THE CRITIC'S CORNER - SOME CAME RUNNING (1958)

"As bromide follows bromide, the spectator slowly comes to a drugged realization that the script is not making fun of anybody's beliefs, but simply stating its own. After that, there is nothing to hang around for except occasional flickers of brilliant overacting by Shirley MacLaine, the chance to watch Frank Sinatra play Frank Sinatra, and the spectacle of Director Vincente Minnelli's talents dissolving in the general mess of the story, like sunlight in a slag heap." - Time.

"Shirley [MacLaine] giggled inanely where other actresses would have gone throaty in big scenes. She ate like a sloven, she sang roisterously and out of tune, she dressed blowsily and she slopped make-up on her face as her beautiful co-star, Martha Hyer, delivered a great speech about the moral latitude that must be allowed men of talent. Shirley never comprehended a word. ¿[Sinatra's] looking away when she meltingly turns to kiss him at the ending of the crummy marriage ceremony makes the finale all hers. So does his gloomy indifference to the wedding certificate she values so highly. 'You don't have to understand,' says Ginny, 'to be able to feel.' That is the most poignant cry from the human heart that the screen has recorded in some time." - Jack Moffitt, The Hollywood Reporter.

"Sinatra moves with impressive speed and precision in every situation, with occasional flashes of humor. It's his picture, but he has distinguished support. Miss MacLaine portrays a young woman out on her own in the world, who admits she doesn't understand many things, but knows, nevertheless, that she is in love with Sinatra. Her elfin quality shines through the veneer and makes her characterization sympathetic." - James M Jerauld, Motion Picture Herald.

"This intelligent and sensitive adaptation of a best-selling novel is, apart from his musical comedies, Minnelli's best romantic film." - Georges Sadoul, Dictionary of Films.

"A marvelous, garish film about a writer...the dramatic curve of Sinatra's agonising voyage of self-discovery through the cheap neon-lit bars and cold houses, which ends in the calm of self-acceptance, is given an intensified realism which precisely reflects the neurotic 'writerly' view of life that he must overcome before he can write again." - Phil Hardy, TimeOut Film Guide.

"Strident and rather pointless melodrama with solid acting and production values." - Halliwell's Film & Video Guide.

"The story is pure melodrama, despite the intention of the original novel's author, James Jones, to invest it with greater stature...Sinatra gives a top performance, sardonic and compassionate, full of touches both instinctive and technical." - Variety Movie Guide.

Compiled by John Miller

Awards & Honors

Shirley MacLaine was nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for her leading role in Some Came Running. (She lost to Susan Hayward for her work in I Want to Live!). In addition, the film was nominated for an Oscar® in these categories: Best Supporting Actor (Arthur Kennedy), Best Supporting Actress (Martha Hyer), Best Costume Design (Walter Plunkett), and Best Music, Original Song (Jimmy Van Heusen and Sammy Cahn for "To Love and Be Loved").