Some Came Running

Released Dec 18, 1958

2h 17m

Drama

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75%

16 Reviews

Tomatometer

76%

500+ Ratings

Audience Score

Hard-drinking novelist Dave Hirsh (Frank Sinatra) returns home after being gone for years. His brother (Arthur Kennedy) wants Dave to settle down, and introduces him to English teacher Gwen French (Martha Hyer). Moody Dave resents his brother, and spends his days hanging out with Bama Dillert (Dean Martin), a professional gambler who parties late into the night. Torn between the admiring Gwen and Ginny Morehead (Shirley MacLaine), an easy woman who loves him, Dave grows increasingly angry.

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Mike F

Sinatra and Martin are terrific together as drinking buddies in this drama from the 50's. It is a little long but keeps your interest through to the end as the plot takes a twist that makes Sinatra rethink his values and relationships.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

11/19/23

Full Review

darth darth b

What is a person worth? This is the question that permeates through each of these characters' motives, whether it's a self-destructive GI on the verge of alcoholism, a proud hustler who can only plot out his next grift, a stately patriarch who always keeps the town's interest above his own family's, a dutiful school marm who is all business and no romance, or a born-yesterday floozie who's all heart and no brains coming of age a decade late. It's rather sly of the movie introducing the latter as a throwaway ditz, then sneak her into the principals' lives for a more meaningful impact later on. There could have been a bit more taut pacing to keep everything afloat, and some threads are left unsewn. Bernstein channels an eclectic mix of grungy jazz, sweeping love, and even a touch of his biblical sensibility when it counts.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Can be funny every here and there, but very monotonous, hollow, and slow-paced.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/29/23

Full Review

William L

"You're right, teacher. You're 100% right. I've been a bad boy. I've been naughty. As a matter of fact I don't even belong in your class." Now imagine that line said in complete seriousness by Frank Sinatra with a dramatic overture. Some Came Running is pure melodrama, a clash of moral flaws, social graces, and personal affections (like Sinatra's superficially rough-cut but upright Dave vs. Kennedy's prim yet unfaithful Frank; the genuine vs. the facade) whose plot is drawn-out and unsurprising, and is really only saved by a series of relatively solid performances, including an unusually dramatic turn from Sinatra, and in particular MacLaine as the rather dim but devoted Ginny. Just as a taste of how surface-level much of this film is, the film builds up to a decision surrounding Dave's choice of a romantic partner - the gifted Gwen, whose affections are tempered by Dave's faults, and Ginny, who is less than Dave's match for intellect but loves him dearly. It's not complicated, but it takes us well over two hours to get Dave to recognize the benefits of unconditional affection in response to the many fractured relationships of his past, even if it's not in the form that he would prefer. If it weren't for the particularly convincing MacLaine, the film would almost fall apart, but she gives power and nuance to a character that could have easily been cliched and unsympathetic. Far from the best film from the typically musically-inclined Minnelli. (3/5)

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

06/09/21

Full Review

david l

Some Came Running started off very strong with an intriguing premise, but eventually it devolved into a standard, heightened melodrama with too many characters, too much unnecessary drama and a particularly weak ending. The acting is strong cross the board with MacLaine, Hyer and Kennedy all receiving Oscar noms for their work, but it was actually Frank Sinatra who stole the show in one of his best performances.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

steve d

Ok film because of its performances.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

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Vincente Minnelli

Director

Frank Sinatra

Dave Hirsh

Dean Martin

Bama Dillert

Shirley MacLaine

Ginny Moorhead

Martha Hyer

Gwen French

Arthur Kennedy

Frank Hirsh

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Some Came Running: Trailer 1

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Richard Brody

New Yorker

Minnelli... revels in the alluring decorative artifices of small-town life, which nonetheless seethe with passions that shatter the surface of decorum.

Jun 5, 2023

Full Review

Empire Magazine

Rated: 2/5

May 16, 2008

Full Review

Moira Walsh

The Catholic World

I do not know whether or not James Jones’ censorable, over-length novel had an intelligible point of view. The partially disinfected screen version in any case occupies two hours and fifteen minutes displaying a total lack of one.

Aug 24, 2023

Full Review

Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

A searing indictment of small-town hypocrisy. Shirley MacLaine's performance will break your heart.

Rated: 4/4

Nov 21, 2021

Full Review

Yasser Medina

Cinefilia

As a melodrama, its premise about impossible love, family conflicts and war wounds is a bit inane, populated with a collage of flat characters that, apparently, are built on a cardboard surface. [Full review in Spanish]

Rated: 5/10

May 12, 2021

Full Review

Clyde Gilmour

Maclean's Magazine

Some of the story's many characters remain shadowy at the finish but the film knowingly combines tension and robust comedy.

Dec 3, 2019

Full Review

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Synopsis

Hard-drinking novelist Dave Hirsh (Frank Sinatra) returns home after being gone for years. His brother (Arthur Kennedy) wants Dave to settle down, and introduces him to English teacher Gwen French (Martha Hyer). Moody Dave resents his brother, and spends his days hanging out with Bama Dillert (Dean Martin), a professional gambler who parties late into the night. Torn between the admiring Gwen and Ginny Morehead (Shirley MacLaine), an easy woman who loves him, Dave grows increasingly angry.

Director: Vincente Minnelli
Screenwriter: John Patrick, Athur Sheekman
Distributor: MGM/UA Home Entertainment Inc., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Distributing Corp.
Production Co: Metro Goldwyn Mayer
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 18, 1958, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 1, 2009
Runtime: 2h 17m
Sound Mix: Mono
Aspect Ratio: 35mm, Scope (2.35:1)

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