Behind the Camera on SOME CAME RUNNING

The entire cast and crew of Some Came Running traveled to Madison, Indiana, for the majority of filming but after the town's initial excitement over Frank Sinatra's arrival, an antagonistic relationship developed between the star and the townspeople after the press reported some disparaging comments from Sinatra about their fair city. As director Vincente Minnelli observed, "The people of Madison..weren't aware of what they had in their midst. They thought Frank and his friends were just plain movie stars, to be ogled and fondled. But Frank chooses the subjects of his familiarity - they don't choose him. The fireworks were inevitable." Shirley MacLaine takes over the story: "The people of Madison surrounded the house night and day, sometimes four abreast, hoping and waiting to see these male movie idols. We had to keep the curtains drawn for privacy and that soon started to wear on all of us. It was like living in a tomb! It became a surreal experience as women would break through the police barricade, enter the house and target Frank and Dean, ripping at their clothes."

In her autobiography, MacLaine would later describe how the actors and director got along during the close-quarters shooting in Madison. "I was comfortable and friendly being around the guys in the group," she said, "because I was perceived by most of them as a mascot. I was the only woman they allowed in the house...I was a pal, maybe even one of the boys." She thought that Martin turned in his best ever performance, because "he was a lot like Bama, a loner with his own code of ethics who would never compromise, so maybe it wasn't really a performance." MacLaine went on to say that "Neither [Dean] nor Frank liked Vincente Minnelli. They thought he was too precious and pursed his lips too much." She herself thought he was "an excellent director, simply because he didn't direct much. He 'let' us actors find our own characters and our own way. Dean thrived on the freedom he felt with Vincente¿ but Frank was threatened by this way of working because the freedom of choice exposed him too much." Director Vincente Minnelli related how he gave Sinatra and Martin advice on approaching their characters: "I think you should approach each other - as if you were two matrons being introduced at a party in Beverly Hills. Both of you used to be hookers, but you're now married to producers and are totally respectable. But when you look at each other, you know, you both know."

Characters often have their own color codes in Some Came Running, and even the social settings dictate different color approaches. Carefully chosen colors are used as exclamation points in certain scenes. Minnelli alluded to this consideration when he described, "Even after we'd started filming, I'd roam the streets of Madison. I came across a red brick building with a neon sign, set off the street, and immediately cast it as the house Bama would be living in." On Sinatra's acting style, Minnelli wrote, "Frank hated to rehearse. Prior to shooting each scene, I would work with other members of the cast until the last moment. Frank would then be called in, we'd go over the scene once again, and shoot. He gave me everything I wanted." Minnelli and Sinatra clashed famously during the filming of the climactic carnival scene. Minnelli took too much time setting up a shot with a Ferris wheel and then decided to move the giant wheel, instead of moving the camera, to get the effect he wanted. Then, according to MacLaine, "Frank bolted toward his limo, dove into it headfirst, and ordered the driver to the airport. He went back to Los Angeles, and Dean went with him." Minnelli defended his actions in his autobiography: "Folklore suggests that the Ferris wheel had to be moved three inches to satisfy my esoteric tastes. The reason for the move was somewhat more practical. The camera wouldn't pick it up in the long shots unless it was moved six feet. It was important that the Ferris wheel be seen from all angles, since it was the focal point of the scene."

Tempers cooled all around once shooting moved back to California soundstages. Here Minnelli bowed to another Sinatra demand, though; the shooting day would be from noon to eight p.m. Filming on the picture wrapped six days ahead of schedule, on October 21st. Editor Adrienne Fazan compiled a final cut for the film's sneak preview and the Los Angeles showing that qualified it for the Academy Awards. The official opening would take place in New York in January 1959.