Nominated for 3 Oscars. 2 wins & 8 nominations total
Top Critics Reviews
fresh:
The film is a pretty good picture show, as we used to say, but anyone who has read Nelson Algren's wonderfully poetic novel is likely to make invidious comparisons and be otherwise distracted.
– Delmore Schwartz,
The New Republic,
23 Jan 2013
fresh:
A gripping, fascinating film, expertly produced and directed and performed with marked conviction by Frank Sinatra as the drug slave.
– Variety Staff,
Variety,
23 Oct 2007
rotten:
Frank Sinatra, as the drug-addicted poker dealer, plays a reasonably naturalistic character, but he's surrounded by a collection of bizarre archetypes.
– Dave Kehr,
Chicago Reader,
23 Oct 2007
rotten:
In short, for all the delicacy of the subject and for all the pathological shivers in a couple of scenes, there is nothing very surprising or exciting about The Man With the Golden Arm.
– Bosley Crowther,
New York Times,
20 May 2003
fresh:
There are some great scenes, though, notably Sinatra's audition for a make-or-break drumming job, and the later scene where he suffers cold turkey in Novak's apartment.