The Man with the Golden Arm

The Man With the Golden Arm is a grim indictment: of narcotics, of the subhuman "men" who sell it, and of the slums and poverty which breed the addicts. It is not a pleasant film, for director Otto Preminger has ground the lens of his camera in the dirt of human degradation, and the audience who follows the descent is left raw and hurt. But there is also a measure of triumph in the picture, since it shows how one addict throws off "the monkey on his back."

This man with the monkey of addiction is Frankie Machine, a professional poker dealer who, in a federal institution, has already won a partial victory over the habit. When he comes home, however, his determination to leave the cards and the heroin and to find a job as a drummer soon breaks again. In just a few days, a lying and rapacious wife, a preying dope peddler, and his own weakness send Frankie screaming to a locked room, to break the habit once more.

The scene of the addict's redemption is a shocking one, and marks the high point of Frank Sinatra's career as an actor. His performance as Machine lacks the last traces of the relaxed crooner, a manner which the still retained in a few recent comedy roles. He plays the man with the golden arm with a new and almost cat-like power and precision. Sinatra's virtuosity also seems to have inspired the other members of the cast, for most of them give unusually fine performances. Arnold Stang, as a musy little thief, somehow manages to appear both corrupt and appealing, while Kim Novak, as a girl who loves Frankie, gives the rather routine character of "the other woman" considerable stature through an astute bit of underacting.

The characters whom these actors portray are not exactly the same ones author Nelson Algren first created, since Preminger made a number of major changes when he adapted the novel for the screen. But they are still strikingly believable, and the new ending of their story does not really harm them. The Man with the Golden Arm remains a powerful document of degradation and triumph.