Get Up, Stand Up

Speaking of The Man With the Golden Arm, while there is plenty to like about the movie, beginning with Frank Sinatra's portrayal of a heroin addict with the Soft Cell-like name of Frankie Machine, my prior experiences ruined what may have been one of the most dramatic developments in the film. Frankie has returned from a stint in prison, to his hideously needy wife Zosh (and isn't Zosh Machine the name of a Flaming Lips album?), who is stuck in a wheelchair. But when Frankie leaves their squalid Chicago apartment, Zosh gets up out of her wheelchair and displays herself as perfectly ambulatory.

For the audience of 1955, this was probably a gasp-inducing moment. But for me, I could think of only one thing. That's right: Guy Caballero.