Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

the audience applauded

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

Sinatra may not have tried to pull this film after the JFK assasination, but when you see him with a scoped rifle aiming from an elevated position, the similarities had to haunt him. Having lived through this event, it gave me chills.

If you liked The Manchurian Candidate, you're not going to want to miss out on Suddenly. Suddenly is the name of a small American town, but it's also a metaphor for the plot, which is reflected well in Lewis Allen's tense direction and Richard Sale's smart screenplay.Nancy Gates is a widow, trying to raise her young son properly while falling in love with Sterling Hayden, the town sheriff. How can she teach her son that guns are bad, because his father died in the war, but the man vying to become his stepfather uses a gun to keep the peace in town? While that isn't the main plot, it's the underlying theme and the motivation behind her character. The President of the United States is slated to pass through Suddenly as a good-will gesture to small time Americana, and just before his stop, three strangers arrive in town. The leader of the group is Frank Sinatra, and he charms his way into Nancy Gates's home. Then—suddenly—Frank and his gang are holding the family hostage as they prepare to assassinate the president.The film is very tense, and an extremely entertaining ride. I wouldn't bother to pop corn during this one; you probably won't look away from the screen long enough to grab a handful. Frank Sinatra does an excellent job as the slightly-psycho assassin; he's not over-the-top, but he's sufficiently scary so the audience doesn't expect him to start singing. I liked this movie a lot, but if you don't think you'll like seeing Ol' Blue Eyes as the bad guy—even though the movie is in black-and-white—you might want to rent From Here to Eternity instead.

Never look at small towns as just another Hicksville. Many of our greatest Americans were born in the sticks, and many more are to come out of there. Events occur that make the history books, whether triumph or tragedy, and in Suddenly, U.S.A., there is the possibility of a tragedy. Bit more matter what happens, Suddenly won't forget what happened...quickly.What sounds like an Abbott and Costello skit occurs in the opening scene where a passer through asks friendly deputy Sterling Hayden why the town has that name. Hayden explains that things really used to happen there thank to organized crime, but now pretty much nothing happens. That's about to change, and one family will feel the brunt of it, thanks to "Old Blue Eyes".Yes, this is Sinatra as you've never seen him before, a total bad guy, posing as a government agent to get into the home of widowed Nancy Gates. He's waiting for a train, not to catch, but to shoot at, and his target is the president of the United States. Gates' young son isn't afraid to stand up to him, and Sinatra belts him. There's no gentility here, so be prepared.Like the ticking clock in "High Noon', the tension rises until the thermometer breaks. It's similar in theme to Sinatra's later masterpiece" The Manchurian Candidate", threatening American piece of mind with an act of violence by one of our own. James Gleason is great as Gates' worried father-in-law, with Kim Charney pretty impressive as the courageous kid. Some moments may have you cringe, particularly how Sinatra deals with the wounded Hayden, suffering from a broken arm. The script goes into the psychology of how Sinatra went bad, and there is no clichéd dialog to make you groan. It's tough and brutal and unapologetic, and most importantly, it makes you think.

Yes a junior deputy sheriff saves the U.S. by checking out a random stranger in town. The first thing the secret service does in 1954 is to clear all the buildings with windows facing the spot where the President will stand. All the buildings, public and private are checked and secure....but this was 1954, I guess they had forgotten all that nonsense by 1963. In this movie they figure an assassin would have to be a real heel, a guy with no politics, who slaps little kids around and is happy to kill for money! You gotta love Frank though, he puts on a double breasted suit, a necktie and a fedora when he is getting ready to off somebody famous....oh OK maybe Jack Ruby caught this flick. He was a big Sinatra fan.