directed by Lewis Allen
USA 1954
"Suddenly" is a peaceful small town in
Southern California. Nothing ever happens but one day the local police are
notified that a train carrying the President of the United States, on a
re-election campaign tour, will be making a brief stop in their little hamlet.
As expected, security is stringent as FBI agents comb the area to see that every
precaution is taken to ensure the President's protection. A car draws up at the
home of a family whose house overlooks the station at the very point where the
President's train will stop. A trio of men headed by John Baron (Frank Sinatra)
announce themselves as FBI security men and proceed to enter the house.
Eventually the genuine FBI agents turn up and are shot by Baron. The family
realizes that he is a paid assassin preparing to shot the President! He and his
henchmen hold the family hostage at gunpoint as they await the arrival of the
presidential train.
As the hours pass, Baron's pathological personality becomes more pronounced
while the family try, unsuccessfully, various ways to outwit him and his
men. The killer's plans have been carefully laid and as the train approaches.
The tension mounts and it seems that nothing can prevent the impending murder of
the nation's leader.
Suddenly is an obvious attempt at eroding
any pacifist leanings. It uses and targets women as the weak link in the chain
of vigilant security. The young mother Ellen Benson (played by Nancy Gates), has
lost her husband in Korea (fighting the communist menace) and consistently
attempts to keep her son Pidge (Kim Charney) from playing with guns. The strong
father-in-law opposes this and the mother is portrayed as a simple un-worldly
female unaware of the threats that society is consistently exposed to. From this
standpoint the film is a true classic of pro-war propaganda and 'defense of
country' with nationalistic intent. You can almost hear in the narrative " The
commies could be everywhere". A fascinating and obvious piece of cold-war fear
mongering -
out of
NOTE: Sinatra made two films with a plot revolving around a Presidential assassination (the other being The Manchurian Candidate), but Suddenly became infamous when it was learned Lee Harvey Oswald had watched the film just a few days before he shot President Kennedy. After learning of this, Sinatra had the prints removed from circulation.
Posters
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Theatrical Release: October 7th, 1954 - USA
Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews
DVD Comparison:
WEA Corp. (Troma) - Region 0 - NTSC vs. Sanctuary Digital Entertainment - Region 0 - NTSC vs. Disc Plaza Entertainment - Region 0 - NTSC vs. Image Entertainment - Region 1- NTSC
Big thanks to Bill Coleman and Per-Olaf Strandberg for the screen captures !
(WEA Corp (Troma) - Region 0 - NTSC LEFTvs. Sanctuary Digital Entertainment - Region 0 - NTSC 2nd vs. Disc Plaza Entertainment - Region 0 - NTSC - 3rd vs. Image Entertainment - Region 1- NTSC - RIGHT)
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| Distribution |
WEA Corp (Troma) Region 0 - NTSC |
Sanctuary Digital Entertainment Region 0 - NTSC |
Disc Plaza Entertainment Region 0 - NTSC |
Image Entertainment Region 1 - NTSC |
| Runtime | 1:15:41 | 1:12:29 (4% PAL speedup) | 1:15:45 | 1:12:09 |
| Video |
1.85:1
Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: ? mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s |
1.85:1 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: ?mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s |
1.32:1 Aspect Ratio |
1.33:1
Aspect Ratio |
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NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes. |
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Disc Plaza
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Image
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| Audio | English (2.0 mono) | English (2.0 mono) | English (2.0 mono) |
English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Dolby) |
| Subtitles | None | English
HoH, French, German, Spanish, NONE |
None | None |
| Features |
Release Information: Studio: WEA Corp.
