Product Description

Frank Sinatra classic..skilled card player and former heroin addict returns from jail finding it hard to find a new livelyhood. ... Read more

Reviews (9)

Sinatra at his best!!
This has got to be one of the best movies ever made which has depicted the heroin addict and his predicament. Frank Sinatra, in one of his earlier roles, plays the part of an ex-convict/drug addict who returns back to the "old neighborhood," and wants to "come clean," and pursue a career as a big band drummer, but he unfortunately comes face to face with the "dealer" (Darren McGavin) and things cook from there. McGavin is a wonderful portrayal of the neighborhood supplier who keeps baiting Sinatra and baiting him until the he cannot say no any longer. Coupled with his own domestic situation, which I dare not give away, but only to tell you that the ensemble cast which makes up this movie is outstanding. The soundtrack is pulsating and keeps your adrenaline moving upward, and that is one of the most unnerving parts of the film, and one which keeps you on the edge of your seat, as the saying goes. This could be classified as a family movie, as there is no sex, nudity, profanity, but only the theme of drug addiction, and a family could watch this film and discuss these issues in an enlightened way. Sinatra once said he thought he should've gotten an Oscar for this movie, and I agree. Highly recommended!!!

An interesting mix of outstanding and plodding sequences
...the most prominent aspects of the movie - Sinatra's unquestionably great performance, Preminger's use of compelling camera angles, the prominently placed Berstein Jazz score, and Novak's performance. All of which are true and I agree that most of these combine to create a positive impression of this movie.

The best sequences in the movie involve Sinatra in the realm of men (and I mean Men as opposed to human) - when dealing the several day long card game while still trying to keep focused on the important audition Monday morning, the interchanges with the appealingly slimy heroin dealer (greasily played by Darrin McGavin in one of his best roles) while succumbing to the pull of the junkie, the failed musical audition, and the outstanding bit when he resolves to kick the habit cold-turkey. All of these were worth watching several times - thank God for chapter selections on DVD.

However, the movie is not perfect, and there are several things that can be readily cited as significant faults. The possessive and yet still possessed wife (Eleanor Parker) was a one-note performance: hysteria. Preminger needed to significantly pull back that character from the precipice that she fell off (long before she literally falls off). The first scene with her and Frankie upon his return home is the only one that was interesting and believable, all others were maudlin and overdone. She clearly had the acting chops to turn in a fascinating performance, as indicated by this first scene. Her character should have been one of the most pivotal in the movie, as she is the reason why Frankie returns and she inadvertently provides the key to his freedom when she gives herself up after killing the heroin dealer. As it is, scenes with her in it are mostly unwatchable.

The sycophantic toady friend of Frankie (Arnold Stang) was, I suppose, intended to be funny, but he is such an undeveloped stereotype as to be merely annoying. He greatly hindered my enjoyment of the movie.

Also the pacing at times really dragged at several points, most notably even during the great sequence with Sinatra kicking the habit. The rather long running time (119 minutes) could have been easily shortened by at least 20 minutes with some simple editing and tightening. Similarly, although the musical score was interesting and compelling - it tied in with Frankie's newly resolved ambition and nicely placed the movie among the heroin junkie jazz lifestyle of the time - it could have been much better utilized. One refrain in particular that recurs so often as to be annoying and at such a loud volume as to be distracting. It is a perfect example of how great music can be diminished by misapplication.

That all being said, these detractions do not so significantly reduce the movie that I would not heartily recommend it to my friends. Dated and imperfect it may be, but it is still compelling and immensely watchable - and not just for Sinatra nuts like myself.

Otto Preminger's Urban Poem
Before the advent of the French "New Wave," director Otto Preminger directed the highly stylized, realistic urban classic "The Man With the Golden Arm." Frank Sinatra was never consistently great as an actor, but his portrayal of heroin addict Frankie Machine is not only the best of his career, but one of the best for anybody's career, for that matter. Set in 1955, this was a pretty risky movie for its time, and was to drug addiction what Billy Wilder's 1945 "The Long Weekend" was to alcoholism: A no-holds-barred, unwhitewashed slice of reality.

Frankie's problem is that he wants to return to normalcy after being released from prison, and then a halfway house. Like the novelist says, "you write what you know," and likewise Frankie lives what he knows, and returns to his seedy Chicago neighborhood. From the moment of his uneventful return, normalcy -- his old life as a card dealer, his neurotic wife (Eleanor Parker) who feels too sorry for herself to help Frankie start clean with a new life, and a small-time heroin dealer, icily played by Darren McGavin -- tries to reel Frankie back into a dead-end routine and sink its hooks to keep him enslaved to his compulsions.

Frankie tries to embark on a new career as a jazz drummer, which provides the movie with the motifs for its streetwise "crime jazz" soundtrack, written by Elmer Bernstein. But, the cycle of addiction sets in lightning-quick because Frankie's wife wants him to bring home the money dealing cards again, which puts him smack dab in the company of the lowlifes he most desparately needs to avoid. Back at dealing, the local heroin dealer could not give a whit about Frankie staying clean; He's desparate to get Frankie to take that one fix and hook another regular customer.

Fortunately, Frankie finds salvation in the arms of Kim Novak, who was involved with Sinatra romantically at the time. Their relationship is a complex one, and Novak's empathy really comes through. Her hard-headed compassion in keeping Frankie away from a fix while he's sweating it out cold-turkey is riveting, because she's putting her own safety at risk. Even before modern theraputic terms like "in denial" were in vogue, we see Sinatra's character -- in the throes of his own addiction -- running down Novak's alcoholic boyfriend as a weakling who can't control his vices. It's beautifully handled, because the point is not to expose Frankie as a hypocrite, but to reveal his blindness to his own weaknesses. Frankie is a tragic hero of Shakesperian dimensions, but whose stage is set in a modern-day tenement.

Visually, this film is very striking, and is edited so that the montage is in rapid-fire sequence during crucial scenes. It's intercut in the same fashion as Saul Bass' pioneering title cutouts; Bass would go on to become Hollywood's most recognizable title designer, his sequences dominated by iconic graphics in movies such as Preminger's "Anatomy of a Murder," "Advise and Consent" and Hitchcock's "Vertigo" and "Psycho."

Of all Preminger's movies, this is the most cinematic. He would go on to use more laid-back camera setups and editing in movies like the one named above, and would break out into less intimate and more worldly settings with epics such as "The Cardinal" and "In Harm's Way."

"The Man With the Golden Arm" catches Preminger at the top of his form as it does his cast. McGavin would never again be so intense, and only in "The Manchurian Candidate" for Sinatra and "Vertigo" for Novak would such powerful, commited and well-written performances again come their way.

