“Drug-addicted poker dealer (Frank Sinatra) struggling to kick the ‘monkey on his back' and to live on good terms with his crippled wife (Eleanor Parker) and the general assortment of drunks, cardsharpers, and dope peddlers that inhabit his world. Excellently played (particularly by Sinatra) and with some finely realized backgrounds of the Chicago slums although the things that stay in the memory long after the rest of the film has been forgotten are Elmer Bernstein's strident jazz score (played by Shorty Rogers) and the ingenious credit titles of Saul Bass who designed the titles for a number of Preminger's films....”