You won't be disappointed!

Let's be realistic.

As Good As It Gets

A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

HERE IS YET another film that has been completely an unknown commodity to us until recently. In spite of an obviously frugal budget, the story and the execution of the plot line proves to be quite captivating. The staging of the scenes that comprise the picture did tend to bring to mind the small screen production of a few years later, namely the ZIV Television Productions' HIGHWAY PATROL; which of course starred Broderick Crawford. Both the film and that series exploited the highways and small towns of California for realistic, yet inexpensive locations.AS FOR THE cast, it can only be called a mixed bag. It sports a mixture of talent ranging from the starring combo of Frank Sinatra and Sterling Hayden, to topp support from Nancy Gates, James Gleason and Willis Bouchey and lesser known relative newcomers Paul frees (the voice actor extraordinaire), Paul Wexler, Clark Howat and James Liburn (real life brother of Maureen O'Hara).THIS PRODUCTION BECAME a particularly important chapter in the career of Mr. Sinatra. His interpretation of a psychotic homicidal maniac hired hit man proved to many that his dramatic abilities. His Oscar winning portrayal of Private Angelo Maggio in FROM HERE TO ETERNITY was shown to be no fluke.AS FOR OUR own observations, we saw a believable, complex, even somewhat sympathetic personality in his rendering of hit man, John Baron. It was this complex or even split personality that made it even more menacing. We also detected a similiarity and possible influence of Richard Widmark's Tommy Udo in KISS OF DEATH (20th Century-Fox, 1947).THE IDEA OF an attempted assassination of a United States President seemed to be an unlikely and far fetched premise for a film; that is until nine years later when John F. Kennedy was murdered in Dallas. After that, the plot became common place.

Yes a junior deputy sheriff saves the U.S. by checking out a random stranger in town. The first thing the secret service does in 1954 is to clear all the buildings with windows facing the spot where the President will stand. All the buildings, public and private are checked and secure....but this was 1954, I guess they had forgotten all that nonsense by 1963. In this movie they figure an assassin would have to be a real heel, a guy with no politics, who slaps little kids around and is happy to kill for money! You gotta love Frank though, he puts on a double breasted suit, a necktie and a fedora when he is getting ready to off somebody famous....oh OK maybe Jack Ruby caught this flick. He was a big Sinatra fan.

In a town called Suddenly--which might pass for any small Midwestern town--little of note happens. But the normally quiet Mayberry gets more than its share of action and attention on this Saturday.The President of the U.S. is scheduled to arrive via train, so the Secret Service get there first to reconnoiter the train station and the properties that overlook it.It would be a shame to reveal too many details, but some locals get involved in a suspenseful showdown that might easily serve as the basis for a Hitchcock film.I would not call this film noir, but it is filmed in B&W. It is a psychological drama which delves into post-war issues.Frank Sinatra turns in a rare performance as the villain and he's rather good at it. Nancy Gates plays a widow who inadvertently enters the cross-hairs of the villain's plan. She delivers a strong performance as a mother whose primary motivation for living is the protection of her young son.Various political messages can be read into the plot. No matter which subtext one advocates, this is a story about courage. Maternal courage. Patriotic courage. And the behaviors that are often mistaken for being courageous.

The tranquility of a small town is marred only by sheriff Tod Shaw's unsuccessful courtship of widow Ellen Benson, a pacifist who can't abide guns and those who use them. But violence descends on Ellen's household willy-nilly when the U.S. President passes through town.And a slightly psycho hired assassin John Baron finds the Benson home ideal for an ambush. It's a pretty tight movie that keeps your interest.In a way it foreshadows the Kennedy assassination.The movie also wouldn't find funding today.Too many cray no gun activists who don't get the concept of guns saving lives.Sinatra was short. And thin.He's decent in the movie, but as as good as some say.