A great actor in an average film
Frank Sinatra impersonates a man who is the slave of his neighborhood in a big city that could be any metropolis. He is the slave of the powerful in this neighborhood because of his addiction to heroin, because of his being possessed by a girl who is in a wheel chair, though we know from the very start that she is acting the part of a handicapped girl. Thus enslaved by the local card-games organiser, the local heroin dealer and his responsibility towards the girl, without forgetting the local police, he is unable to realise his dream to become a drummer in some big jazz band...Frank Sinatra is particularly convincing in his part and his going cold turkey is marvellously depicted. A small film, maybe, but powerful and faith-carrying acting.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU

The Man With The Golden Arm
This budget release from the little known Passport Collector's Edition label is on par with older catalogue titles from major companies such as MGM and Columbia. The transfer is first class in both video and audio fidelity. This looks and sounds damn good for a 45 year old movie. The extras are also well worth viewing. These include brief interviews with Sinatra himself, composer Elmer Bernstein,and a host of others. Trailers to some other FS movies such as From Here to Eternity and The Manchurian Candidate round out this impressive dvd.This will probably be the definitive version of this film classic for the forseeable future. Well worth its budget price of $8.99. ... Read more

Amazon.com essential video

Cool and introspective, Otto Preminger's sleek, stylish Bonjour Tristesse is one of his most understated films. Jean Seberg stars as a spoiled teenager who acts with a high-society sophistication beyond her years, and dapper David Niven is her playboy father, going through young female playmates like socks. Flitting through the French jet set and comparing conquests, they summer on the gorgeous French Riviera, where mature fashion designer Deborah Kerr enters their lives and wins Niven's heart. Seeing an end to her lifestyle, Seberg plots an end to the relationship with equal parts conniving ruthlessness and juvenile prankishness, too self-absorbed to even consider the brutal results of her actions. Told in flashback from a sleek but shadowy black-and-white Paris, the film melts into the vivid Technicolor of memory. Seberg's voiceover narration is arch, but her impish, often petulant performance is perfect, as is Niven's flippant, womanizing bachelor father (Preminger lets their curious, flirtatious intimacy hang like an unanswered question and a nervous subtext). Kerr's middle-aged working woman seems almost puritanical compared to the irrepressible travelers, but under her rules and limits lies an honest concern for a "child" who believes herself an adult. Preminger's camera prowls through the drama just removed enough to be respectful, and intimate enough to get under the characters' skin. Like the best of his dramas, there are no heroes or villains, only complex, flawed, achingly sympathetic characters. --Sean Axmaker ... Read more

Reviews (9)

'Brilliant!"
This stylish film is one of Otto Preminger's best. The French New Wave has influenced him in his opening shots, but only on a visual level. This is pure Hollywood on ever other level. The melding of the two styles works perfectly and begins by setting the stark mood in stunning black and white widescreen shots of 1958 Paris. The present is painted in shades of grey and silver, where Cecile portrayed by the beautiful Jean Seaberg moves aimlessly thought her pointless upper crust Parisian life. Only when she encounters her father David Niven later in the evening does the past seep in on the edges of the cinemascope frame in vivid color and finally takes over moving us from the present to last summer on the Riviera. The device is used several times as we move from past to present and finally at the end of the film it creates a stunning effect once you know what suddenly happed to Cecile and her father last summer. The thing that changed everything forever and allows Preminger's camera to linger in the last frame of the film on Jean Seaberg as she wipes away the make-up from her perfect face.
David Niven is perfectly cast as Raymond the aging (...) father of Cecile. He has the cool style and humor of a man who can't commit to any woman and treats his daughter like a playmate rather than his child. His particular talents as an actor are that he seems to be playing the "David Niven" character in most of his films but here in 'Bonjour' as he often does in so many roles he makes a nice little twist on the "character". He catches you off guard to wrench his and the audiences emotions and prove once again what a good actor he is.
At first Deborah Kerr also seems to be playing her role by rote but it is just a ruse to set us up for her fall. As does Niven she too digs deeper in to her persona as Anne Larson and carries the film to its surprise ending. She is a joy to watch as a film actress and here she is particularly wonderful.
The French actress Mylene Demongeout is delightful as Elsa, Ramon's summer plaything. She is in fact 'Brilliant!" in the role.
Geoffrey Horne is decorative and serviceable in his role as Cecile's beau who awakens her (...) .
Jean Seaberg who with her short cropped spiked hair in certain shots reminded me of Sharon Stone has that kind of blonde goddess look that Miss Stone possesses. She was only 19 when she made the film and in the hands of her director she presents us with a sensitive and spellbinding performance as Cecile. She is at once a teenager in turmoil and a young girl on the verge of becoming a woman. This is a delicate high wire act that the young Miss Seaberg executes with charm and elegance. She is festinating to watch and just right for the role.
The subject matter is even today a little shocking and indeed this is one of the films of the 1950's that put the sin in Cinemascope. Despite the restrictions of the day or because of them filmmakers of that time were challenged in ways they are not today. Challenged to be inventive and insinuate things that we were too innocent or too naive to know happen in the world. Those filmmakers knew that the imagination is more vivid and titillating than what they might show. It was good that the antiquated production code of the Hayes office crumbled in the 60's but with it's passing we lost a whole vocabulary in film. Here is a wonderful example of the meeting of the Movies and 50's cinematic innuendo that serves this delicate story to a tee. I think "Bonjour Tristesse" is 'Brilliant!'

Hello, Gorgeous!
BONJOUR TRISTESSE, like many Preminger films, is ripe for reevaluation, and this spiffy new DVD transfer may help spur on that long-overdue second look. Seberg's performance was much-maligned in its day, but she looks smashing here and acts with considerable wit and poise; our girl's a long way from Marshalltown. True, vocally she's perhaps not ideal, but certainly sounds as Gallic as co-stars Kerr and Niven. The material plays with all three stars' images in fascinating ways; Seberg's ingenue is lethal, Kerr, frequently neurotic, was never presented as a creature of such moral ambiguity, and Niven's all suave facade covering inner corruption, in a performance akin to his Oscar-winning turn in SEPARATE TABLES. Wonderful location photography, and great fun to hear the title tune keep turning up in a variety of arrangements, in best 50's-movie-theme-song tradition. The comparison others have made on this site to the glorious Sirk melodramas is apt; the picture transcends genre in many of the same ways. Preminger and company manage to get under your skin.

