The Worst Film Ever

Such a frustrating disappointment

Highly Overrated But Still Good

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Full disclosure, I didn't make it all the way through this film. Thirty minutes was all I could stand. The acting by all concerned was very much like a high school play (and not a good one). The dialogue was ridiculously silly. I am mystified by all the reviews of how Sinatra saved the film with his "brilliant" performance. I have never seen a brilliant Sinatra performance...no, not even the Oscar one in Eternity. But even Olivier could not elevate this putrid screenplay. Aaron Sorkin has ruined me for other screen writers.

HERE IS YET another film that has been completely an unknown commodity to us until recently. In spite of an obviously frugal budget, the story and the execution of the plot line proves to be quite captivating. The staging of the scenes that comprise the picture did tend to bring to mind the small screen production of a few years later, namely the ZIV Television Productions' HIGHWAY PATROL; which of course starred Broderick Crawford. Both the film and that series exploited the highways and small towns of California for realistic, yet inexpensive locations.AS FOR THE cast, it can only be called a mixed bag. It sports a mixture of talent ranging from the starring combo of Frank Sinatra and Sterling Hayden, to topp support from Nancy Gates, James Gleason and Willis Bouchey and lesser known relative newcomers Paul frees (the voice actor extraordinaire), Paul Wexler, Clark Howat and James Liburn (real life brother of Maureen O'Hara).THIS PRODUCTION BECAME a particularly important chapter in the career of Mr. Sinatra. His interpretation of a psychotic homicidal maniac hired hit man proved to many that his dramatic abilities. His Oscar winning portrayal of Private Angelo Maggio in FROM HERE TO ETERNITY was shown to be no fluke.AS FOR OUR own observations, we saw a believable, complex, even somewhat sympathetic personality in his rendering of hit man, John Baron. It was this complex or even split personality that made it even more menacing. We also detected a similiarity and possible influence of Richard Widmark's Tommy Udo in KISS OF DEATH (20th Century-Fox, 1947).THE IDEA OF an attempted assassination of a United States President seemed to be an unlikely and far fetched premise for a film; that is until nine years later when John F. Kennedy was murdered in Dallas. After that, the plot became common place.

This is a painful dog to sit through. There is the 50s corny crap and an incredibly stupid script that is more talky than any French movie.Sinatra must be the stupidest assassin alive in this; any ordinary one would have simply killed everyone in the house or tied them up and gagged them!!....no, he engages in constant blather with the hostages. The hostages cleverly play on Sinatra's vanities and psychology to get him to become unglued.You can see the ho hum plot tricks a mile away. The gun in the top drawer of a dresser that looks like the toy gun the kid has etc....The actor playing the kid immediately got on my nerves with in the first 2 minutes of the show and half way through the film I began to hope all the hostages would be shot--starting with him and the old man. Unfortunately only the TV repair man got it.The denouement was actually funny....when the TV repairman has wired the table with 4,000 volts and the helper of Sinatra gets electrocuted and starts firing the gun like a machine gun from electric shocks to his convulsing fingers.As another reviewer stated garbage like this ages badly....since you not only have garbage but the 50s corny blather with it.DO NOT RENT DO NOT WATCH unless you want to be tortured for an hour and 15 minutes (it's only good point it is short).

Suddenly is directed by Lewis Allen and written by Richard Sale. It stars Frank Sinatra, Sterling Hayden, James Gleason, Nancy Gates, Kim Charney and Christopher Dark. Music is by David Raksin and cinematography by Charles G. Clarke.The small American town of Suddenly is gearing up for a pit stop visit by the President of the United States. Unfortunately the President's visit has attracted the attention of assassins, who hold hostage the Benson family and friends as their home is the perfect viewpoint for a sniper shot at the President…Show me a guy with feelings and I'll show you a sucker.Sinatra was never comfortable with his role in Suddenly, even before he "requested" it be removed from circulation post the assassination of his friend JFK in 63, there was a feeling within the Sinatra camp that playing such a despicable character would harm his image. More so as it came a year after his Oscar winning performance in From Here to Eternity. Blue Eyes would even try to make good on the characterisation by reversing the roles as it were for The Manchurian Candidate 1962, but of course a lot of things changed after November 22nd 1963. This all gives Suddenly a curiosity value that it actually doesn't need, for it's a gripping thriller capable of standing on its own two feet, and it's boosted by a terrific performance from Sinatra, one of his best in fact.That it was hard to see for quite some time is a shame, because it deserves to be better known. The makers take a hostage scenario and give it a noir edge by way of the conspiracy angle, some paranoia, a family in peril and a strong noir staple of a returning soldier from a war badly scarred by his experiences. In this case John Baron (Sinatra) has the taste for killing, as he is taunted by chief hostage Sheriff "Tod" Shaw (Hayden) about his means and motives, that Baron just likes to kill, Baron repeatedly rants that he was a Silver Star winner, that he killed 27 German soldiers, but this doesn't hide the fact that he has no compunction about killing the President for money. To him the President is just a mark of no significant interest, Baron is a real cold fish and Sinatra gives a thunderously twitchy coiled spring portrayal.Sinatra is backed up by Hayden doing one of his strong macho type turns, and Gleason scores best of the support actors as a wise old boy who himself was once in the Secret Service. These two bastions of Americana off set the near irritating characterisations of Ellen Benson (Gates) and Peter Benson III (Charney), the former the hysterical female, the latter the annoying kid saying illogical things. However, these two stereotypes don't harm the picture, because director Allen manages to keep the group under duress dynamic ticking away, smothering it with claustrophobic atmosphere to then unleash all for the explosive finale.It's set in daylight and visually it's nothing to get excited about, in fact much of the film is set in one living room, while the patriotism over traitorism is a necessary piece of thematic flag waving. But this comes highly recommended as entertainment as sleepy small town Americana is jolted out of its stupor. 8/10