs more and more.
Sinatra was keen to get this part. He wanted to maintain his high profile after Oscar success in "From Here to Eternity". As a singer who also acted he constantly had to prove himself to get the work he wanted. Moving away from his initial success in comedies like "On the Town" he felt that he could take on more substantial roles. Accepting the part on the basis of forty written pages put him ahead of Marlon Brando, a long time rival for similar parts.
Eleanor Parker as his wife Zosh is a clingy, intensely irritating woman and contrasts strongly with Molly-O, his sometime girlfriend, played by Kim Novak as a sweet and soft centred girl who always falls for losers. Darren McGavin in his first major film role is assured as a stylish fop drug dealer who senses, and plays, on Frankie’s underlying insecurity. All the supporting actors have the correct look for the "down and dirty"moment.

Video

It looks great. This film is, of course, in black and white. The transfer from its original ratio looks fine.It is a beautifully cleaned up print with some minor green blotching in certain scenes. The camera loves the still fresh-faced Sinatra and Kim Novak positively glows. The intense close-ups capture the moment of ecstasy as the needle goes in.Frankie declares that the monkey isn`t going to get him but the truth is in his face. It has been well treated and appears to be of good quality.

Audio

The music by Elmer Bernstein is famous for being the first entirely jazz based score for a motion picture. There is a regular theme that runs through the film that signals the battle that is raging in Frankie`s head against his addiction.
The sound is offered in mono and surround but I found the surround was heavily based on the front speakers. It doesn`t matter though as the dialogue is perfectly clear and the music doesn`t interfere with it.
Bernstein was granted access to the set from the initial read through of the script and the result is an insightful score that meshes well with the subject matter.

Features

There is a substantial raft of extras that deserve the title"Special Edition."
The menu features the original styling of Saul Bass accompanied by Bernstein`s insistent theme and offers access to each scene.
One for the film schools, there is a feature length audio commentary by the film historian Ken Barnes who also produced the DVD for Laureate Productions. It’s an excellent insight into the background of the film, actors and crew.
A specially recorded interview with Elmer Bernstein delves into his work on this film and his extensive filmography. It also discusses the personal difficulties he faced trying to work in the McCarthy era and how he came to do the music for a film so bad it now has a cult following-"Robot Monster". His credit list after coming out of that particular doldrums is impressive and includes "The Ten Commandments"and his next jazz scoring "The Sweet Smell of Success".
There is a short interview about how Sinatra prepared for the role by visiting an addict going through "cold turkey".The experience clearly moved him and he still found it difficult to talk about when interviewed several years later. However the interview was very short and as a big fan of the man I was left wanting much more.

There are written profiles of the main cast and crew, with a page for each significant member; some of them also have original cinema trailers at the end of the notes. For Sinatra`s there is the chance to view the original cinema trailer of "The Manchurian Candidate" a film that he withdrew from circulation in his lifetime. The profile of Kim Novak includes the original trailer of "Vertigo". It was quite a shock to see all that glorious Technicolor after watching the film in black and white.
The production background consists of some more written screens about Preminger`s approach to the movie with a repeat at the end of the Sinatra interview.

Conclusion

If you are a Sinatra fan, jazz music lover or are simply nostalgic for the day that actors could act without flying off the walls first then this DVD should be added to your collection. The ending is rather tame and the female characters are rather stereotyped so nothing much changes there but Sinatra is simply excellent. The extras were nice and satisfying for the anorak in me and Laureate Productions have put a lot of thought into the presentation of this DVD. It looks like it will form part of a substantial library of revisited classics so that`s my Christmas stocking sorted, now where are the extra shelves going?