An Impressive Film in all Aspects! Why?
This film has several elements that are worth noting. First, it is an accurate account of the empty, amoral, flamboyant and insensitive life in the French "high-life" during the late 50's/early 60's. Told in flashback, the story shows the way the central characters behave, have fun, hurt people and get to a point when "have fun" is just a way of forgetting.

The whole cast is excelent. David Niven is the most perfect "late life" bachelor who is cool about everything. Jean Seberg is absolutely beautiful as a teenager who practically lives as a woman... the chemistry of the two characters (father and daughter) is fantastic (and very puzzling). Deborah Kerr has also a great role as a sophisticated woman who doesn't get to understand the games going on between father and daughter.

The film has a beautiful cinematography. It opens in a dark black and white while all the flashback scenes are in the most fantastic colors - a perfect example how cinematography serves to enhance the character's point of view and (also) tell the story at a visual level.

The final scene is something that will stay in your memory for a long time as a great example of a great conclusion for a story that is rich and well written.

This film is a serious study of aloofness, emptyness and amorality in a way that only Hollywood could tell. It shows that money can buy off some consciences while, deep inside, some consiences cannot be bought.

A trully great cinematic experience!!!
This DVD edition has no extras (except for trailers). The image quality is first rate. So is sound quality. The opening titles (by Saul Bass, no less!) is gorgeous! The cinemascope cinematography by Georges Perinal begs to be viewd in a big screen. The music score by the great Georges Auric ("Rififi" and "La Bele et la Bête") is top.

A nice, stylish period piece
Jean Seabourg and David Niven co-star in this stylish uncoming-of-age drama about a carefree, swinging widower and his equally irresponsible daughter, Cecile, a cynical teenage flirt who acts as the film's narrator. They are on vacation on the French Riviera, along with Elke, an adorable, airheaded European party girl who is there as dad's date and Cecile's playmate, right up until she gets dumped in favor of a hotter prospect. Cecile thinks the new gal will be just another one of Dad's little conquests, the ones they laugh about between chic parties and social calls, but when the new relationship turns serious, with Niven about to settle down with a mature-minded woman who may force Cecile to take her own actions seriously, the girl rebels and determines to undo the tryst. In some ways, the plot seems somewhat simple and uneventful, although this seeming flatness is actually a reflection of the shallowness of the character's emotional lives. Directed by Otto Preminger, this flick is packed with stylish cinematography and equally chic clothes, arch dialogue and great on-location scenery... It may not be a real classic, or a soul-moving work of art, but it is quite entertaining and very nice to watch.

Overlooked masterpiece.
Premminger was a superb director who was greatly appreciated in his day but for some reason is relatively ignored today. Bonjour Tristesse is by far his best and most underrated film, it is a melodrama of sorts but if you're a fan of Douglas Sirk movies like Imitation of Life and Written On The wind then you will love this. Based on the novel of the same name by Francoise Sagan, (apparently regarded as the French`Catcher in the Rye') it's an intelligent and moving film about a daughter,(Seberg) jealous of her father's, (Niven) new lover, (Deborah Kerr.)

There's much more to this movie than meets the eye. A black and white present day with the past in colour, the relationship between Seberg and Niven, dubiously close and intimate, the countryside and woods in front of the house, haunting and almost surreal in their depiction. Jean Luc Goddard was apparently a huge fan, Seberg's character in Tristesse was imagined as a continuation in A Bout De Souffle. Deeply moving, intelligent and beautiful, it's an absolute classic that will grow in stature, the Premminger reappraisal begins with this movie. ... Read more

Product Description

Frank Sinatra classic..skilled card player and former heroin addict returns from jail finding it hard to find a new livelyhood. ... Read more

Reviews (9)

Sinatra at his best!!
This has got to be one of the best movies ever made which has depicted the heroin addict and his predicament. Frank Sinatra, in one of his earlier roles, plays the part of an ex-convict/drug addict who returns back to the "old neighborhood," and wants to "come clean," and pursue a career as a big band drummer, but he unfortunately comes face to face with the "dealer" (Darren McGavin) and things cook from there. McGavin is a wonderful portrayal of the neighborhood supplier who keeps baiting Sinatra and baiting him until the he cannot say no any longer. Coupled with his own domestic situation, which I dare not give away, but only to tell you that the ensemble cast which makes up this movie is outstanding. The soundtrack is pulsating and keeps your adrenaline moving upward, and that is one of the most unnerving parts of the film, and one which keeps you on the edge of your seat, as the saying goes. This could be classified as a family movie, as there is no sex, nudity, profanity, but only the theme of drug addiction, and a family could watch this film and discuss these issues in an enlightened way. Sinatra once said he thought he should've gotten an Oscar for this movie, and I agree. Highly recommended!!!

An interesting mix of outstanding and plodding sequences
...the most prominent aspects of the movie - Sinatra's unquestionably great performance, Preminger's use of compelling camera angles, the prominently placed Berstein Jazz score, and Novak's performance. All of which are true and I agree that most of these combine to create a positive impression of this movie.

The best sequences in the movie involve Sinatra in the realm of men (and I mean Men as opposed to human) - when dealing the several day long card game while still trying to keep focused on the important audition Monday morning, the interchanges with the appealingly slimy heroin dealer (greasily played by Darrin McGavin in one of his best roles) while succumbing to the pull of the junkie, the failed musical audition, and the outstanding bit when he resolves to kick the habit cold-turkey. All of these were worth watching several times - thank God for chapter selections on DVD.

However, the movie is not perfect, and there are several things that can be readily cited as significant faults. The possessive and yet still possessed wife (Eleanor Parker) was a one-note performance: hysteria. Preminger needed to significantly pull back that character from the precipice that she fell off (long before she literally falls off). The first scene with her and Frankie upon his return home is the only one that was interesting and believable, all others were maudlin and overdone. She clearly had the acting chops to turn in a fascinating performance, as indicated by this first scene. Her character should have been one of the most pivotal in the movie, as she is the reason why Frankie returns and she inadvertently provides the key to his freedom when she gives herself up after killing the heroin dealer. As it is, scenes with her in it are mostly unwatchable.

The sycophantic toady friend of Frankie (Arnold Stang) was, I suppose, intended to be funny, but he is such an undeveloped stereotype as to be merely annoying. He greatly hindered my enjoyment of the movie.

Also the pacing at times really dragged at several points, most notably even during the great sequence with Sinatra kicking the habit. The rather long running time (119 minutes) could have been easily shortened by at least 20 minutes with some simple editing and tightening. Similarly, although the musical score was interesting and compelling - it tied in with Frankie's newly resolved ambition and nicely placed the movie among the heroin junkie jazz lifestyle of the time - it could have been much better utilized. One refrain in particular that recurs so often as to be annoying and at such a loud volume as to be distracting. It is a perfect example of how great music can be diminished by misapplication.

