The Man with the Golden Arm

SYNOPSIS

This is to drug addiction what The Lost Weekend was to alcoholism - a trailblazer. It's directed by Otto Preminger, whose gloating over controversial subject matter made him the Oliver Stone of his day. From Saul Bass's opening credits to Elmer Bernstein's jazzy score, the movie boasts its modernity in its unflinching approach to the story about an aspiring musician and heroin addict. Trainspotting it isn't but, in the clean-cut Eisenhower era, this movie shocked audiences deeply. In any event, Frank Sinatra's Oscar-nominated performance still impresses, as do those of Eleanor Parker as his wife and Kim Novak as Sinatra's object of desire.