Suddenly (1954 film)
| Suddenly | |
|---|---|
| File:Suddenly.jpg | |
| Directed by | Lewis Allen |
| Written by | Richard Sale |
| Produced by | Robert Bassler |
| Starring | Frank Sinatra, Sterling Hayden, James Gleason, Nancy Gates, Kim Charney |
| Music by | David Raksin |
| Distributed by | United Artists |
Release dates | October 7, 1954 (US premiere) |
Running time | 75 min. |
| Language | English |
Suddenly is a 1954 film noir starring antagonist Frank Sinatra, sheriff Sterling Hayden, grandpa James Gleason, and mother Nancy Gates.
According to Kitty Kelley's bio of Sinatra, it's rumored that Lee Harvey Oswald watched this film just a few days before assassinating President John F. Kennedy, a fact that Sinatra learned years after the tragedy, prompting him to withdraw the film from circulation. After the film was withdrawn from circulation, there was a failure to renew the copyright and it fell into the public domain. As a result the film became widely available from a number of discount/public domain labels. The film also became part of the colorization controversy in the mid-1980s when Suddenly was colorized for home video turning Sinatra's blue eyes brown when the video was transferred from black and white to color.
Plot
Template:Spoiler It's post-war America and the President of the United States of America is visiting a small town called, "Suddenly." Sinatra plays ruthless assassin John Baron, who, with his henchmen, pretend to be members of the FBI ordered to protect the President. They enter the house of the Benson family, pretending to be members of the FBI, when Sheriff Tod Shaw arrives with the real leader of the FBI. When he does, Baron and his gangsters shoot the real FBI agent and a bullet enters Shaw's arm, fracturing it. Baron sends one of his two gangster cronies to double-check when the President arrives, but he is killed in a shootout with the police. Pidge then goes into his grampa's dresser to fetch some medication. Jud the television repairman shows up and is captured. There, he notices a fully loaded revolver. Quietly, he replaces his toy cap gun, which was sitting on a table, with the real gun, so that the Sheriff may shoot Baron when the time arrises.Baron is confronted by the Sheriff on the morals of killing the President and Baron's remaining henchman shows to be reluctant to kill the President. Finally, Jud hooks up the metal table on which the sniper rifle is standing on to the 5000 volt television. Grampa Benson then "accidentally" spills a cup of water all over the table. The moment Baron's henchman pulls the trigger, he is electrocuted. Ellen Benson shoots Baron twice in the chest as the President's train rushes through the station. Baron's last words were, "Don't...Please."
Meaning
The movie portrays Baron's psychological struggle with his captives, and presents an interesting portrait of what nowadays is a hot-button matter, the function of firearms in the home.
Ironically, Sinatra's character presents himself as a "war hero," while Sinatra was 4-F during World War II and Sterling Hayden served with the United States Marine Corps and received the Silver Star for his gallantry in the European theatre.
See also
External links
