Such was his shock at the assassination of close friend John F. Kennedy that Sinatra had this film and The Manchurian Candidate withdrawn from circulation. Yet, despite the rumours, there is no evidence that Lee Harvey Oswald saw this claustrophobic thriller the night before JFK perished in Dallas. Eager to reinforce his burgeoning dramatic reputation, Sinatra seized the role of the psychologically damaged war veteran hired by unseen forces to shoot the president during a stopover in a sleepy Californian town.