Classic Film Guide

Suddenly (1954)

Directed by Lewis Allen, and written by Richard Sale, this above average political thriller stars Frank Sinatra as the would-be assassin and leader of a gang who plans to kill the President of the United States. Years before Sinatra acquaintance JFK was assassinated, Sinatra was reported to have had this film withdrawn from circulation after November 22, 1963.

Sterling Hayden is the Sheriff in Suddenly, CA who's told by the Secret Service (SS) that the President is on a train that will stop in his small town on its way to somewhere else. Though he keeps this fact from everyone else in town, he makes the appropriate security arrangements with his deputies (including actor Paul Wexler), coordinating his plans with those of the chief SS agent (Willis Bouchey) . At the same time, we learn that Hayden's character is dating a single mother (Nancy Gates), who lives with her son (Kim Charney) that wants a gun and her retired SS agent father, played by James Gleason. Wouldn't you know it, Sinatra and his gang (Paul Frees & Christopher Dark) choose her home as their base of operations for their assassination attempt.

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