File #13 Ocean's Eleven/The Rat Pack

In Ocean's Eleven we finally get to see the Rat Pack together in film. A strong sense of masculinity is in place here but what makes it interesting is the somewhat various styles presented through each character. Frank Sinatra fits the playboy persona for all its worth while Dean Martin shows more of a feminine side while still being masculine, take the scene in which he calls himself mother for instance. Peter Lawford's holds a peculiar form of vulnerability and his economic place in the story sets him aside from the working class model for masculinity.  Sammy Davis Jr. plays more like a buddy-character to Danny Ocean which is strangely similar to his off-screen friendship with Frank Sinatra.
A great scene in which these masculinities are displayed is when they are all playing pool and talking about girls and money. Frank Sinatra appears the most progressive stating that he'd end miss universe and invite girls to exotic locations and talk to them (making them less like objects) while Peter Lawford takes the power approach wherein he describes that with power he would order women to go with him and use money to go into politics whether this could be viewed as a slant on conservatives or liberals depends on your camp while Dean Martin jokingly takes the politics approach a step further by suggesting taking women's rights to vote away and bring back slavery. All the while Sammy Davis brings nothing to the table except backing everyone up and making small jokes.
Overall Ocean's Eleven presents the Rat Pack in all it's glory, its more of a buddy film which just so happens to involve a casino heist in Las Vegas. The characters seem to more or less mirror the actors that portray them and the fact that the film takes place in Las Vegas makes it all the more easy to feel like we're watching the Rat Pack being the Rat Pack and not actors working together in a film.

FUN FACT: the guy who plays Duke Santos in this movie is none other than Cesar Romero: the first man to ever play the Joker on screen and famously refused to shave his mustache for the role.

File #12 Joker is Wild/Live @ Caesars Palace

Similar to his role in Guys and Dolls, in The Joker is Wild Frank Sinatra plays a man obsessed with gambling and avoiding commitments such as marriage. As with Sinatra’s role in The Man With the Golden Arm, Joe E. Lewis has had more than his fair of rough times especially with addictions. What’s more surprising is how this role seems to mirror Frank Sinatra himself. Like the character, Frank Sinatra seems utterly or subconsciously determined to remain single, entertain, and remain in Las Vegas nightclubs and casinos. What is perhaps more interesting is the connection with the home, in both Frank Sinatra’s personal life (ex. showing his home without knowing where anything is) and in the case of his character, Joe E. Lewis, Sinatra cannot find himself able to settle down.  

Another connection between his character and himself is shown in his live performance at Caesars Palace, wherein Frank performs the majority of his songs in a sort of self-mocking style with his own personal brand of humor. Yet one can’t help but notice how “at home” Frank Sinatra feels in Vegas. It is as if it was his natural habitat (the light musky fog of cigarette smoke, the faded lights and lively, party atmosphere), and as the proverbial saying goes, “What happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas.

File #11 The Tender Trap/ Playboy Rising

In The Tender Trap Frank Sinatra plays a man of many women, a far cry from the characters he played in his earlier career such as Anchors Aweigh. Much like his recording persona, Frank Sinatra’s character here plays the role of a womanizing man unable to settle down and thus independently wealthy. This film seems to do a good job at embodying the playboy of the 1950s with the clash of his best friend (the married man) In an almost blunt fashion The Tender Trap can be seen as the taming of the playboy, showing that even such men as Sinatra’s character must eventually settle down and embody the married man persona. This can also be seen as city vs countryside wherein the city is viewed as the playboy’s playground and the countryside as the place in which men and women go to settle down. Unlike Frank Sinatra’s wartime characters his character in this film shares more of the sunny attitudes from his musical characters. He smokes rarely, he exhibits no agony of loss on the same level of his prior characters and in a way he is more or less smug. The Tender Trap, for us, is the beginning of the playboy years. 

and now your moment of zen, Frank Sinatra getting dissed by Orson Welles! 

Orson Welles roasts Frank

File #10 The Man with the Golden Arm

The Man with the Golden Arm shows a different side of Frank Sinatra similar to his role in From Here to Eternity, perhaps because he strongly wanted to play the part in both. In the film it is really hard to explain whether or not the character of Frankie Machine is a hero or antihero. I guess it really depends on what you view as a hero. If you think that hero is someone who is squeaky-clean, never breaks the rules, or always does the right ‘lawful’ thing than I would have to say Frankie Machine isn’t one of them. Likewise, if an antihero is something like The Punisher, fighting crime by killing criminals, or riding a black bike and taking names I do not think that quite fits Frankie either. At the end of the day though I would probably have to say he is a hero for the simple fact that he longs for redemption despite his surroundings, which are arguably what hinders him from doing so. At the end of the movie I’d argue that that redemption he seeks is finally achieved because he has kicked his addiction and cleared his name with the cops after the true killer (his wife) is exposed. 

