Basically it's a B movie script that is slightly elevated in significance by the fact that the intended victim is the President of the United States instead of, say, an anonymous guy with his face down on the bar of some tavern in Bloomfield, New Jersey. The fact that is stars Frank Sinatra along with Sterling Hayden and a couple of reliable utility players doesn't change things.
The year before, Sinatra had won an Academy Award for his (very good) performance in "From Here to Eternity," rescuing his career from its downward spiral. He wanted the role of the gun-crazy assassin in "Suddenly" because he wanted to demonstrate his range as an actor. And the director gives him every chance. In more than one scene, Sinatra begins a monologue and, turning from the others, stalks towards the camera until he delivers his punch line, his face -- distorted by the wide-angle lens -- twisted with some demonic passion. Well, he does his best but the role is so limited and the dialog so clumsy that nobody could overcome those limitations. Actually, his most effective moment -- and again, it's good -- takes place near the beginning, when Willis Bouchey, a Secret Service agent, enters the house and is introduced to Sinatra's fake FBI man. Bouchey realizes it's a set up, and Sinatra knows that he twigs it. And the camera holds on Sinatra's lunatic smile and such an exopthalmic stare as to suggest he is being taken by thyrotoxic storm, just before he pulls his pistol and plugs Bouchey.
In that scene, Sinatra has no dialog at all and it's for the best. Who wrote this thing anyway? I've seen the movie a few times before but only just now realized how utterly corny the dialog is, even for its time.
"Todd, what in Hades is going on in this town anyway? Did some galoot strike a uranium mine or something?" "Ellen, will you please stop being such a WOMAN?" I swear I'm not making that up -- and there's worse. Most of the characters are familiar stereotypes. Sinatra's is intended to be the most complex role, and it is complex compared to the others, but in fact isn't too complicated for a Saturday-afternoon audience to grasp in a few minutes. Sinatra was a nobody until he found his place in the infantry, killing Germans and winning a Silver Star, until he was booted out for some outrage we can only imagine. He did however learn a trade in the Army and has now set out to be all he can be.
Sinatra did make a few good movies. He gave this one his best effort. "From Here to Eternity" was fine, and "The Manchurian Candidate" was quite good. In all of them he played someone other than Frank Sinatra, whereas in something like "Tony Rome" he seemed to be on vacation.
But here, the script and direction make any plaudits insupportable. It would be enough to make you feel sorry for Frank Sinatra if he were anyone but Frank Sinatra. One wonders if he and Sterling Hayden, the Mount Rushmore of bulk, reminisced about the old days back in Montclair and Hoboken, where each grew up, only a few miles from one another.
The year before, Sinatra had won an Academy Award for his (very good) performance in "From Here to Eternity," rescuing his career from its downward spiral. He wanted the role of the gun-crazy assassin in "Suddenly" because he wanted to demonstrate his range as an actor. And the director gives him every chance. In more than one scene, Sinatra begins a monologue and, turning from the others, stalks towards the camera until he delivers his punch line, his face -- distorted by the wide-angle lens -- twisted with some demonic passion. Well, he does his best but the role is so limited and the dialog so clumsy that nobody could overcome those limitations. Actually, his most effective moment -- and again, it's good -- takes place near the beginning, when Willis Bouchey, a Secret Service agent, enters the house and is introduced to Sinatra's fake FBI man. Bouchey realizes it's a set up, and Sinatra knows that he twigs it. And the camera holds on Sinatra's lunatic smile and such an exopthalmic stare as to suggest he is being taken by thyrotoxic storm, just before he pulls his pistol and plugs Bouchey.
In that scene, Sinatra has no dialog at all and it's for the best. Who wrote this thing anyway? I've seen the movie a few times before but only just now realized how utterly corny the dialog is, even for its time.
"Todd, what in Hades is going on in this town anyway? Did some galoot strike a uranium mine or something?" "Ellen, will you please stop being such a WOMAN?" I swear I'm not making that up -- and there's worse. Most of the characters are familiar stereotypes. Sinatra's is intended to be the most complex role, and it is complex compared to the others, but in fact isn't too complicated for a Saturday-afternoon audience to grasp in a few minutes. Sinatra was a nobody until he found his place in the infantry, killing Germans and winning a Silver Star, until he was booted out for some outrage we can only imagine. He did however learn a trade in the Army and has now set out to be all he can be.
Sinatra did make a few good movies. He gave this one his best effort. "From Here to Eternity" was fine, and "The Manchurian Candidate" was quite good. In all of them he played someone other than Frank Sinatra, whereas in something like "Tony Rome" he seemed to be on vacation.
But here, the script and direction make any plaudits insupportable. It would be enough to make you feel sorry for Frank Sinatra if he were anyone but Frank Sinatra. One wonders if he and Sterling Hayden, the Mount Rushmore of bulk, reminisced about the old days back in Montclair and Hoboken, where each grew up, only a few miles from one another.