Sinatra! The Voice on Screen
13 - 29 May
- Introduction
- Read more
- All films
Francis Albert Sinatra (1915-1998) was an incomparable entertainer and, arguably, the greatest popular singer of the 20th century, who bestrode the world of showbiz like a colossus for over 60 years. Sinatra also made movies and was a fine, if often underrated, actor. To commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Chairman of the Board's passing, Adrian Wootton explores some of the highlights of Sinatra on celluloid.
The Frank Sinatra film season is proudly supported by Rhino UK / Warner Music. To buy a copy of Sinatra: Nothing But the Best click here.
During a period of nearly 25 years, Frank Sinatra appeared in 50-odd movies. It was his success as a 1940s singing sensation that initially gained him entry into the movies, but it was only when he emerged from the MGM hit-musical factory that he really gained performing skills to match his chops as a singer. When his career hit the rocks in the early 1950s, it was film, in the shape of From Here to Eternity, that gave him the comeback platform and got him really interested in becoming a serious actor.
Throughout the 50s, Sinatra alternated good-time musicals with tough, character-driven, serious drama and he became a really unusual film star, with an intriguingly unconventional on-screen persona. He didn't have the looks or the stature to be a regular romantic lead, so he played loners, losers, chancers, junkies, punks and guys with chips on their shoulders. This was even true of the musicals, meaning that it's much more exciting to see him as Pal Joey than in any of the Rat Pack efforts. Even later in his career, when age and fame had made him more attractive in mainstream movies, it was the risky, unexpected stuff, The Manchurian Candidate or The Detective, that made Sinatra worth watching.
He also gained extraordinary control of his movies: producing, experimenting with directing and hand-picking who he worked with. For a long time he was prolific and, sure, some of the work is uneven; but at his best he could light up the screen through the power of his acting, in a way no other singing star has ever managed before or since.
So, here we showcase the very best of Frank (with the sad exception of the currently unavailable Suddenly): the musical star, the singer and the serious actor.