Until next time!

File #9 Manchurian Candidate/The Donkey Agenda

The Manchurian Candidate is by all means a political thriller and depending on how you look at it you can interpret it different ways. On the one hand you can take Frank Sinatra’s character as a troubled conservative unhappy with the way things are run and possibly morphing into the opposition as the film goes on. There is no denying the obvious nod towards Republican senator Joseph McCarthy with Sen. John Yerkes Iselin and one could easily claim that the film conveys the typical liberal notion that the government and corporations traumatize innocent people into brainwashed killers. Another possible hint is the reaction Raymond Shaw has when meeting the Jordans, which he grows to like very much and who more likely than not are Democrats. The sheer appearance difference between the Jordans and the Iselins is also quite telling. Shaw’s mother dresses very conservatively, showing little skin while young Jocelyn thinks nothing of ripping off her shirt to wrap around Shaw’s leg before riding off on a bicycle. The same could be seen with Sen. Iselin and Sen. Jordan where one wears suits while the other first appears in relaxed wear. You could also presuppose that Mrs. Iselin serves as the human figure of conservatism wherein she finds it necessary to tell her son how he should do things.

Frank Sinatra’s dramatic war film characters seem to share a certain lack of naivety that their musical counterparts share. It is as if they are hardened versions of the musical characters sharing little more than the same face between them. Frank Sinatra acts more like a boy in his earlier films; one in which the world of women, pain, and loss remain a mystery. His older roles, on the contrary, share a sense of progression in that regard. These films so a maturity in the place of childhood, regret in the place of romantic longing and wisdom in the place of innocence, like a puppy thrown in a furnace reborn a junkyard dog. The glimmer of his former characters still twinkling in his eyes but noticeably stricken with the ravages of time.

File #8 None But the Brave/ He did it His Way

None but the Brave is Frank Sinatra’s only directorial work and as far as his approach goes, its more or less the same old Frank. Sinatra’s character has elements of Maggio from From Here to Eternity but a little more “Sinatra.” The story itself is surprisingly better than other actor/director attempts at this part of World War II (cough…cough…Clint Eastwood...cough, cough) 

The direction Frank Sinatra takes doesn’t fall far from the direction his other films took him and in a way it seemed almost ironic that he would do that to himself. However the film does serve to continue the star image he created after From Here to Eternity and Frank Sinatra seems almost in the backseat of his own film despite his amount of screen time. None but the Brave also seems to propel two important images for Sinatra 1) military roles = patriotism/working class hero/etc. sand 2) the way in which the story plays out seems very in line with Frank Sinatra’s personal views on race relations (despite his reference to, “those dirty Japs” in The House I Live In).  

Until next time! 

for your entertainment the story of Frank Sinatra via SNL, enjoy.

 Hulu - Saturday Night Live: The Story of Frank Sinatra

File #7 Kings Go Fourth/ War, Race, & Frank

Unlike in From Here to Eternity, Kings Go Forth sees Frank Sinatra as a more stable character however here too we find “trouble in paradise”. Sinatra is an Army officer who begins to fall in love with a French girl where he is stationed. However trouble begins when the girl declares that her biological father was black.

After reading Sinatra’s various remarks on race relations in America it seems almost ironic that his character at first has trouble dealing with this fact.

Compared to The House I Live In, Kings Go Forth differs not only by the obvious fact that the girl is half black and not religiously different but more importantly it touches upon the subject of cohabitation between blacks and whites. The House I Live In is more or less comparatively tame in its message. In fact all the kids involved where white, and instead of focusing on the subject of racial differences it instead talks about religious differences and patriotism and standing together against those no good dirty Japs, which after the fact seems a bit racist in it of itself. Kings Go Forth is in a way also tame because the girl, Monique, is only half black thus making it only half a problem for Sinatra’s character.  

I wonder how the reception by the audience and the character’s resolutions would change if Monique were fully black or if instead of Frank Sinatra it were a black man and the girl was white? 

Ever wonder what a duet with Sinatra and Stevie Wonder would be like? SNL did and its hilarious!

