The Man with the Golden Arm (1955)

Directed by

Otto Preminger

Genre

drama film, film noir

Country

United States

Runtime

1h 59m

Rated

NR

Rating

7.1 of 10 from 255 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A man leaves prison after getting clean from drug addiction, but he finds it hard to stay off drugs when he returns to his old neighborhood and faces pressure from his wife and his past.

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What happens

The Man with the Golden Arm is a 1955 American independent drama film noir directed by Otto Preminger, based on the novel of the same name by Nelson Algren. Starring Frank Sinatra, Eleanor Parker, Kim Novak, Arnold Stang and Darren McGavin, it recounts the story of a drug addict who gets clean while in prison, but struggles to stay that way in the outside world. Although the addictive drug is never identified in the film, according to the American Film Institute "most contemporary and modern sources assume that it is heroin", although in Algren's book it is morphine. The film's initial release was controversial for its treatment of the then-taboo subject of drug addiction. It was nominated for three Academy Awards: Sinatra for Best Actor in a Leading Role, Joseph C. Wright and Darrell Silvera for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White and Elmer Bernstein for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture. Sinatra was also nominated for best actor awards by the BAFTAs and The New York Film Critics. The film is in the public domain, because its copyright was not renewed. In 2020, it was added into the National Film Registry. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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