← Back to Reviews
in
Some Came Running (1958)
Director: Vincente Minnelli
Stars: Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Shirley MacLaine
Genre: Drama, Social Commentary
Length: 137 minutes
Based on the classic novel of the same name by James Jones, who also wrote From Here To Eternity.
In 1948 a former writer Dave (Frank Sinatra) who had fleeting fame before he joined the military war effort, returns to his small hometown of Parkman. He's followed by a bar fly Ginny (Shirley MacLaine) who he meet the night before in a drunken stupor. The town of Parkman is a stifling place where people must conform to the standards of the day. This places Sinatra at odds with the towns folk as he's a free spirit who does as he likes. His estranged brother, played by Arthur Kennedy, tries to make amends for past wrongs, which only deepens the divide between the two men who lead very different life styles.
Some Came Running was a gusty film for 1958, dealing with adultery, alcoholism, drug addiction and most importantly the self imposed conformity that people in the 50s felt.
Dean Martin, plays a serious role as an alcoholic gambler. He has real chemistry with Sinatra. Not surprising as they were friends in real life. Shirley MacLaine is very likeable as the tramp with a heart of gold who falls for a bitter cynical Sinatra, who treats her with indifference. Even worse is Dean Martin's treatment of women referring to them as 'pigs'. There's a lot of depth to these characters and it's not niceness.
We see a sharp contrast between the quaint, mid west town and the seedy lounges and gambling rooms that Sinatra and Martin haunt.
Vincente Minnelli's art direction is sublime here. He chose to take the cast and shoot on location in a small midwest town, which was almost never done in Hollywood at the time. The result is a very realistic look to the film which really adds to the storyline. And Minnelli knows how to deck out a set! Each room is carefully arranged as is his long camera tracking shots. The detail he gets in the background is second to nobody.
If you haven't seen this, you should.
Some Came Running (1958)
Director: Vincente Minnelli
Stars: Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Shirley MacLaine
Genre: Drama, Social Commentary
Length: 137 minutes
Based on the classic novel of the same name by James Jones, who also wrote From Here To Eternity.
In 1948 a former writer Dave (Frank Sinatra) who had fleeting fame before he joined the military war effort, returns to his small hometown of Parkman. He's followed by a bar fly Ginny (Shirley MacLaine) who he meet the night before in a drunken stupor. The town of Parkman is a stifling place where people must conform to the standards of the day. This places Sinatra at odds with the towns folk as he's a free spirit who does as he likes. His estranged brother, played by Arthur Kennedy, tries to make amends for past wrongs, which only deepens the divide between the two men who lead very different life styles.
Some Came Running was a gusty film for 1958, dealing with adultery, alcoholism, drug addiction and most importantly the self imposed conformity that people in the 50s felt.
Dean Martin, plays a serious role as an alcoholic gambler. He has real chemistry with Sinatra. Not surprising as they were friends in real life. Shirley MacLaine is very likeable as the tramp with a heart of gold who falls for a bitter cynical Sinatra, who treats her with indifference. Even worse is Dean Martin's treatment of women referring to them as 'pigs'. There's a lot of depth to these characters and it's not niceness.
We see a sharp contrast between the quaint, mid west town and the seedy lounges and gambling rooms that Sinatra and Martin haunt.
Vincente Minnelli's art direction is sublime here. He chose to take the cast and shoot on location in a small midwest town, which was almost never done in Hollywood at the time. The result is a very realistic look to the film which really adds to the storyline. And Minnelli knows how to deck out a set! Each room is carefully arranged as is his long camera tracking shots. The detail he gets in the background is second to nobody.
If you haven't seen this, you should.