Some Came Running

Sinatra stars as a soldier and would-be novelist returning from the war to small-town Indiana in Vincente Minnelli’s supremely stylish drama. Psychologically astute and profoundly affecting.

Though paid fond tribute in Godard's Contempt, Minnelli's masterpiece deserves to be much better known than it is. Based on a novel by James Jones (author of From Here to Eternity and The Thin Red Line), it finds soldier and would-be novelist Dave Hirsch (Frank Sinatra) returning from the war to small-town Indiana.

The tensions already troubling his relationship with his brother's family are exacerbated by his befriending of a local gambler (Dean Martin), while his attraction to teacher Gwen (Martha Hyer) is undermined by his indulgence - at least when drunk - of adoring floozy Ginny (Shirley MacLaine). Making magnificent use of the uniformly superb performances, William Daniels' dazzling Scope camerawork and Elmer Bernstein's sometimes jazzy, sometimes lyrical score, Minnelli fashions a supremely stylish drama: psychologically astute, alert to life's many inevitable dilemmas, profoundly affecting. Ginny singing 'After You've Gone' says it all...

Directed by:

Vincente Minnelli

Cast:

Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Shirley MacLaine, Martha Hyer, Arthur Kennedy

Distributor:

BFI

Country:

USA

Year:

1958

Running time:

136min

Certificate:

PG