Aspect Ratio:
Edition Details: • Credits •
Bonus materials - Two Serial episodes, from Flash Gordon and Radar Man
from the Moon Chapters 6
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Release Information: Studio: Disc Plaza / Platinum Disc Corporation
Aspect Ratio:
Edition Details: Chapters 20 |
Release Information: Studio: Disc Plaza / Platinum Disc Corporation
Aspect Ratio:
Edition Details:
Chapters 6 |
Release Information: Edition Details:
• Liner note page with poster |
| Comments: |
ADDITION (WEA Corp. -
January - 05) - it seems as soon as I open my mouth someone is reading
to prove me wrong. Now we see that you can also get this classic film in
widescreen in NTSC-ville (The Sanctaury DVD, although being widescreen
and NTSC, was also only available in the UK where they use PAL). So this
WEA Corp DVD (is it also Troma?) is widescreen at 1.85 and although it
has a better grey scale than all the others is still not as sharp as the
Sanctuary, which still has our recommendation. **** ADDITION (Sanctuary Digital Entertainment - Dec -04) - Well, well, well - what have we here. Buried in a PAL country (UK) but my contributor assures me that the disc is NTSC... and not only that - we have even more surprises. The far superior Sanctuary DVD claims the film was theatrically shown at 1.85 widescreen! .. and the composition appears to bear that out. The Image Entertainment disc looks absurdly blue next to the Sanctuary and is a notch below on the sharpness scale to its UK predecessor. The Sanctuary looks much more like a 'real' DVD with extras, commentary, featurettes and decent menus. Wow, I am scratching my head - I am sure there is a reason that it is only for sale in the UK... but I wish I had known sooner before shelling out for this Image Entertainment cheapy. NOTE: The audio on the sanctuary is les than stellar with lots of crackles and pops. We flip-flop - our advice is BUY the Sanctuary ! **** The Disc Plaza edition has the lowest bitrate I have ever seen (2.35 mb/s) and is fraught with problems - aspect ratio adjustment (stretched horizontally), contrast boosting, cropped etc. Now the Image Disc is not perfect have a blue-ish haze over the picture, but it is miles better - sharper and superior contrast. Neither disc, unfortunately, has any extras, but the inexpensive Disc Plaza (aka Platinum) has the inclusion of another Sinatra classic 'The Man With the Golden Arm" and it is in better condition than "Suddenly". There are many Public Domain issue DVDs of "Suddenly" and this Image DVD appears to be the best of the lot. A true classic noir that we encourage you to watch! |
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Film Noir: An Encyclopedia Reference to the American
Style by Alain Silver, Elizabeth Ward |
The Dark Side of the Screen: Film Noir by Foster Hirsch |
Somewhere in the Night: Film Noir and the American City by Nicholas Christopher |
The Little Black and White Book of Film Noir:
Quotations from Films of the 40's and 50's by Peg Thompson, Saeko Usukawa |
Film Noir by Alain Silver |
Film Noir Guide: 745 Films of the Classic Era,
1940-1959 by Michael F. Keaney |
Detours and Lost Highways: A Map of Neo-Noir by Foster Hirsch |
More Than Night: Film Noir in Its Contexts by James Naremore |
DVD Menus
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Corp. (Troma) - Region 0 - NTSC LEFT
vs. Sanctuary
Digital Entertainment - Region 0 - NTSC
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(Disc Plaza Entertainment - Region 0 - NTSC - LEFT vs. Image Entertainment - Region 1- NTSC - RIGHT)
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Sanctuary DVD is widescreen... claiming:
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(NOTE: The WEA Corp DVD is also widescreen.)
NOTE: The Disc Plaza release has huge combing issue with scene frame shifts:
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Also Prevalent in the Image Entertainment disc it is far less noticeable:
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Screen Captures
(WEA Corp (Troma) - Region 0 - NTSC TOP vs. Sanctuary Digital Entertainment - Region 0 - NTSC 2nd vs. Disc Plaza Entertainment - Region 0 - NTSC - 3rd vs. Image Entertainment - Region 1- NTSC - BOTTOM)
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(WEA Corp (Troma) - Region 0 - NTSC TOP vs. Sanctuary Digital Entertainment - Region 0 - NTSC 2nd vs. Disc Plaza Entertainment - Region 0 - NTSC - 3rd vs. Image Entertainment - Region 1- NTSC - BOTTOM)
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(WEA Corp (Troma) - Region 0 - NTSC TOP vs. Sanctuary Digital Entertainment - Region 0 - NTSC 2nd vs. Disc Plaza Entertainment - Region 0 - NTSC - 3rd vs. Image Entertainment - Region 1- NTSC - BOTTOM)
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(WEA Corp (Troma) - Region 0 - NTSC TOP vs. Sanctuary Digital Entertainment - Region 0 - NTSC 2nd vs. Disc Plaza Entertainment - Region 0 - NTSC - 3rd vs. Image Entertainment - Region 1- NTSC - BOTTOM)
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(WEA Corp (Troma) - Region 0 - NTSC TOP vs. Sanctuary Digital Entertainment - Region 0 - NTSC 2nd vs. Disc Plaza Entertainment - Region 0 - NTSC - 3rd vs. Image Entertainment - Region 1- NTSC - BOTTOM)
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(WEA Corp (Troma) - Region 0 - NTSC TOP vs. Sanctuary Digital Entertainment - Region 0 - NTSC 2nd vs. Disc Plaza Entertainment - Region 0 - NTSC - 3rd vs. Image Entertainment - Region 1- NTSC - BOTTOM)
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Report Card:
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Image: |
Sanctuary Digital Entertainment |
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Sound: |
Image Entertainment |
| Extras: | Sanctuary Digital Entertainment |
| Menu: | Sanctuary Digital Entertainment |
| DVD Box Covers |
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| Distribution |
WEA Corp (Troma) Region 0 - NTSC |
Sanctuary Digital Entertainment Region 0 - NTSC |
Disc Plaza Entertainment Region 0 - NTSC |
Image Entertainment Region 1 - NTSC |
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