Blu-ray Review: Suddenly

Suddenly is a tense, well-written thriller about an assassination attempt on the president of the United States. It stars Frank Sinatra, Sterling Hayden, James Gleason and Nancy Gates, and was directed by Lewis Allen (who also directed the excellent mystery The Uninvited). Suddenly is the name of the quiet town where the story takes place, and a police officer in the opening scene jokes with a tourist that things have changed so much over the years that they’re considering changing the town’s name to Gradually. But of course things are once again about to get more urgent in the town.

I love the way this film takes time to establish the tranquility of the town, as well as the characters and some of the thematic elements. For example, a young boy named Pidge wants a toy gun so he can practice being sheriff, but his mother, Ellen (Nancy Gates), forbids him from anything associated with violence, including war films. Ellen is a widow, whose husband was killed in the war, and she understandably wishes to protect her son from violence. Interestingly, it is the town’s sheriff, Tod Shaw (Sterling Hayden), that is courting her, and he buys Pidge the toy gun. (By the way, it is difficult even now to watch Sterling Hayden without thinking of how he’s protecting our precious bodily fluids.)

When a telegraph message comes in that the president will arrive in town by train, Tod goes about making preparations for his arrival. The secret service men arrive before the train, and ask about a certain house overlooking the train tracks. The house in question belongs to Peter Benson (James Gleason), who was once in the secret service himself. He lives in the house with his daughter-in-law and grandson, who turn out to be Ellen and Pidge. Because Dan Carney, the head secret service agent, used to work with Benson, he leaves that house until later. But in the meantime, Johnny Baron (Frank Sinatra) and his two men arrive at the house, posing as FBI agents.

The film does such a great job of building tension, even at a moment when it feels like it might actually be releasing tension, such as when Dan Carney and Tod finally show up at Benson’s home and Dan greets Peter by asking, “Hey, why aren’t you dead?” It’s a funny moment, but it’s right then that things start getting serious.

Frank Sinatra is excellent in this film, giving a compelling and nuanced performance. And he’s given some great dialogue to deliver as well. Ellen asks him, “Haven’t you any feelings at all?” He answers: “No, I haven’t, lady. They were taken out of me by experts.” His is a truly interesting character, a talkative war hero who is very proud of his silver star, but who somewhere along the way went a little sideways.

Suddenly was digitally restored, and is scheduled to be released on Blu-ray on October 25, 2016 through The Film Detective. The disc contains no special features.