Elmer Bernstein's "the Man with the Golden Arm"

the Man with the Golden Arm was a groundbreaking movie for several reasons. A lot of people consider it to be the first film to directly tackle the subject of serious drug addiction (some say addiction in general but they must not have seen the Lost Weekend or the various drug propaganda films released through out the 30's, 40's and 50's). Another aspect that made it so different was it's phenomenal jazz score by Elmer Bernstein, featuring trumpet work by Shorty Rogers and drums by Shelley Mann.



Before the Man with the Golden Arm, most dramas had very piano heavy classical-influence scores, or big band in the vein of the Dorsey Brothers, generally these rated about an 8 on the Schmaltzy richter scale, but not the Man with the Golden Arm. It had a swinging beat that really captured the feel of the gritty street life of a junkie in the 50's. It's the perfect crime jazz score, and being that crime jazz and scores are my two favorite things, I felt it was the perfect place to start with this new blog of ours.



1. Clark Street
2. Zosh
3. Frankie Machine
4. the Fix
5. Molly
6. Breakup
7. Sunday Morning
8. Desperation
9. Audition
10. the Cure
11. Finale

Get your Fix!