From Jazz to Cinema
In partnership with the Monaco Audiovisual Institute, the festival presents a screening of Preminger’s American film, adapted from Nelson Algren’s novel of the same name. The film features a poignant Frank Sinatra, playing Frankie Machine, who is determined to become a jazz drummer.
The Man with the Golden Arm
United States • 1955 • Black and white • 119 min
Director: Otto Preminger • Screenplay: Walter Newman, Lewis Meltzer, Ben Hecht, based on the novel The Man with the Golden Arm by Nelson Algren • Cinematography: Sam Leavitt • Camera Operator: Albert Myers • Sound: Jack Solomon • Original Music: Elmer Bernstein • Art Direction: Joe Wright • Set Decoration: Darrell Silvera • Costume Design: Joe King, Adele Parmenter, Mary Ann Nyberg • Editing: Louis Loeffler • Production: Carlyle Productions • Starring: Frank Sinatra (Frankie Machine), Kim Novak (Molly), Eleanor Parker (Zosch Machine), Arnold Stang (Sparrow), Darren McGavin (Louie), Robert Strauss (Schwiefka), George Mathews (Williams)
After completing rehab, Frankie Machine returns to his neighborhood and tries to become a jazz drummer. A bombshell in Hollywood: defying the Hays Code, The Man with the Golden Arm is the first film to depict the hell of drug addiction with brutal realism. Preminger rebelled against censorship, resigned from the Producers Guild, and asserted his independence. Elmer Bernstein’s jazz score is sublime, and Frank Sinatra, with his instinctive performance, is at his peak—truly moving. A freedom of tone, a portrayal as precise as a documentary, imbued with understated poetry, and, as always with Preminger, a determination to tackle sensitive subjects without passing judgment. A journey to the end of a cruel night that haunts the viewer for a long time; the filmmaker’s most engaged film, if not his most beautiful.
© Cinémathèque française.
