SUDDENLY

US, 1954, 75 minutes, Black and white.
Frank Sinatra, Sterling Hayden, James Gleason, Nancy Gates, Kim Charney.
Directed by Lewis Allen.

Suddenly was a very fine film of 1954. A small budget, brief in running time, it nevertheless caught the dramatic atmosphere of an attempted assassination of the American president.

Frank Sinatra, after his Oscar-winning performance in From Here to Eternity, is credible as the would-be assassin. Sterling Hayden is sturdy as the town's sheriff. The screenplay recalls past assassination attempts on presidents - and is, of course, prophetic for the deal of Sinatra’s friend, President John F. Kennedy. (Sinatra was also to appear in John Frankenheimer’s The Manchurian Candidate in 1962, based on Richard Condon's novel, which was even more prophetic of the Kennedy assassination.)

The film highlights the tension in an ordinary family taken over by the killers, as well as the psychological pressure on the killers.

1. Impact of the film? '50s? Now? Its success, relevance?

2. Black and white photography, the town of Suddenly, the house? Action? Score?

3. The credibility of the plot, assassination attempts before 1954? (And later?)

4. The town, ordinary, its Saturday way of life? The patriotic stances of the population? Speeches?

5. Todd Shaw as sheriff, at work, order in the town, knowing everyone, the police, the message coming through, the arrangements, the arrival of he Secret Service?

6. Ellen, Pidge and Pop? Family on a Saturday? Ellen's bitterness about her husband's death in the war, Pop's patriotism? Her preserving her son from any dangers? The point made about over-protection? Pop and his background in the Secret Service, retirement? Fixing the TV? For building up for the confrontation with the assassin?

7. Frank Sinatra as Johnny Baron? Credible? Ben and Wheeler helping him? Arrival as the F.B.1? The background to the job, no names and information? Searching the house, Todd and the Chief arriving, the shootings? Holding the family? Tough with Todd and the boy, Ellen and her fear? Pop and his shrewdness? Harsh attitudes, setting up the table and the gun for the
assassination?

8. Todd, being shot, the Secret Serviceman dying, the removal of the car? The binding of Todd's arm, Baron putting it straight? Pop and the gun? The family held, reactions, fear? Judd's arrival to fix the TV, his disbelief? The passing of the time, the phone call, the Secret Serviceman arriving and Ellen acting? Pidge and his taunts, changing guns?

9. Johnny and his background, orphan, parents, the army, the Silver Star, his love of killing? The court-martial? No feelings? No feeling towards the president, thinking out the options, his shrewdness, handling the situation? Todd understanding his psychology, goading him, putting him on the edge? Ben going into the town, the meeting with the policeman, giving away the information, the shooting? Wheeler and his doubts? The electrification at the table, the gun? Wheeler's death? Ellen shooting Johnny? His 'Oh, no'?

10. Todd and his provocation, Ellen and the shooting, Pidge and his shrewdness, Judd and his electrifying the table, his death? Pop and his heart turn, shrewdness about the television?

11. The people in the town, the shooting, the alert, the train going through?

12. The aftermath, Ellen and her learning not to protect Pidge, the Secret Serviceman explaining? The town of Suddenly returning to normal? Assassination possibilities?