Frank Sinatra’s film career was at its apex when he made the crime thriller Suddenly  (1954); he had just won an Oscar for his work in From Here to Eternity and he was soon to star or co-star in Not as a Stranger, Young at Heart, Guys and Dolls and The Man with the Golden Arm, arguably his best performance.

But before he made those classics, he stunned his fans with an unexpected villainous turn in Suddenly, in which his character tries to assassinate the President of the United States.

It all takes place in the sleepy little California town of Suddenly, where the president is due to detrain for a fishing trip one afternoon.  The state police and Secret Service arrive to arrange protection, but they may not be able to prevent three contract killers (Frank Sinatra, Paul Frees, Christopher Dark) from ending that fishing trip prematurely.  The killers hole up in a house that overlooks the train station where a widow (Nancy Gates), her boy (Kim Charney) and his grandfather (James Gleason) reside.  Sheriff Sterling Hayden complicates matters when he arrives with the head of the Secret Service detail (Willis Bouchey), and tragedy results.

Lewis Allen’s film is very focused, starting right from the opening scene when Hayden and the boy discuss whether he ought to be allowed to play with a toy gun.  His mother’s aversion to guns is understandably altered a bit when good people start dying in her home.  The violence is not sugar-coated, either.  Several people are shot, beaten or constantly threatened, particularly the young boy.

The acting in Suddenly is top-notch, especially from Sinatra and Hayden.  A lot of leading actors would never have taken Sinatra’s role, but he dives into it headfirst, creating a portrait of a selfish miscreant, abandoned as a child, years before it became popular to take such risks.  Hayden’s lawman is straight-laced, yet deceptively subversive as well.  The scenes between Hayden and Gates at the beginning of the story are sharp but offbeat; he comes across as more of a stalker than a paramour.

Thematically the film remains consistent throughout, and the climax is both exciting and satisfying.  Suddenly begins gradually but tightens itself into a riveting suspense thriller as every minute passes by.  It’s one of the meanest and most effective films of its era, and it’s still quite powerful today.  My rating:  ✰ ✰ ✰ ½.  (8:2).