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Suddenly (1954)

Rate: 7
Viewed: 5/25

5/25: That's why you need a major star.

Partly shot on location in Saugus, California, Suddenly was dripping so much in B filmdom until Frank Sinatra showed up. Thereafter, it just took off, being a hybrid of The Manchurian Candidate and High Noon with Tommy Udo for an assassin.

That Baron sure likes to talk a lot, huh? It'll prove to be the undoing of his nefarious plot. All he had to do was be quiet and have everybody tied up, preferably in the basement, with one man watching over them. It's interesting to hear him reeling off the history of U.S. presidential assassinations because the next one would be around the corner in nine years.

There's also a great exchange between a motorist and a cop when it comes to the meaning of the film title:

-"What town is this?"
-"Suddenly."
-"Suddenly what?"
-"No, no. That's the name."
-"That's a funny name for a town."
-"Uh-huh. Hang over from the old days. That's the way things used to happen here, suddenly."
-"I see."
-"Road agents, gamblers, gunfighters."
-"Well, I take it things have changed."
-"Uh-huh. Things happen so slow now the town council is figuring to change the name to Gradually."

All in all, Frank Sinatra's tour-de-force performance is the biggest reason to see Suddenly.

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