That all being said, these detractions do not so significantly reduce the movie that I would not heartily recommend it to my friends. Dated and imperfect it may be, but it is still compelling and immensely watchable - and not just for Sinatra nuts like myself.

Otto Preminger's Urban Poem
Before the advent of the French "New Wave," director Otto Preminger directed the highly stylized, realistic urban classic "The Man With the Golden Arm." Frank Sinatra was never consistently great as an actor, but his portrayal of heroin addict Frankie Machine is not only the best of his career, but one of the best for anybody's career, for that matter. Set in 1955, this was a pretty risky movie for its time, and was to drug addiction what Billy Wilder's 1945 "The Long Weekend" was to alcoholism: A no-holds-barred, unwhitewashed slice of reality.

Frankie's problem is that he wants to return to normalcy after being released from prison, and then a halfway house. Like the novelist says, "you write what you know," and likewise Frankie lives what he knows, and returns to his seedy Chicago neighborhood. From the moment of his uneventful return, normalcy -- his old life as a card dealer, his neurotic wife (Eleanor Parker) who feels too sorry for herself to help Frankie start clean with a new life, and a small-time heroin dealer, icily played by Darren McGavin -- tries to reel Frankie back into a dead-end routine and sink its hooks to keep him enslaved to his compulsions.

Frankie tries to embark on a new career as a jazz drummer, which provides the movie with the motifs for its streetwise "crime jazz" soundtrack, written by Elmer Bernstein. But, the cycle of addiction sets in lightning-quick because Frankie's wife wants him to bring home the money dealing cards again, which puts him smack dab in the company of the lowlifes he most desparately needs to avoid. Back at dealing, the local heroin dealer could not give a whit about Frankie staying clean; He's desparate to get Frankie to take that one fix and hook another regular customer.

Fortunately, Frankie finds salvation in the arms of Kim Novak, who was involved with Sinatra romantically at the time. Their relationship is a complex one, and Novak's empathy really comes through. Her hard-headed compassion in keeping Frankie away from a fix while he's sweating it out cold-turkey is riveting, because she's putting her own safety at risk. Even before modern theraputic terms like "in denial" were in vogue, we see Sinatra's character -- in the throes of his own addiction -- running down Novak's alcoholic boyfriend as a weakling who can't control his vices. It's beautifully handled, because the point is not to expose Frankie as a hypocrite, but to reveal his blindness to his own weaknesses. Frankie is a tragic hero of Shakesperian dimensions, but whose stage is set in a modern-day tenement.

Visually, this film is very striking, and is edited so that the montage is in rapid-fire sequence during crucial scenes. It's intercut in the same fashion as Saul Bass' pioneering title cutouts; Bass would go on to become Hollywood's most recognizable title designer, his sequences dominated by iconic graphics in movies such as Preminger's "Anatomy of a Murder," "Advise and Consent" and Hitchcock's "Vertigo" and "Psycho."

Of all Preminger's movies, this is the most cinematic. He would go on to use more laid-back camera setups and editing in movies like the one named above, and would break out into less intimate and more worldly settings with epics such as "The Cardinal" and "In Harm's Way."

"The Man With the Golden Arm" catches Preminger at the top of his form as it does his cast. McGavin would never again be so intense, and only in "The Manchurian Candidate" for Sinatra and "Vertigo" for Novak would such powerful, commited and well-written performances again come their way.

A great actor in an average film
Frank Sinatra impersonates a man who is the slave of his neighborhood in a big city that could be any metropolis. He is the slave of the powerful in this neighborhood because of his addiction to heroin, because of his being possessed by a girl who is in a wheel chair, though we know from the very start that she is acting the part of a handicapped girl. Thus enslaved by the local card-games organiser, the local heroin dealer and his responsibility towards the girl, without forgetting the local police, he is unable to realise his dream to become a drummer in some big jazz band...Frank Sinatra is particularly convincing in his part and his going cold turkey is marvellously depicted. A small film, maybe, but powerful and faith-carrying acting.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU

The Man With The Golden Arm
This budget release from the little known Passport Collector's Edition label is on par with older catalogue titles from major companies such as MGM and Columbia. The transfer is first class in both video and audio fidelity. This looks and sounds damn good for a 45 year old movie. The extras are also well worth viewing. These include brief interviews with Sinatra himself, composer Elmer Bernstein,and a host of others. Trailers to some other FS movies such as From Here to Eternity and The Manchurian Candidate round out this impressive dvd.This will probably be the definitive version of this film classic for the forseeable future. Well worth its budget price of $8.99. ... Read more

Product Description

Frank Sinatra classic..skilled card player and former heroin addict returns from jail finding it hard to find a new livelyhood. ... Read more

Reviews (9)

Sinatra at his best!!
This has got to be one of the best movies ever made which has depicted the heroin addict and his predicament. Frank Sinatra, in one of his earlier roles, plays the part of an ex-convict/drug addict who returns back to the "old neighborhood," and wants to "come clean," and pursue a career as a big band drummer, but he unfortunately comes face to face with the "dealer" (Darren McGavin) and things cook from there. McGavin is a wonderful portrayal of the neighborhood supplier who keeps baiting Sinatra and baiting him until the he cannot say no any longer. Coupled with his own domestic situation, which I dare not give away, but only to tell you that the ensemble cast which makes up this movie is outstanding. The soundtrack is pulsating and keeps your adrenaline moving upward, and that is one of the most unnerving parts of the film, and one which keeps you on the edge of your seat, as the saying goes. This could be classified as a family movie, as there is no sex, nudity, profanity, but only the theme of drug addiction, and a family could watch this film and discuss these issues in an enlightened way. Sinatra once said he thought he should've gotten an Oscar for this movie, and I agree. Highly recommended!!!

An interesting mix of outstanding and plodding sequences
...the most prominent aspects of the movie - Sinatra's unquestionably great performance, Preminger's use of compelling camera angles, the prominently placed Berstein Jazz score, and Novak's performance. All of which are true and I agree that most of these combine to create a positive impression of this movie.

The best sequences in the movie involve Sinatra in the realm of men (and I mean Men as opposed to human) - when dealing the several day long card game while still trying to keep focused on the important audition Monday morning, the interchanges with the appealingly slimy heroin dealer (greasily played by Darrin McGavin in one of his best roles) while succumbing to the pull of the junkie, the failed musical audition, and the outstanding bit when he resolves to kick the habit cold-turkey. All of these were worth watching several times - thank God for chapter selections on DVD.

