Suddenly is a 1954 film noir starring Frank Sinatra as John Baron, a psychotic assassin intent on the assassination of the President of the United States, who plans to make a stop in the small town of Suddenly, California. In order to carry out his plan, John Baron holds the town sheriff (Sterling Hayden) and a family hostage in a house overlooking the town's train station. The film features much dialogue regarding guns and firearms. The film's copyright fell into the public domain over the years, leading to poor quality releases on video, and only recently did a high quality HD version appear on Blu-ray. It is a surprisingly little-known film but is very dramatic and well-acted by its stars. A remake directed by Uwe Boll was released in 2013.
The following weapons were used in the film Suddenly (1954):
Sheriff Tod Shaw (Sterling Hayden) and his Deputy Slim Adams (Paul Wexler) each carry a Smith & Wesson M&P revolver in their holsters. Some Secret Service agents are also seen with M&P's.
Chief Secret Service Agent Dan Carney (Willis Bouchey) draws his Colt Detective Special inside the Benson home. Baron's two assassins, Benny Conklin (Paul Frees) and Bart Wheeler (Christopher Dark), also carry Detective Specials.
John Baron (Frank Sinatra) keeps a Colt Model 1903 Pocket Hammerless in his shoulder holster, often drawing it to intimidate his hostages and to kill at least two characters in the film.
Peter "Pop" Benson (James Gleason), the ex-Secret Service agent from the Coolidge era, keeps a nickel Colt Official Police hidden in his upper drawer. He loads it when they are first taken hostage but is forced to re-hide it when one of Baron's henchmen catches them. His grandson "Pidge" Benson (Kim Charney) later retrieves the Official Police (substituting his similar-looking cap gun for it) and uses it to shoot at Baron during the climax.
Baron's (Frank Sinatra) main sniper rifle in the film is a Gewehr 43 with a Zeiss scope and a 20-round box magazine. Baron says the gun has a "heavy recoil and won't stand still", requiring his henchmen to build a contraption to hold it down to the metal table in the Benson living room. Once it is constructed, Shaw asks if it's a "German rifle" in order to stall and anger him by talking about his war service.
Benny Conklin: "A Tommy gun would do just as good."
John Baron: "A Tommy gun stinks! No accuracy, no punch. Might as well use a revolver. This is the gun... This is quite a gun, Benny. Quite a gun. I did a lot of choppin' in the war with a baby like this. A lot of choppin'."
"Pidge" Benson (Kim Charney) is given a Single Action Army cap gun by Sheriff Shaw against the wishes of his mother. Baron and his men become used to Pidge carrying the cap gun around and do not notice when he switches it with his grandfather's genuine Colt Official Police revolver.
