Frank Sinatra Played a Potential Presidential Assassin in This Tense Crime Thriller

The big picture

• Sinatra gives a chilling performance as a ruthless killer
  Suddenly
  showing his acting versatility.
• Suddenly
  is a character-driven noir set in a small town, focusing on tension and suspense within a small space.
• The film captivates with a complex plot and Sinatra's sinister performance.

One of the most prolific entertainers of the 20th century, Frank Sinatra he is best known for his enchanting crooning, so beloved that he is often referred to as “The Voice”. A charismatic performer in every way, Sinatra also had a very successful film career. Scored an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role in From here to eternity in 1953, Sinatra excelled in dramatic roles, often appearing in films related to the war or that explored war themes. Considered a stone of cultural touch, The Manchurian candidate may be Sinatra's best-known acting work, where Ol' Blue Eyes played an Army Intelligence officer tasked with preventing an assassination attempt on the president. However, nearly a decade earlier, Sinatra essentially played the opposite role in the film noir. Suddenly. Playing a cold-hearted killer, Sinatra stars as a gunman hired to assassinate the president as she travels by train through a small town, turning in a truly chilling performance in this tense, high-stakes drama.

What is “suddenly” all about?

Suddenly takes place in a small Californian town called Suddenly, where the slow tranquility of the community is quickly disrupted when the President of the United States is set to travel through the community by train. Residing atop a hill overlooking the train station, Ellen Benson (Natalie Gates) is a widowed mother who lives with her father-in-law, Pop (James Gleason), a former Secret Service agent, and his son, Pidge (Kim Charney). As the local sheriff Todd (Sterling Hayden) works alongside state troopers and Secret Service agents to prepare for the president's arrival, visit Benson's house to secure his vantage point over the train station. Unfortunately, they are not the only ones who saw the potential of the location. It's called a killer John Baron (Sinatra) tricks the Bensons, kills a Secret Service agent and holds the family hostage as he prepares to assassinate the president from his window. Trapped in their home, the characters not only struggle to save their own lives, but desperately try to stop Baron from finishing his bloody work.

“Suddenly” is a claustrophobic, character-driven noir

As if the small-town setting wasn't limited enough, most of the film takes place in Benson's own house, with only brief moments outside the house. Although the atmosphere of the home looks like classic Americana a la The Brady Group, the atmosphere of the house becomes claustrophobic and you have a hit Baron arrives. But Die Hard this movie is not; there's no action hero rescue, no running around hired gunmen to stop them from their murderous plans. Quarters are so limited that when Baron points a gun at young Pidge, it's clear that the stakes are perhaps the highest they could ever be.

With such a limited piece, the film relies on its characters and their conversations to carry the weight of the drama, which works effectively to maintain tension throughout the film. Baron is cold and calculating, but he also has a tendency to love being talked down to. Sheriff Tod is protective, Pop Benson is patriotic, and Pidge is brave, if not young and foolish. However, as with many other films of this era, the person who Suddenly What fails the most is its only female character: Ellen Benson. Throughout the film, Ellen is treated as a useless damsel in distress, with constant criticism of her nervousness leading to the overall feeling that the male characters in the film see her as another obstacle. At one point, Baron forces Ellen to trick another visiting Secret Service agent out of home. Although she manages to keep her cool, Ellen still nearly breaks down from the stress. It's one of the most frustrating moments in the entire film because the agent dismisses her emotional state as nothing serious, dismisses the woman again, and completely misses the chance to uncover the plot of the murder.

Released in 1954, the film has subtle but overarching Cold War themes. The characters repeatedly try to use patriotism to dissuade Baron from killing the president, appealing to his identity as an American to persuade him to give up his gun. No further details are given about the president other than his position in government, giving him a degree of courtly reverence that grounds the film in its time, though it might make it feel odd today. Sheriff Tod and Pop Benson in particular are treated with an extra level of respect due to their previous experience in the secret service and military.

Frank Sinatra is absolutely creepy in 'Suddenly'

But the highlight of the film could only be one man, as Sinatra completely commands the screen for every minute of its running time. Sinatra turns sinister in this performance as Ol' Blue Eyes is cold in his portrayal of John Baron. Although it was his first time playing a villain, and in such a limited setting with a small cast of characters, Sinatra's haunting, and somehow still charismatic, performance as John Baron is the film's most complex and intriguing. Baron is a thoroughly despicable character, with a rampant preoccupation with killing people and a total willingness to threaten a widow and her young son. In addition to his cunning cruelty, best demonstrated by his willingness to kill a child, Baron also has a remarkable flair for the dramatic, monologuing quite a bit throughout the film.

Through his own dramatized exposition, Baron reveals that he had previously served in the military, often citing his Silver Star medal as a counterargument to his hostage's attacks on his patriotism. However, the characters soon break it up Baron was never a distinguished military soldier, but was actually dismissed from the service due to his unstable psychological state. More specifically, Baron was discharged because of his disturbing love for the act of killing. Rather than assassinating the president for political machinations, it seems Baron just wanted the job for the glory of being the first presidential assassin to successfully escape. In addition to general patriotic sentiments, the film also has a surprisingly strong anti-gun opinion. Early in the film, Pidge seriously wants a toy gun to emulate her heroes, which is even encouraged by Sheriff Tod, but after Baron's home invasion, the film's opinion on firearms takes on a realistically serious tone.

As Baron reveals more of his inner psyche, he talks at length about how he was nothing before he became an assassin and how it was the gun that made him feel like someone worthwhile. It's the film's most haunting monologue, where Sinatra's presence and gravitas as a performer make it a truly gripping sequence. Looking back at the classic, Suddenly can be seen as one of Sinatra's most significant performances, even if it is not his most recognized work. This was his first time in the role of “the heavy”, an old Hollywood term referring to serious antagonistic roles in a film, and he shows that he has the acting versatility to command attention in various papers Interestingly, his role in The Manchurian candidate he is somewhat the opposite of John Baron in that he instead strives to prevent a murder, rather than commit one.

However, part of the film's lasting legacy lives on in infamy. It was rumored that Lee Harvey Oswald looked at both Suddenly i The Manchurian candidate before his murder President John F. Kennedy, possibly drawing inspiration from both. Although this was never fully confirmed, Sinatra was nonetheless enraged by his own connections to Kennedy. Sinatra petitioned United Artists to pull both films from circulation, even attempting to personally purchase prints of Suddenly, so he could destroy them himself. While connections to real-life presidential assassinations lie between Hollywood legend and the movies' inevitable presence in everyday culture, Suddenly it remains a remarkable and memorable image, and one of Sinatra's best performances of his career.

Suddenly is available to rent or buy on Prime Video in the US

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