The Man with the Golden Arm

The Man with the Golden Arm is a 1955 American drama film with elements of film noir, based on the novel of the same name by Nelson Algren, which tells the story of a drug addict who gets clean while in prison, but struggles to stay that way in the outside world. Although the addictive drug is never identified in the film, according to the American Film Institute most contemporary and modern sources assume that it is heroin, in contrast to Algrens book which named the drug as morphine. The film stars Frank Sinatra, Eleanor Parker, Kim Novak, Arnold Stang and Darren McGavin. It was adapted for the screen by Walter Newman, Lewis Meltzer and Ben Hecht uncredited, and directed by Otto Preminger. The films initial release sparked controversy due to its serious, indepth treatment of the thentaboo subject of drug addiction.

Frankie Machine Frank Sinatra is released from prison with a set of drums and a new outlook on life, and returns to his rundown neighborhood on the North Side of Chicago. A drug addict the drug is never named, but heroin is strongly implied, Frankie became clean in prison. On the outside, he greets friends and acquaintances. Sparrow Arnold Stang, who runs a con selling homeless dogs, clings to him like a young brother, but Schwiefka Robert Strauss, whom Frankie used to deal for in his illegal card game, has more sinister reasons for welcoming him back, as does Louie Darren McGavin, Machines former drug dealer.Frankie returns home to his wife Zosh Eleanor Parker, who is supposedly wheelchairbound after a car crash some years earlier that was caused by Frankie driving drunk. Zosh is secretly fully recovered, but pretends to be unable to walk in order to keep making Frankie feel guilty so he will stay with her. Frankie comments on the whistle she wears around her neck, a device she used in Frankies absence to summon a neighbor, Vi Doro Merande, when needed. With Frankie home, Zosh smothers her husband in their small tenement apartment and hinders his attempt to make something of himself. He thinks he has what it takes to play drums for a big band. While calling to make an appointment, he bumps into an old flame, Molly Kim Novak who works in a local strip joint as a hostess and lives in the apartment below Frankies. Unlike Zosh, Molly encourages his dream of becoming a drummer. ........

Source: Wikipedia