Suddenly

The acting and dialogue are terrible and the only reason to watch this movie is Sinatra who does his best to save this movie.

Why is Frank Sinatra in all these Presidential assassination films? This one is much hokier than the chilling The Manchurian Candidate. Most of the behavior is ludicrous, and Sterling Hayden is as stiff as a board. But lanky Frankie is lively enough to keep interest.

Sinatra is just plain evil in this one.

Pure cheese all the way through. None of the family members can deliver a good line to save their life, and I laughed my ass off when that kid got smacked in the face.

Not a complete loss. Sinatra is pretty good, there's some sharp postwar cynicism and one or two clever plot moments. But yeah, the other actors are terrible and the script is crap. Lots of overly patriotic mumbo-jumbo, and the fact that the obnoxious little boy doesn't get murdered (spoiler alert!) is a huge disappointment. Why does every hostage drama have to have an obnoxious little boy to fuck things up anyway? It kind of makes me appreciate Funny Games a little more.

This is a good film about a little town that is preparing for a visit from the president. Frank Sinatra is good as the head gangster and Sterling Hayden is good as the cop.

First 20 minutes are pretty rocky, and Hayden is surprisingly awful. But Sinatra completely owns it. A bit corny, but tense and to the point.

Not good but not bad. I'm a Sterling fan and it's fun spending time with Frank even if he is kind of unbearable. Was Pidge (the kid) cross-eyed or what?

Decent little low budget patriotic morality tale.

Sinatra steals the show here as a cold-blooded killer for hire. Good thriller for the time.

bad but god i love sinatra in everything

Such a pity Frank didn't have the chance to sing in this film...at least my rating would have increased 10 points...funny plot with brave oldies, smart kids and stupid adults...just worthy the first and last lines, a beautiful wrapping paper for emptiness...

May have been quite edgy in 1954 , I think it was trying to make a few observations on Society at that time-the dialogue and acting is unconvincing, although Sinatra is good in his role. Entertaining.

May have inspired JFK Assassination.