My continuing exploration of noir finally brings me to Frank Sinatra's only true essay at the style, which actually seems to fit his nervous, energetic style of the time quite well. Here he is the leader of a group of assassins planning on taking out the President for cold hard cash as he stops in the small California town of Suddenly. Opposing him are the town's sheriff, the always watchable Sterling Hayden, and Secret Service agent Carney, who happens to be friends with James Gleason's Pop, a former agent now retired who owns the hilltop house that Sinatra and company plan on using to carry off their deed (with a high-powered rifle).<br /><br />Most of the film ends up taking place in the house, as a tense hostage situation plays out through the back and forth between Sinatra and Hayden. It's all fairly well paced and taut; director Lewis Allen isn't usually named as one of the greats in the genre and indeed he doesn't seem to know what to do with all of the too-large cast in the short running time, but the basics work out pretty well, and Sinatra's tormented, sweaty and nervous characterization makes the film a must for devotees of the psychopath. DVD (rather poor quality) rental.