The man with the golden arm

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Movie
German title The man with the golden arm
Original title The Man with the Golden Arm
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1955
length 119 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director Otto Preminger
script Walter Newman ,
Lewis Meltzer
production Otto Preminger
music Elmer Bernstein
camera Sam Leavitt
cut Louis Loeffler
occupation

The man with the golden arm (original title: The Man with the Golden Arm ) is a feature film by the director Otto Preminger from the year 1955. The film drama is based on the novel of the same name by Nelson Algren . Preminger produced the film with his production company. The United Artists were responsible for distribution in the United States, where the film premiered on December 14, 1955 .

action

The professional card player Frankie "Machine" is relieved of his heroin addiction by a doctor during his six-month prison sentence. In prison he trained as a drummer. Before his release, the prison doctor advises him to stay away from his old poker friend Schwiefka and the drug dealer Louie. He returns home, where he is expected by his wife Sophia ("Zosch"), who has been in a wheelchair since a car accident he was responsible for three years ago when he was drunk.

Since he doesn't want to be the banker again in the illegal poker rounds organized by Schwiefka, he wants to start a new life as a jazz musician in Chicago. Zosch doesn't think this is a good idea and fears that Frankie might leave her. She knows that before he was arrested, he had an affair with the bar girl Molly, who lives in the same house.

Frankie, however, is determined to follow the advice of the prison doctor and stay away from his old crook circles, but it does not take long before he - through the persuasion of Zosch - relapses under the influence of old buddies. Schwiefka hires Frankie again as a banker for his illegal gaming club, while Louie makes him addicted to drugs again. At the same time, Frankie meets the good-natured Molly again and falls in love with her. With her he finds understanding and help, while the love of his hysterical wife turns again and again into hate.

Frankie tries to break away from Schwiefka with cheat and thus bring him one last big win. But he is caught and beaten up. During a visit to Frankie's apartment, Louie finds out that Zosch was only simulating her paralysis. She did this in order not to lose her husband and to make him submissive as an eternally suffering. In the ensuing argument, Louie falls down the stairs and dies. Frankie is suspected of murder, but is hidden by Molly. With her help, he manages to get his drug addiction under control. When he returns to his apartment and wants to reveal himself to the police officers and his wife, he observes how Zosch anxiously tries to flee from the police and dies in the process. Frankie then returns to Molly and leaves Chicago with her.

Reviews

The American industry service Variety described The Man with the Golden Arm in its contemporary criticism as a "gripping, fascinating film" that was "masterfully produced and staged" and played with "noticeable conviction" by Frank Sinatra. Bosley Crowther ( The New York Times ) found Otto Preminger's directorial work to be nothing more than "a long, excruciating film" of a man's struggle with drug addiction. There wasn't “much that was surprising” or “exciting”, and he criticized Sinatra's not very profound figure, who at least delivered a “plausible representation” . Kim Novak makes a "strangely colorless figure" as Molly , while Eleanor Parker resembles the appearance and language of a "well-behaved, well-groomed lady" who lives in a "slum" .

The contemporary criticism of the West German film service also pointed to the censorship and the difficulties of presenting drug problems in the United States. The film opened in West German cinemas on March 23, 1956. The theme of the film should “especially not be exploited for advertising purposes” in Germany in order to reach a “sensation-hungry audience” instead of a “serious and discussion-ready audience” in front of the man with the golden arm belong. The end would, to regret, slip "into the cinema " . It was criticized that Preminger could not do without "rumor-like effects" , although the milieu drawing was excellent and very realistic. The people in it are “brought into the picture with fascinating acridness.” Sinatra shows a “great theatrical study, more convincing in some economical gestures, in shy looks, in the symptoms of restlessness before new attacks than in the portrayal of intoxication, ecstasy, the Rage. "

"A gloomy study, excellently staged and mastered with a high level of acting ability, which makes it clear in the beginning that it is not chance or predisposition, but origin and milieu that pre-determine the path to addiction."

- Lexicon of international film

“Otto Preminger's realistic drama was one of the few films in Hollywood cinema in the 1950s that dared to tackle the taboo subjects of alcohol and drug abuse. [...] During the shooting, Otto Preminger lived up to his reputation as a difficult director [...] Despite his impressive individual acting achievements (above all Frank Sinatra, of course), the film suffers from its overloaded script and poor buildings "

- Jens Golombek : The great film lexicon. All top films from A – Z, 1995

According to Reclam's film guide, director Otto Preminger draws "a gloomy moral picture from the dirty streets and backyards" and makes it clear in some rudiments that the origin and milieu caused the main character's problems. The man with the golden arm strives for realism. However, the script embeds the "detailed observations in a tangible 'cinema piece'" .

Awards

The man with the golden arm was nominated for an Oscar in three categories in 1956 , but won no awards. Frank Sinatra for best leading actor , Elmer Bernstein for best film music and Joseph C. Wright and Darrell Silvera for best production design (black and white). The film also received two nominations for the British Film Academy Award ( Best Picture and Sinatra for Best Foreign Actor ).

various

The man with the golden arm was first seen on the television of the Federal Republic of Germany on April 20, 1975 at 9 p.m. on ARD .

Mick Tucker , the drummer of 70 years glam rock band The Sweet , started and ended his drum solos with his interpretation of the theme song "The Man with the Golden Arm".

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Release dates in the Internet Movie Database (accessed on May 19, 2010)
  2. ↑ Company credits in the Internet Movie Database (accessed May 19, 2010)
  3. ^ Review of January 1, 1955 on variety.com (accessed May 19, 2010)
  4. ↑ Bosley Crowther: The Man With The Golden Arm. In: The New York Times. December 16, 1955.
  5. ↑ Critique in film-dienst 15/1956 (accessed via Munzinger Online )
  6. ↑ The Man with the Golden Arm in the Lexicon of International FilmsTemplate: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used , accessed April 25, 2012.
  7. ↑ Jens Golombek in: Dirk Manthey, Jörg Altendorf, Willy Loderhose (Hrsg.): Das große Film-Lexikon. All top films from A-Z . Second edition, revised and expanded new edition. Verlagsgruppe Milchstraße, Hamburg 1995, ISBN 3-89324-126-4 , p. 1862 .
  8. ^ Dieter Krusche: Reclam's film guide . Reclam, Stuttgart 2008, ISBN 978-3-15-010676-1 , p. 448.
  9. ↑ Awards in the Internet Movie Database (accessed May 19, 2010)