Suddenly (1954)

“When I kill, all I feel is the recoil of my rifle.” old Marine Corps saying

I first saw this on AMC, back when they were struggling and would show a film full-length, without interruption. Those days, sadly, are long past, but I was able to snag a new DVD of this little-known thriller called simply Suddenly.

The 1954 movie is part of the film noir cycle of the 1940s and fifties showing the alienation of Americans with the status quo and eerily foreshadowing the almost total breakdown in moral certitude of Americans following the Kennedy assassination of 1963.

The film is book-ended by identical scenes of a stranger passing through and asking a police officer “what’s the name of this place?” “Suddenly,” is the reply. “Suddenly, what?” “Just, Suddenly.” “That’s a funny name for a town,” etc. The first time, you’re wondering along with the traveler where they came up with a name like that. The second time, you think the name is kind of apt.

Suddenly is a tightly wound little thriller taking place mostly in a single location - a house prominently situated on a hill overlooking the town. The vantage point afforded by the house is the reason it is featured. It becomes a sniper’s nest, the shooters waiting for the President of the United States on an unscheduled rail stop in the sleepy town.

The house is the home of a family of the Leave it to Beaver variety, with a mother and a cute little chipmunk of a son, whose father was killed in the war. Sterling Hayden (The Asphalt Jungle, The Killing) is the local sheriff who tries to romance the young widow, but is repeatedly rebuffed. He buys a cap pistol for the boy, despite the mother’s aversion to weapons, after all, one killed her husband. The cap pistol plays a pivotal role further on in the story, so moms - if your little boy wants a cap gun, it’s ok to buy one for him. ;> The final member of the family is Pops (James Gleason), ironically a retired Secret Service agent with a bum ticker.

The home is invaded by a businesslike trio led by Frank Sinatra, in one of his finest performances. The other two snap brim fedora wearing thugs are very well portrayed by familiar faced actors, but Sinatra’s performance overshadows everybody’s including everyman Sterling Hayden who becomes a hostage along with the rest of the family when the supposed FBI advance men pull guns and ventilate a real Secret Service agent and introduce a leak into Hayden just to prove they mean business. The rest of the film involves a picture window, a kitchen table, a German G43 rifle, and a broken TV set. How the elements all gel together I’ll leave to your viewing pleasure.

Suddenly benefits by sticking to the story, by Richard Sale, that asks if such a killing could be possible. Not a lot of non-essential fluff is interjected; it mainly plays out between Sinatra, Sterling Hayden, and the old guy Pops, and this is better than some movies that try to get too fancy. Even with the stripped down story, it introduces intriguing questions - 1. How do the assassins know about the unscheduled stop? So it indicates there is an inside man, treachery almost unthinkable to Americans of the Eisenhower era. 2. The assassins are obviously professional killers, so it points to organized crime, something J. Edgar Hoover denied up until the 1970s. 3. The assassins have a detailed getaway plan with air transport laid on. Again, connections that are higher than the average thug could manage. These are just a couple of the possibilities I mulled over as I watched the story unfold.

The thugs do give a more indelible presence than the family, other than Pops, who preserve strictly 1950s clichés, but Sinatra’s overpowering portrayal is well worth watching several times. I should also mention the edgy score by David Raksin as a definite plus.

The DVD is by Alpha Video which specializes in public domain publishing with a street price of around six bucks. Or, you can get the Suspense 20 Pack, which includes this title for about $8. The DVD is well preserved B&W without much deterioration and is a good addition to a crime drama library and should be better known since it has such a great performance from Frank Sinatra.

Another excellent Frank Sinatra performance is found in The Manchurian Candidate.

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Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening