I have so many favorites of his that I won't even try to get into them now. I tend to prefer the roles in which he actually sings and performs--he's a wanna-be drummer in this one--but I watched The Man With The Golden Arm based on your recommendation (bought it at Walgreens for a buck a few months ago) and thoroughly had a good time with it. It was very controversial for the period b/c of it's portrayal of drug addiction.
The film has certainly achieved iconic status, and according to wikipedia: In the video game, The Darkness, this film can be watched on an old television set in a shopping cart, found early in the game in a subway station.
And, The movie opens with one of the most famous, influential and controversial title sequences in movie history, the animated paper cut-out of a heroin addict's arm, designed and conceived by Saul Bass as a means of creating much more than a mere title-sequence, but something that actually enhances the viewer's experience of the film by contributing to a mood built within the opening moments of a film. Bass would go on to create memorable title-sequences for more renowned films, notably for Alfred Hitchcock for films such as Vertigo, North by Northwest and Psycho.
Warning, Spoiler:
About a quarter of a way into the film I really thought that Frankie was going to have a Young Vito vs. Fanucci moment, only to find out that he was in fact following the dealer up to his room b/c he wanted a "fix", and NOT b/c he planned on murdering him. The film did a marvelous job of duping us with that one. The suspenseful nature of the music leads the audience to believe that the dealer is pulling his weapons out of the desk -- but he is in fact he is pulling out his drug needles, turnicate, etc.; the whole film was really QUITE shocking in those days.
