Minor VHS outfits (like KEEPER'S) that sold public domain materialrarely dubbed their tapes at the optimum SP speed..In Otto Preminger's THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN ARM (1955), Frank Sinatra and Eleanor Parker (as Frankie and Zosch Machine) give the performances of their careers. Parker's Zosch is a bundle of nerves, a manipulative conniver who's terrorized by her own guilty conscience. Sinatra portrays heroin addict Machine as a victim of deeply ingrained bad habits, a man seemingly incapable of changing long-established patterns of self-destruction.A first rate cast includes Arnold Stang as Frankie's pal Sparrow, a sneak thief and dognapper. Boomers best remember bespectacled Stang as the "whatta chunk-a chawklit" TV ad spokesman for CHUNKY. He also provided the Phil Silvers-like voice of cartoon feline TOP CAT. Grubby Sparrow is an odd counterpart to master card dealer Frankie. Loyal to a fault, he's always trying to bolster Machine's fragile ego.Kim Novak's Molly, a rival for Frankie's affections, is one of two things that wheelchair-bound Zosch fears most. The other is a dirty trick Mrs. Machine has been pulling on the world ever since Frankie and she were in a car wreck. Parker's several moments of wild-eyed paranoia seem genuine; this actress knows how to immerse herself in a role and become the person she's playing.Also here is Darren McGavin as slimeball 'H' pusher Louie. His siren song of a free first "fix" quickly lures Frankie from the straight and narrow path he found during a six months' stay at a correctional facility and put him back on the road to Hades. Robert Strauss is Schwiefka, operator of a floating card game who let Frankie take the fall during a raid, a pinch that sent "the Machine" to the state-run hospital.Sinatra undoubtedly won his Best Actor nomination for a harrowing "cold turkey" sequence at Molly's flat. It's an astounding performance, truly his finest screen moment, ironically one that comes at the lowest point of his character's life. Also nominated was Elmer Bernstein's searing jazz score, a pounding music track that enhances an anguished, bleak reality-turned-nightmare tale, one which resolves tragically."Golden Arm" remains among the greatest dramas of the 1950s. Over half a century later this powerful motion picture has lost none of its potency. Credit a superb book, screenplay, cast and director for telling an always relevant story of humanity's darker, weaker side. Highest recommendation!.SUDDENLY (1954) is one of two films that Frank Sinatra tried to suppress in the wake of JFK's assassination (the other being THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE from 1962). Ironically, this UNITED ARTISTS crime drama eventually fell into the public domain and has been widely available since the dawn of the VCR era.At the time of its release, Frank's detractors probably thought his naturalistic rendering of the sadistic assassin-for-hire in this story was mere typecasting. Sterling Hayden's stilted delivery (as Sheriff Tod Shaw) doesn't come off as well, especially when he bellows in typically stentorian fashion the line, "Because I love you."James Gleason, as retired Secret Service man Pop Benson, partly scripted and appeared in the first all-talking picture to win an Oscar, MGM's THE BROADWAY MELODY (1929). One of his most memorable roles was the ice skating cabbie in THE BISHOP'S WIFE (1947).Nancy Gates, who's very good as the gun-hating widow, worked with Frank again in Vincente Minnelli's SOME CAME RUNNING (1958).Paul Frees, the gang's lookout, portrayed Peter Lorre in the Spike Jones hit, "My Old Flame." He's best known for his many cartoon character voices.James O'Hara (Jud the TV repairman) was Maureen's brother. This Dublin-born actor's Southern accent here is spot-on perfect.SYNOPSIS--In the small town of Suddenly, three men masquerading as FBI agents take by force a house overlooking the train station. They plan to assassinate the President of the United States shortly after his 5 pm arrival. The triggerman is a jumpy WWII vet who's proud that he won a Silver Star for killing 27 enemy soldiers. The gang's captives include a former Secret Serviceman who lived after catching a bullet in the heart while guarding President Coolidge, his widowed daughter-in-law, her 8 year old son, 'Pidge' (Kim Charney) and the town's sheriff, who's shot in the arm during the initial struggle for their home.