However, the movie is not perfect, and there are several things that can be readily cited as significant faults. The possessive and yet still possessed wife (Eleanor Parker) was a one-note performance: hysteria. Preminger needed to significantly pull back that character from the precipice that she fell off (long before she literally falls off). The first scene with her and Frankie upon his return home is the only one that was interesting and believable, all others were maudlin and overdone. She clearly had the acting chops to turn in a fascinating performance, as indicated by this first scene. Her character should have been one of the most pivotal in the movie, as she is the reason why Frankie returns and she inadvertently provides the key to his freedom when she gives herself up after killing the heroin dealer. As it is, scenes with her in it are mostly unwatchable.

The sycophantic toady friend of Frankie (Arnold Stang) was, I suppose, intended to be funny, but he is such an undeveloped stereotype as to be merely annoying. He greatly hindered my enjoyment of the movie.

Also the pacing at times really dragged at several points, most notably even during the great sequence with Sinatra kicking the habit. The rather long running time (119 minutes) could have been easily shortened by at least 20 minutes with some simple editing and tightening. Similarly, although the musical score was interesting and compelling - it tied in with Frankie's newly resolved ambition and nicely placed the movie among the heroin junkie jazz lifestyle of the time - it could have been much better utilized. One refrain in particular that recurs so often as to be annoying and at such a loud volume as to be distracting. It is a perfect example of how great music can be diminished by misapplication.

That all being said, these detractions do not so significantly reduce the movie that I would not heartily recommend it to my friends. Dated and imperfect it may be, but it is still compelling and immensely watchable - and not just for Sinatra nuts like myself.

Otto Preminger's Urban Poem
Before the advent of the French "New Wave," director Otto Preminger directed the highly stylized, realistic urban classic "The Man With the Golden Arm." Frank Sinatra was never consistently great as an actor, but his portrayal of heroin addict Frankie Machine is not only the best of his career, but one of the best for anybody's career, for that matter. Set in 1955, this was a pretty risky movie for its time, and was to drug addiction what Billy Wilder's 1945 "The Long Weekend" was to alcoholism: A no-holds-barred, unwhitewashed slice of reality.

Frankie's problem is that he wants to return to normalcy after being released from prison, and then a halfway house. Like the novelist says, "you write what you know," and likewise Frankie lives what he knows, and returns to his seedy Chicago neighborhood. From the moment of his uneventful return, normalcy -- his old life as a card dealer, his neurotic wife (Eleanor Parker) who feels too sorry for herself to help Frankie start clean with a new life, and a small-time heroin dealer, icily played by Darren McGavin -- tries to reel Frankie back into a dead-end routine and sink its hooks to keep him enslaved to his compulsions.

Frankie tries to embark on a new career as a jazz drummer, which provides the movie with the motifs for its streetwise "crime jazz" soundtrack, written by Elmer Bernstein. But, the cycle of addiction sets in lightning-quick because Frankie's wife wants him to bring home the money dealing cards again, which puts him smack dab in the company of the lowlifes he most desparately needs to avoid. Back at dealing, the local heroin dealer could not give a whit about Frankie staying clean; He's desparate to get Frankie to take that one fix and hook another regular customer.

Fortunately, Frankie finds salvation in the arms of Kim Novak, who was involved with Sinatra romantically at the time. Their relationship is a complex one, and Novak's empathy really comes through. Her hard-headed compassion in keeping Frankie away from a fix while he's sweating it out cold-turkey is riveting, because she's putting her own safety at risk. Even before modern theraputic terms like "in denial" were in vogue, we see Sinatra's character -- in the throes of his own addiction -- running down Novak's alcoholic boyfriend as a weakling who can't control his vices. It's beautifully handled, because the point is not to expose Frankie as a hypocrite, but to reveal his blindness to his own weaknesses. Frankie is a tragic hero of Shakesperian dimensions, but whose stage is set in a modern-day tenement.

Visually, this film is very striking, and is edited so that the montage is in rapid-fire sequence during crucial scenes. It's intercut in the same fashion as Saul Bass' pioneering title cutouts; Bass would go on to become Hollywood's most recognizable title designer, his sequences dominated by iconic graphics in movies such as Preminger's "Anatomy of a Murder," "Advise and Consent" and Hitchcock's "Vertigo" and "Psycho."

Of all Preminger's movies, this is the most cinematic. He would go on to use more laid-back camera setups and editing in movies like the one named above, and would break out into less intimate and more worldly settings with epics such as "The Cardinal" and "In Harm's Way."

"The Man With the Golden Arm" catches Preminger at the top of his form as it does his cast. McGavin would never again be so intense, and only in "The Manchurian Candidate" for Sinatra and "Vertigo" for Novak would such powerful, commited and well-written performances again come their way.

A great actor in an average film
Frank Sinatra impersonates a man who is the slave of his neighborhood in a big city that could be any metropolis. He is the slave of the powerful in this neighborhood because of his addiction to heroin, because of his being possessed by a girl who is in a wheel chair, though we know from the very start that she is acting the part of a handicapped girl. Thus enslaved by the local card-games organiser, the local heroin dealer and his responsibility towards the girl, without forgetting the local police, he is unable to realise his dream to become a drummer in some big jazz band...Frank Sinatra is particularly convincing in his part and his going cold turkey is marvellously depicted. A small film, maybe, but powerful and faith-carrying acting.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU

The Man With The Golden Arm
This budget release from the little known Passport Collector's Edition label is on par with older catalogue titles from major companies such as MGM and Columbia. The transfer is first class in both video and audio fidelity. This looks and sounds damn good for a 45 year old movie. The extras are also well worth viewing. These include brief interviews with Sinatra himself, composer Elmer Bernstein,and a host of others. Trailers to some other FS movies such as From Here to Eternity and The Manchurian Candidate round out this impressive dvd.This will probably be the definitive version of this film classic for the forseeable future. Well worth its budget price of $8.99. ... Read more

Product Description

Frank Sinatra classic..skilled card player and former heroin addict returns from jail finding it hard to find a new livelyhood. ... Read more

Reviews (9)

Sinatra at his best!!
This has got to be one of the best movies ever made which has depicted the heroin addict and his predicament. Frank Sinatra, in one of his earlier roles, plays the part of an ex-convict/drug addict who returns back to the "old neighborhood," and wants to "come clean," and pursue a career as a big band drummer, but he unfortunately comes face to face with the "dealer" (Darren McGavin) and things cook from there. McGavin is a wonderful portrayal of the neighborhood supplier who keeps baiting Sinatra and baiting him until the he cannot say no any longer. Coupled with his own domestic situation, which I dare not give away, but only to tell you that the ensemble cast which makes up this movie is outstanding. The soundtrack is pulsating and keeps your adrenaline moving upward, and that is one of the most unnerving parts of the film, and one which keeps you on the edge of your seat, as the saying goes. This could be classified as a family movie, as there is no sex, nudity, profanity, but only the theme of drug addiction, and a family could watch this film and discuss these issues in an enlightened way. Sinatra once said he thought he should've gotten an Oscar for this movie, and I agree. Highly recommended!!!

