Newt's John Wayne Site

The Man With The Golden Arm (1955)
When Frankie Machine (Frank Sinatra) comes back to the old neighborhood after a spell in the big house, he wants to stay straight and become a drummer. But his old life--as a poker dealer and heroin addict--comes rushing back to meet him. The subject matter of Nelson Algren's novel was still shocking in 1955, and The Man with the Golden Arm was released without the seal of approval from Hollywood's Production Code. The director, Otto Preminger, used the controversy to whip up interest in the film, and his championing of non-Code pictures such as The Moon Is Blue and The Man with the Golden Arm helped end the influence of the restrictive policy. For Frank Sinatra, the role was a high point; his performance is searching, honest, and (in long scenes of going cold turkey to kick the habit) frighteningly naked. He's touchingly matched with Kim Novak, in one of her best performances; adding a bit of method-acting madness is Eleanor Parker as Frankie's hysterical wife. Sinatra was nominated for the Best Actor Oscar, but lost to Ernest Borgnine--the same guy who beat him senseless in From Here to Eternity. The propulsive jazz score is by Elmer Bernstein. Even the credits sequence staked out new territory: the mod images created by Saul Bass were among his first in a long-standing collaboration with Preminger, and were highly influential on other designers.

Special Features:

• New Featurette: Shoot Up/Shoot Out: The Story Behind The Man With The Golden Arm
• Theatrical trailer

Some Came Running (1958)
The first time Frank Sinatra acted in an adaptation of a James Jones novel, he won an Oscar--it was in From Here to Eternity. The resurgent Sinatra found one of his best subsequent roles as a bitter, boozy failed writer, the hero of Jones's Some Came Running. Returning to his hometown in the Midwest, he runs into the rampant hypocrisy of the "good" life, as embodied by his insincere brother (Arthur Kennedy). Sinatra the cynic plumps for the company of a floozy (Shirley MacLaine) and a misogynist gambler (Dean Martin), while making a desperate bid for the affection of a strait-laced teacher (Martha Hyer). Director Vincente Minnelli (Meet Me in St. Louis) infuses the material with a slow-burning tension, and the climax at a carnival is an eye-filling piece of orchestrated chaos. Elmer Bernstein's moody score is another plus.

Special Features:

• New Featurette: The Story of Some Came Running - an exclusive Making-Of retrospective.
• Theatrical trailer

Marriage on the Rocks (1965)
What do you do when you have a beautiful house, two great children, and a Marriage on the Rocks? If you're bored Val Edwards (Deborah Kerr), you swap your fuddy-duddy hubby Dan (Frank SInatra) for his swingin' bachelor best friend Ernie (Dean Martin) - and watch the sparks fly. Ol' Blue Eyes breezes through this romantic comedy romp at the head of an all-star cast. Along for the laughs are frequent Sinatra co-stars Martin, Cesar Romero, and Tony Bill, plus daughter Nancy Sinatra and Kerr. The fun starts when the Edwards take a second honeymoon in Mexico and fall into the hands of the quickie-divorce/quickie-marriage lawyer Romero. Faster then jumping beans, everybody's unhitched, rehitched, confused, confounded, and cohabitating. But Dan has the right attitude. "We had a bad marriage", he says. "Let's have a happy divorce!"

Special Features:

• Theatrical trailer

None But The Brave (1965)
A crippled C-47 transport crash-lands on a remote Pacific island. For the Marines aboard, World War II becomes smaller but no less deadly. The atoll is held by a Japanese platoon, also cut off from its command. Debuting director Frank Sinatra stars in this suspenseful war saga, joined by Clint Walker, Tony Bill and Olympic champion Rafer Johnson. After initial bullet-laced confrontations, the Japanese leader (Tatsuya Mihashi) offers to swap water for the aid of Pharmacist Mate Maloney (Sinatra), whom he�s mistaken for a doctor. When Maloney amputates the leg of a Japanese soldier and saves his life, peace results. But can it last? There are two sides to every war. None but the Brave skillfully shows the heroism of both.

Special Features:

• Theatrical trailer