Here’s another highly esteemed film that I would have posted earlier if I had known it was in the public domain.
The Man with the Golden Arm (1955)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BtAjHx0SwA - from the FEATURE FILM YouTube channel (1 hour 59 mins - 1080p)
Synopsis:
A junkie must face his true self to kick his drug addiction.
Directed by Otto Preminger.
Cast: Frank Sinatra, Kim Novak & Eleanor Parker.
Trivia:
Preminger decided to release the finished film prior to submitting it for a Code seal of approval. In early December 1955, the PCA denied the film a Code seal, and the decision was upheld upon appeal to the MPAA. As a result, United Artists resigned from the MPAA that same month (although the company re-joined a few years later). The National Legion of Decency also showed disagreement with the PCA ruling by rating the film as a “B” meaning “morally objectionable in part for all”, instead of a “C” meaning “condemned”, which was the rating normally given to films that were denied a Code seal. Large theater circuits including Loews also refused to ban the film and instead showed it despite the lack of a Code seal. As a result of the controversy, the MPAA investigated and revised production codes, allowing later movies more freedom to deeply explore hitherto taboo subjects such as drug abuse, kidnapping, miscegenation, abortion, and prostitution.