An interesting mix of outstanding and plodding sequences
...the most prominent aspects of the movie - Sinatra's unquestionably great performance, Preminger's use of compelling camera angles, the prominently placed Berstein Jazz score, and Novak's performance. All of which are true and I agree that most of these combine to create a positive impression of this movie.

The best sequences in the movie involve Sinatra in the realm of men (and I mean Men as opposed to human) - when dealing the several day long card game while still trying to keep focused on the important audition Monday morning, the interchanges with the appealingly slimy heroin dealer (greasily played by Darrin McGavin in one of his best roles) while succumbing to the pull of the junkie, the failed musical audition, and the outstanding bit when he resolves to kick the habit cold-turkey. All of these were worth watching several times - thank God for chapter selections on DVD.

However, the movie is not perfect, and there are several things that can be readily cited as significant faults. The possessive and yet still possessed wife (Eleanor Parker) was a one-note performance: hysteria. Preminger needed to significantly pull back that character from the precipice that she fell off (long before she literally falls off). The first scene with her and Frankie upon his return home is the only one that was interesting and believable, all others were maudlin and overdone. She clearly had the acting chops to turn in a fascinating performance, as indicated by this first scene. Her character should have been one of the most pivotal in the movie, as she is the reason why Frankie returns and she inadvertently provides the key to his freedom when she gives herself up after killing the heroin dealer. As it is, scenes with her in it are mostly unwatchable.

The sycophantic toady friend of Frankie (Arnold Stang) was, I suppose, intended to be funny, but he is such an undeveloped stereotype as to be merely annoying. He greatly hindered my enjoyment of the movie.

Also the pacing at times really dragged at several points, most notably even during the great sequence with Sinatra kicking the habit. The rather long running time (119 minutes) could have been easily shortened by at least 20 minutes with some simple editing and tightening. Similarly, although the musical score was interesting and compelling - it tied in with Frankie's newly resolved ambition and nicely placed the movie among the heroin junkie jazz lifestyle of the time - it could have been much better utilized. One refrain in particular that recurs so often as to be annoying and at such a loud volume as to be distracting. It is a perfect example of how great music can be diminished by misapplication.

That all being said, these detractions do not so significantly reduce the movie that I would not heartily recommend it to my friends. Dated and imperfect it may be, but it is still compelling and immensely watchable - and not just for Sinatra nuts like myself.

Otto Preminger's Urban Poem
Before the advent of the French "New Wave," director Otto Preminger directed the highly stylized, realistic urban classic "The Man With the Golden Arm." Frank Sinatra was never consistently great as an actor, but his portrayal of heroin addict Frankie Machine is not only the best of his career, but one of the best for anybody's career, for that matter. Set in 1955, this was a pretty risky movie for its time, and was to drug addiction what Billy Wilder's 1945 "The Long Weekend" was to alcoholism: A no-holds-barred, unwhitewashed slice of reality.

Frankie's problem is that he wants to return to normalcy after being released from prison, and then a halfway house. Like the novelist says, "you write what you know," and likewise Frankie lives what he knows, and returns to his seedy Chicago neighborhood. From the moment of his uneventful return, normalcy -- his old life as a card dealer, his neurotic wife (Eleanor Parker) who feels too sorry for herself to help Frankie start clean with a new life, and a small-time heroin dealer, icily played by Darren McGavin -- tries to reel Frankie back into a dead-end routine and sink its hooks to keep him enslaved to his compulsions.

Frankie tries to embark on a new career as a jazz drummer, which provides the movie with the motifs for its streetwise "crime jazz" soundtrack, written by Elmer Bernstein. But, the cycle of addiction sets in lightning-quick because Frankie's wife wants him to bring home the money dealing cards again, which puts him smack dab in the company of the lowlifes he most desparately needs to avoid. Back at dealing, the local heroin dealer could not give a whit about Frankie staying clean; He's desparate to get Frankie to take that one fix and hook another regular customer.

Fortunately, Frankie finds salvation in the arms of Kim Novak, who was involved with Sinatra romantically at the time. Their relationship is a complex one, and Novak's empathy really comes through. Her hard-headed compassion in keeping Frankie away from a fix while he's sweating it out cold-turkey is riveting, because she's putting her own safety at risk. Even before modern theraputic terms like "in denial" were in vogue, we see Sinatra's character -- in the throes of his own addiction -- running down Novak's alcoholic boyfriend as a weakling who can't control his vices. It's beautifully handled, because the point is not to expose Frankie as a hypocrite, but to reveal his blindness to his own weaknesses. Frankie is a tragic hero of Shakesperian dimensions, but whose stage is set in a modern-day tenement.

Visually, this film is very striking, and is edited so that the montage is in rapid-fire sequence during crucial scenes. It's intercut in the same fashion as Saul Bass' pioneering title cutouts; Bass would go on to become Hollywood's most recognizable title designer, his sequences dominated by iconic graphics in movies such as Preminger's "Anatomy of a Murder," "Advise and Consent" and Hitchcock's "Vertigo" and "Psycho."

Of all Preminger's movies, this is the most cinematic. He would go on to use more laid-back camera setups and editing in movies like the one named above, and would break out into less intimate and more worldly settings with epics such as "The Cardinal" and "In Harm's Way."

"The Man With the Golden Arm" catches Preminger at the top of his form as it does his cast. McGavin would never again be so intense, and only in "The Manchurian Candidate" for Sinatra and "Vertigo" for Novak would such powerful, commited and well-written performances again come their way.

