History Film / TheManWithTheGoldenArm

* YourMom: One of the other tenants in the boarding house mixes this with CountryMatters. When the cranky landlord says she has to do what he says, she shoots back "Your mother's icebox, I do what you say!"

Frankie doesn't want to deal cards anymore, as that was a trigger for his heroin habit, but his needy wife Zosh (Eleanor Parker), who is in a wheelchair after Frankie crashed their car while driving drunk, wants the easy money. Frankie's old girlfriend Molly (Creator/KimNovak), by contrast, is much more supportive of his hopes to go straight.

Schweifka winds up getting Frankie chucked in jail for shoplifting, and after bailing Frankie out, gets Frankie to go back to dealing cards. Zosh--who has a dark secret of her own--badgers Frankie and hassles him about money and discourages him from making something of himself as a drummer. The local heroin dealer, Louie (Creator/DarrenMcGavin), is trying to get Frankie back on heroin. Finally Frankie cracks under the strain and starts using again. Tragedy ensues.

Frankie Machine (Sinatra) is a card dealer and drug addict on UsefulNotes/{{Chicago}}'s North Side. (The drug--morphine in the novel--is never actually named in the film, but by all indications, it's heroin.) Frankie has just been released from a six-month stint on a Kentucky prison farm, and, having gotten clean, is looking to start a new life as a drummer in a jazz band. However, Zero Schwiefka (Robert Strauss), who organizes the illegal poker games that Frankie used to deal for, wants Frankie back in the fold.

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/img_0754.JPG]]

''The Man with the Golden Arm'' is a 1955 drama/FilmNoir directed by Creator/OttoPreminger. It's a fairly loose adaptation of a 1949 novel by Nelson Algren.

Frankie Machine (Music/FrankSinatra) is a card dealer and a drug addict. (The drug is never actually named, but by all indications, it's heroin.) Frankie has just been released from a six-month stint in jail, and, now clean, is looking for a new life as a drummer in a band. However, Zero Schwiefka (Robert Strauss), who organizes the illegal poker games that Frankie used to deal for, wants Frankie back in the fold. Frankie doesn't want to deal cards anymore as that was a trigger for his heroin habit, but his needy wife Zosh (Eleanor Parker), who is in a wheelchair after Frankie crashed their car while driving drunk, wants the easy money. Frankie's old girlfriend Molly (Creator/KimNovak) is much more supportive of Frankie's hopes to go straight.

Schweifka winds up getting Frankie chucked in jail for shoplifting, and after bailing Frankie out, gets Frankie to go back to dealing cards. Zosh--who has a dark secret of her own--badgers Frankie and hassles him about money and discourages him from making something of himself as a drummer. The local heroin dealer, Louie (Darren [=McGavin=]), is trying to get Frankie back on heroin. Finally Frankie cracks under the strain and starts using again. Tragedy ensues.

* FemmeFatale: At first you think Zosh is the good girl in Frankie's life, and Molly will lead him down a dark path, but the final act establishes that Zosh is actually the FemmeFatale.

* DrugsAreBad: They are, they are very bad.

''The Man with the Golden Arm'' is a 1955 drama film directed by Creator/OttoPreminger, starring Music/FrankSinatra, Eleanor Parker, and Creator/KimNovak.

Frankie Machine (Sinatra) is a card dealer and a drug addict. (The drug is never actually named, but by all indications, it's heroin.) Frankie has just been released from a six-month stint in jail, and, now clean, is looking for a new life as a drummer in a band. However, Zero Schwiefka, who organizes the illegal poker games that Frankie used to deal for, wants Frankie back in the fold. Frankie doesn't want to deal cards anymore as that was a trigger for his heroin habit, but his needy wife Zosh (Parker), who is in a wheelchair after Frankie crashed their car while driving drunk, wants the easy money. Frankie's old girlfriend Molly (Novak) is much more supportive of Frankie's hopes to go straight.

Schweifka winds up getting Frankie chucked in jail for shoplifting, and after bailing Frankie out, gets Frankie to go back to dealing cards. Zosh--who has a dark secret of her own--badgers Frankie and hassles him about money and discourages him from making something of himself as a drummer. The local heroin dealer, Louie, is trying to get Frankie back on heroin. Finally Frankie cracks under the strain and starts using again. Tragedy ensues.

It's a fairly loose adaptation of a 1949 novel by Nelson Algren. Music/ElmerBernstein did the music, which is considered one of the all-time best uses of {{Jazz}} in a film score, with several notable players among the ensemble.

* DoubleMeaningTitle: Frankie is called The Man With the Golden Arm because of his skills in dealing cards, but he also shoots heroin into his arm, which proves quite "golden" for his supplier Louie.

Based on a novel by Nelson Algren. Music/ElmerBernstein composed the score.

* RuleOfSymbolism: At one point, you can a flashing sign that says DRUGS outside Molly's window.

* DisneyVillainDeath: Ends with Zosh careening off a fire escape of the boarding house to her death.

''The Man with the Golden Arm'' is a 1955 drama film directed by Creator/OttoPreminger, starring Music/FrankSinatra, Eleanor Parker, and Kim Novak.

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/img_0754.JPG]]

''The Man with the Golden Arm'' is a 1955 film directed by Creator/OttoPreminger, starring Music/FrankSinatra, Eleanor Parker, and Kim Novak.

* BikiniBar: Well, it was the 1950s. The girls at the strip club seem to be content with dancing in a bra-and-girdle ensemble.

* TheAggressiveDrugDealer: Louie the heroin dealer is awfully aggressive in trying to get former addict Frankie to use again. Justified in that Louie is also involved with a lucrative illegal underground poker game, Frankie is a skilled dealer, and the heroin is a means of control to bind Frankie to Louie and get him into the poker game.

* ToxicFriendInfluence: Toxic wife influence, as Zosh manipulates Frankie and steers him back into the bad habits that led him to heroin the first time.

* RedLightDistrict: There's dive bars and pawnshops, the streets are littered with garbage, and Molly works in a strip club (as a hostess, not a stripper). Preminger really pushes the envelope of 1950s censorship, though, when he frames the sign above a pool hall to say "[[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snooker OOKER]]".

* RedLightDistrict: There's dive bars and pawnshops, the streets are littered with garbage, and Molly works in a strip club (as a hostess, not a stripper). Preminger really pushes the envelope of 1950s censorship, though, when he frames the sign above a pool hall to say "[[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snooker OOKER]]".