The Man With The Golden Arm

This is a beautiful black-and-white print, with perfect sound.

Elmer Bernstein's interview with film historian Ken Barnes is almost an hour in length and worth every minute. He was born in 1922, entered films in the early Fifties, had been in Hollywood for five years when Preminger chose him to do the score for his "difficult" drug addiction picture. He had 21 days to complete it.

His decision to write a small concerto with a jazz band had never been done before. "It caused such a fuss." The theme tune was neck and neck at the top of the charts with Elvis's first record, Heartbreak Hotel. Sinatra loved Bernstein's work and used him again on two of his later movies. Meanwhile, after finishing The Man With The Golden Arm, he was writing music for The Ten Commandments - Cecil B de Mille asked, "Do you think you could be another Wagner?" His next jazz score was for Sweet Smell Of Success.

Bernstein was a victim of McCarthyism and had to resort to working on B-pictures, such as Cat Woman Of The Moon and Robot Monster, which he describes as the worst film ever made. He looks back on this lean period as a learning curve. Later, he went on to write scores for The Magnificent Seven, Birdman Of Alcatraz, To Kill A Mockingbird and The Great Escape. For the last 50 years, he remembers, "I have done three movies a year." As well as being a charming man, he has stories to tell.

The audio commentary with Barnes is full of anecdotes, not necessarily to do with this film. He reminds us that Sinatra was 39 when he took the role of Frankie Machine. Marlon Brando was up for part, as well, and Sinatra had already lost out to him twice before. Preminger sent an unfinished script to both their agents. Brando wouldn't read it until it was complete. Sinatra loved what he saw and accepted straight away.

Sinatra was originally cast in On The Waterfront, but no studio would touch it. When Brando eventually played the part, he won an Oscar, as did the film and director Elia Kazan. The next time they came head to head was during casting for Guys And Dolls. Everyone knew that Sinatra was born to play Sky Masterson, but Sam Goldwyn chose Brando, who couldn't sing or dance, and Sinatra never forgave him. When it came to Pal Joey, Brando and Gene Kelly were competing for the lead. Sinatra bought a percentage of the movie, "thus locking Brando out of the picture." It went on to become Sinatra's most popular film.

Barnes's knowledge makes this a fascinating commentary. Preminger was renowned for being a tyrant on the set and yet he and Sinatra became friends. When he was offered The Godfather, he said yes, as long as Sinatra could play Corleone, but Sinatra said no. Guess who played Corleone when Coppola made the film?

The Man With The Golden Arm took a month to shoot. Preminger wanted to go to Chicago for exteriors and location work, but it would have taken too long and cost too much. Sinatra liked to work fast. He said the first take was always his best. He hated rehearsals and was never phased by long continuous scenes. "He was never into drugs. He had seen so many casualties." He visited care centres and drug rehab institutions in California to learn first hand about the process of recovery. The experience deeply affected him.

The "Exclusive Frank Sinatra Interview" is all about this. It lasts a minute at most, probably less, and has Frank, much older now, talking briefly about what happened. "I was taken to watch a guy doing cold turkey in a padded cell in a hospital in the Valley," he says. "I was in tears. I had to walk away."

That's it.