Suddenly Sinatra

If you happen to see it in the bargain rack at the grocery store or Wal Mart, do yourself a favor and buy “Suddenly”. It’ll probably put you out no more than $5 and it’s easily more entertaining than most of what Hollywood’s pooped out this year. This 1954 thriller stars Frank Sinatra and Sterling Hayden. Hayden is probably best known for the role of Colonel Ripper—the mad Air Force commander in Dr. Strangelove that plunges the world into WWIII to prevent the commies from “sapping our precious bodily fluids”.

Here Hayden plays Sheriff Tod Shaw, constable of the sleepy town of Suddenly, CA. Sinatra, normally the hero in most of his films, plays against type as a psychopathic hired assassin sent to dispatch the President of the United States who’s train is making a quick stop in Suddenly. To do so he has to take a family hostage so he and his gang can use their house that sits on a hill overlooking the train station.

While the acting is typical of anything you’d see in the early 50’s, the plot and storyline is surprisingly tight. And the characters are all written to be rather intelligent. Not that I expected them to be stupid, just maybe a little more Leave It To Beaver. The writing’s actually more on par with an episode of 24, only more plausible.

I won’t say much more about the movie. I’m going to see if I can talk Martin into screening it at a crappy movie night. I will say this, though; it made me wish Sinatra had been cast as a bad guy more often.