The Man With the Golden Arm [Original Soundtrack]

Sure, the primary motif’s a monster — a broad-shouldered explosion of boastful yet malevolent brass that was adapted by rockers as far-flung as Sweet and Barry Adamson. But Elmer Bernstein’s score to Otto Preminger’s junkie drummer noir, featuring Frank Sinatra as the titular lead, goes a bit further beyond that swaggering intial impact. West Coast drummer Shelly Manne was coming into his own as a major component of Hollywood’s increasing reliance on jazz-scored soundtracks, and his beat drives the heart of Bernstein’s score and Shorty Rogers’ arrangements as they grapple with the transitions between classic big band jazz, bebop, and its evolving post-bop forms. It makes for some dynamic medleys — the opening “Clark Street,” which shifts from that swinging-turned-spiralling theme to quieter, small-combo reverie and then back to an upbeat dancefloor mode, or the frantic “Breakup” sequence that fuses sting-heavy orchestral cues to the kinds of cold-sweating piano chords (played by longtime Hollywood hand Ray Turner) and untethered boogie-woogie/blues that sounds halfway to the early avant expeditions Sun Ra would go a few years later on Jazz in Silhouette. The more traditional orchestral cues — the sentimental romantic overtures of “Molly,” the cold-turkey nightmare “Sunday Morning,” the downer resolution of “The Cure” — wind up shining by proximity, too. But the real big thrill is “Audition” — a thwarted moment of failure in the film, but an absolute barn-burner of mid ’50s late swing on record.