A great actor in an average film
Frank Sinatra impersonates a man who is the slave of his neighborhood in a big city that could be any metropolis. He is the slave of the powerful in this neighborhood because of his addiction to heroin, because of his being possessed by a girl who is in a wheel chair, though we know from the very start that she is acting the part of a handicapped girl. Thus enslaved by the local card-games organiser, the local heroin dealer and his responsibility towards the girl, without forgetting the local police, he is unable to realise his dream to become a drummer in some big jazz band...Frank Sinatra is particularly convincing in his part and his going cold turkey is marvellously depicted. A small film, maybe, but powerful and faith-carrying acting.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU

The Man With The Golden Arm
This budget release from the little known Passport Collector's Edition label is on par with older catalogue titles from major companies such as MGM and Columbia. The transfer is first class in both video and audio fidelity. This looks and sounds damn good for a 45 year old movie. The extras are also well worth viewing. These include brief interviews with Sinatra himself, composer Elmer Bernstein,and a host of others. Trailers to some other FS movies such as From Here to Eternity and The Manchurian Candidate round out this impressive dvd.This will probably be the definitive version of this film classic for the forseeable future. Well worth its budget price of $8.99. ... Read more

Product Description

Frank Sinatra classic..skilled card player and former heroin addict returns from jail finding it hard to find a new livelyhood. ... Read more

Reviews (9)

Sinatra at his best!!
This has got to be one of the best movies ever made which has depicted the heroin addict and his predicament. Frank Sinatra, in one of his earlier roles, plays the part of an ex-convict/drug addict who returns back to the "old neighborhood," and wants to "come clean," and pursue a career as a big band drummer, but he unfortunately comes face to face with the "dealer" (Darren McGavin) and things cook from there. McGavin is a wonderful portrayal of the neighborhood supplier who keeps baiting Sinatra and baiting him until the he cannot say no any longer. Coupled with his own domestic situation, which I dare not give away, but only to tell you that the ensemble cast which makes up this movie is outstanding. The soundtrack is pulsating and keeps your adrenaline moving upward, and that is one of the most unnerving parts of the film, and one which keeps you on the edge of your seat, as the saying goes. This could be classified as a family movie, as there is no sex, nudity, profanity, but only the theme of drug addiction, and a family could watch this film and discuss these issues in an enlightened way. Sinatra once said he thought he should've gotten an Oscar for this movie, and I agree. Highly recommended!!!

An interesting mix of outstanding and plodding sequences
...the most prominent aspects of the movie - Sinatra's unquestionably great performance, Preminger's use of compelling camera angles, the prominently placed Berstein Jazz score, and Novak's performance. All of which are true and I agree that most of these combine to create a positive impression of this movie.

The best sequences in the movie involve Sinatra in the realm of men (and I mean Men as opposed to human) - when dealing the several day long card game while still trying to keep focused on the important audition Monday morning, the interchanges with the appealingly slimy heroin dealer (greasily played by Darrin McGavin in one of his best roles) while succumbing to the pull of the junkie, the failed musical audition, and the outstanding bit when he resolves to kick the habit cold-turkey. All of these were worth watching several times - thank God for chapter selections on DVD.

However, the movie is not perfect, and there are several things that can be readily cited as significant faults. The possessive and yet still possessed wife (Eleanor Parker) was a one-note performance: hysteria. Preminger needed to significantly pull back that character from the precipice that she fell off (long before she literally falls off). The first scene with her and Frankie upon his return home is the only one that was interesting and believable, all others were maudlin and overdone. She clearly had the acting chops to turn in a fascinating performance, as indicated by this first scene. Her character should have been one of the most pivotal in the movie, as she is the reason why Frankie returns and she inadvertently provides the key to his freedom when she gives herself up after killing the heroin dealer. As it is, scenes with her in it are mostly unwatchable.

The sycophantic toady friend of Frankie (Arnold Stang) was, I suppose, intended to be funny, but he is such an undeveloped stereotype as to be merely annoying. He greatly hindered my enjoyment of the movie.

Also the pacing at times really dragged at several points, most notably even during the great sequence with Sinatra kicking the habit. The rather long running time (119 minutes) could have been easily shortened by at least 20 minutes with some simple editing and tightening. Similarly, although the musical score was interesting and compelling - it tied in with Frankie's newly resolved ambition and nicely placed the movie among the heroin junkie jazz lifestyle of the time - it could have been much better utilized. One refrain in particular that recurs so often as to be annoying and at such a loud volume as to be distracting. It is a perfect example of how great music can be diminished by misapplication.

That all being said, these detractions do not so significantly reduce the movie that I would not heartily recommend it to my friends. Dated and imperfect it may be, but it is still compelling and immensely watchable - and not just for Sinatra nuts like myself.

Otto Preminger's Urban Poem
Before the advent of the French "New Wave," director Otto Preminger directed the highly stylized, realistic urban classic "The Man With the Golden Arm." Frank Sinatra was never consistently great as an actor, but his portrayal of heroin addict Frankie Machine is not only the best of his career, but one of the best for anybody's career, for that matter. Set in 1955, this was a pretty risky movie for its time, and was to drug addiction what Billy Wilder's 1945 "The Long Weekend" was to alcoholism: A no-holds-barred, unwhitewashed slice of reality.

Frankie's problem is that he wants to return to normalcy after being released from prison, and then a halfway house. Like the novelist says, "you write what you know," and likewise Frankie lives what he knows, and returns to his seedy Chicago neighborhood. From the moment of his uneventful return, normalcy -- his old life as a card dealer, his neurotic wife (Eleanor Parker) who feels too sorry for herself to help Frankie start clean with a new life, and a small-time heroin dealer, icily played by Darren McGavin -- tries to reel Frankie back into a dead-end routine and sink its hooks to keep him enslaved to his compulsions.

Frankie tries to embark on a new career as a jazz drummer, which provides the movie with the motifs for its streetwise "crime jazz" soundtrack, written by Elmer Bernstein. But, the cycle of addiction sets in lightning-quick because Frankie's wife wants him to bring home the money dealing cards again, which puts him smack dab in the company of the lowlifes he most desparately needs to avoid. Back at dealing, the local heroin dealer could not give a whit about Frankie staying clean; He's desparate to get Frankie to take that one fix and hook another regular customer.

Fortunately, Frankie finds salvation in the arms of Kim Novak, who was involved with Sinatra romantically at the time. Their relationship is a complex one, and Novak's empathy really comes through. Her hard-headed compassion in keeping Frankie away from a fix while he's sweating it out cold-turkey is riveting, because she's putting her own safety at risk. Even before modern theraputic terms like "in denial" were in vogue, we see Sinatra's character -- in the throes of his own addiction -- running down Novak's alcoholic boyfriend as a weakling who can't control his vices. It's beautifully handled, because the point is not to expose Frankie as a hypocrite, but to reveal his blindness to his own weaknesses. Frankie is a tragic hero of Shakesperian dimensions, but whose stage is set in a modern-day tenement.

