Just out of prison, card-shark Frankie Machine (Frank Sinatra) is back at his old Chicago haunts. He's left behind his smack addiction and brought home a newfound talent, jazz drumming. Though determined to begin life anew, he soon succumbs to pressure from his crippled wife (Eleanor Parker) and a handful of local hustlers, and is back on the needle. Frankie's tragic decline, particularly when he goes cold turkey in the pad of his pal Molly (Kim Novak), should have been enough to leave anyone cold about H. But the Production Code Administration refused the release of Preminger's bristling exposé, claiming depiction was the same as advocacy. Mr. Machine doesn't pound the skins often, although Sinatra had tutorials from the great Shelly Manne to get his on-screen chops down. What is most notable, jazz-wise, is the Elmer Bernstein score, considered by many to be a fifties landmark. Shorty Rogers, a West Coast trumpet player of cool distinction, and his Giants stepped in for the up beat.