Visually, this film is very striking, and is edited so that the montage is in rapid-fire sequence during crucial scenes. It's intercut in the same fashion as Saul Bass' pioneering title cutouts; Bass would go on to become Hollywood's most recognizable title designer, his sequences dominated by iconic graphics in movies such as Preminger's "Anatomy of a Murder," "Advise and Consent" and Hitchcock's "Vertigo" and "Psycho."

Of all Preminger's movies, this is the most cinematic. He would go on to use more laid-back camera setups and editing in movies like the one named above, and would break out into less intimate and more worldly settings with epics such as "The Cardinal" and "In Harm's Way."

"The Man With the Golden Arm" catches Preminger at the top of his form as it does his cast. McGavin would never again be so intense, and only in "The Manchurian Candidate" for Sinatra and "Vertigo" for Novak would such powerful, commited and well-written performances again come their way.

A great actor in an average film
Frank Sinatra impersonates a man who is the slave of his neighborhood in a big city that could be any metropolis. He is the slave of the powerful in this neighborhood because of his addiction to heroin, because of his being possessed by a girl who is in a wheel chair, though we know from the very start that she is acting the part of a handicapped girl. Thus enslaved by the local card-games organiser, the local heroin dealer and his responsibility towards the girl, without forgetting the local police, he is unable to realise his dream to become a drummer in some big jazz band...Frank Sinatra is particularly convincing in his part and his going cold turkey is marvellously depicted. A small film, maybe, but powerful and faith-carrying acting.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU

The Man With The Golden Arm
This budget release from the little known Passport Collector's Edition label is on par with older catalogue titles from major companies such as MGM and Columbia. The transfer is first class in both video and audio fidelity. This looks and sounds damn good for a 45 year old movie. The extras are also well worth viewing. These include brief interviews with Sinatra himself, composer Elmer Bernstein,and a host of others. Trailers to some other FS movies such as From Here to Eternity and The Manchurian Candidate round out this impressive dvd.This will probably be the definitive version of this film classic for the forseeable future. Well worth its budget price of $8.99. ... Read more

Amazon.com essential video

Otto Preminger's 1960 adaptation of Leon Uris's novel is a sprawling 220-minute tale of the founding of modern Israel, starring Paul Newman as a Resistance leader. The film works best as an example of Preminger's estimable skill with all levels of drama and action, but as a reflection upon history it is compromised by stereotypes, unpersuasive relationships, and a certain moral ambivalence about issues related to the subject. There are good and exciting sequences, however, particularly one involving an effort to break through a British blockade and get to the homeland. --Tom Keogh ... Read more

Reviews (52)

See Exodus
The screenplay by Dalton Trumbo differs from the book but captured the essence of the story of Exodus. A close obsever and listner will learn much of the climate and environment of the time, noted scene, the broadcasting of news to refugees aboard the Exodus while declaring a hunger strike in a harbor on the island of Cyprus. Paul Newman is not particularly strong as Ari Ben Cannon. The character in the book was a bit more masculine. Eva Marie Saint and Sal Mineo are great, and Sir Ralph Richardson. Sal Mineo desrved an oscar. Otto Priminger was atypical for the day, choosing to film outside of a sound stage on location as much as possible. There are mistakes, shadows of the camera on the faces of actors at times but his unique style of direction is the film's power. Ernest Gold's score is stirring and powerful and beautiful. Some may find the story telling a bit slow by today's standards. If patient, a complex, historical and significant drama will unfold. This is an excellent film. See Schindler's List first and then Exodus. Actually, the sequence here should go somthing like this: Lawrence of Arabia, Schindler's List, and Exodus. What a history lession of the Middle East. Enjoyable, too. The widescreen format is the only way to thoroughly enjoy this film.

Where are the pompadours?
Remember the gladiator movies from the 1950's where all the men wore pompadour hairstyles? If this movie had been made five years earlier we would have seen Paul Newman with puffy hair. Sadly, we missed it. Suffice it to say this movie is really quite bad. It is filmed as if the actors were all on holiday and there just happened to be cameras around. In several spots the sound quality is really quite poor. If you are a Paul Newman fan you should give this movie a miss.

Beautiful and tragic
This tale of the subjugation of the Palestinian people will appeal to hard-core Israelites, but will seem amazingly brutal to those of us who still harbor questions about the Zionist Cleansing Experiment.

Right up there with "Bonnie and Clyde" in making you cheer for the bad guys -- and feel badly thereafter.

A Slice of History!!!
This is one of the best films of all time. With Paul Newman, Eva Marie Saint, and Lee J. Cobb, and Sal Mineo, among the ensemble cast, it doesn't get any better than this. The movie tracks the crew of a ship which ultimately wants to go to Israel- they are Jews from Europe who want to repatriate, and Paul Newman is highlighted as the son of Lee J. Cobb, who represents Ben Gurion.

There's lots of action in this movie, and the additional casting of Peter Lawford as an American attache is real interesting as well. There's intrigue, a prison break, romance, a great soundtrack, and an ending which points to the headlines of today.

A marvelous film, and highly recommended!!

How the Movie Exodus Influenced My Life
The movie 'Exodus' has been a very big influence in my life. The first time I viewed it was when I was 10 years old, right after it was first released back in 1960. My older sister explained to me that it was the true story of the rebirth of the nation of Israel in 1948 in fulfillment of bible prophecy ("...shall a nation be born in a day?" Isaiah 66:8). I didn't fully understand it back then, but it made a big impression on me and became a seed in my heart that continued to grow for another 38 years. During that period of time I never forgot the movie or what it represented. The seed came to fruition in 1998, the 50th anniversary of the State of Israel, when I was blessed to be able to visit Israel for the first time. A few days prior to my departure I obtained a copy of the movie and viewed it again. The memories flooded back, but with a much more enlightened understanding of the miracle of Israel and the return of the Hebrews to their ancient covenant land after 2000 years of dispersion ("...I [God] will gather you from the nations and bring you back from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you back the land of Israel" Ezekiel 11:17). How could anyone not see that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob has proven He keeps His word and continues to watch over His word to perform it??!! Why is He doing this? "I [God] do not do this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for My holy name's sake... I will sanctify My Great name...and the nations shall know that I am the LORD" Ezekiel Chapter 36. In other words, God keeps His word and this proves it. And if God can redeem Israel and the Hebrews He can redeem anybody from any nation if they will repent and acknowledge Him as Lord. I recommend the movie, it will help you relive the miraculous moment, and give you a taste for that which is yet to come. The epic musical score is unforgettable... if only it were still available. ... Read more