Stevie wonder and Frank S. on Yahoo! Video

Until next time, over and out! 

File #6 High Society/ Badda Bing Badda Sinatra

At last the battle between Crosby and Sinatra is seen, or is it? In High Society the Bing-Frank feud is barely seen visibly other than a few small stabs at each other all of which seem very jokingly done and in an unthreatening way. In High Society the two “former dueling crooners” seem awfully chummy among one another as if they have buried the hatchet/rivalry.

Frank Sinatra is seen as, almost always, a working class hero while Bing Crosby plays a rich bachelor in the film. Bing Crosby is seen as being closer to jazz than Sinatra because of his relationship with Louie Armstrong and his jazz numbers though I personally feel his performances felt a bit stiff to be “real”.

Sinatra on the other hand is seen as a crooner with a chip on his shoulder towards the rich. His numbers are more humorous than those sung by Crosby and even though he too has his moments its as if his character ends up being more for comic relief than anything else. Still the movie ends rather like clockwork and Sinatra and Crosby end as good friends seemingly so both on and off stage.

Fun Fact: this was Grace Kelly's last picture before becoming the Princess consort of Monaco. 

(also her last film appearance at that) 

 

until next time here's a 1936 Bing Crosby Cartoon entitled "Bingo Crosbyana" where he's a fly (how cool is that?) YouTube - Bingo Crosbyana (1936)

File #5 Guys And Dolls/The Godfather meets the Chairman of the Board

Guys and Dolls brings Marlon Brando and Frank Sinatra together for a little song, a little dance, and a lot of gambling. In this film both actors play gamblers in New York City yet the way they approach this and their masculine image are very different from one another.

Take Detroit (Sinatra) he’s under pressure from nearly everyone from his fiancée of fourteen years to the police lieutenant putting more and more heat on him. Detroit is no less tough than Sky (Brando) but he appears considerably more worrisome throughout the film compared to Sky’s calm-cool attitude. Sky acts almost too-cool-for-school and yet he’s as equally addicted to gambling as Detroit except his self-confidence is seemingly off the chart. Another strange distinction is Masterson’s sense of intelligence or rather his smoothness both of which Detroit pales in comparison. Yet Brando isn’t a seasoned singer like Sinatra so it almost balances out in a way. The funny thing is that at time Sinatra seems almost more fitting to play y than he does Detroit a thought less surprising when you know he was originally considered for the role that ultimately went to Brando.

In the end both actors are somewhat feminized as they end up being pursued by their female counterparts (the Dolls) but like alcoholics are doomed to follow their addiction to gambling first and foremost, in fact the ending almost seems as-a-matter-of-fact more than anything else a rushed happy ending with nearly all the clear signs of relapse as far as the men’s change is concerned.

The song Brando sings in the sewer really stuck with me almost like a deja vu and then I realized it was the same song from Mrs. Doubtfire! So in ode to that enjoy!

(PS its in German...added bonus!!!) YouTube - Mrs Doubtfire Make up German/Deutsch

Until next time, Stay Classy!

File #4 From Here to Eternity

In From Here To Eternity we see Frank Sinatra as we have, so far, never seen him before! Here he is not the star of the show, the crooner musician, or the shy lover boy. Instead he is Pvt. Angelo Maggio, a hustler  of sorts but compared to his enemies little more than a "Tough Monkey". He drinks he smokes, he likes women and fairs best in seedy places...a far cry from his musical/acting career from before. Yet Sinatra seems so himself in this film it is almost surprising that he is not actually Maggio. When From Here To Eternity was filming Sinatra was between public personas his old image was quickly fading and his new one had yet to surface so the sense of a beaten man in Maggio feels all the more realistic when played by Sinatra. Other than that Maggio is still surprisingly similar to Frank Sinatra's older roles. 

For instance Maggio is from Brooklyn just like every other character we've seen him play so far, the character is also incredibly likable as our Sinatra's other characters. 

Yet where Anchors Aweigh and On The Town paint Sinatra's characters as innocent, cautious, and tame....Maggio is none of those things. He is a reckless, defiant, womanizer whose bark is much louder than his bite when faced with physical threats. As far as class is concerned, rank Sinatra is nothing new here, he is still blue-collar and rich by no means in the role of Pvt. Maggio (nor by playing him might I add)

 

One scene in particular that brings his masculinity into question is when he throws a chair at his nemesis, Fatso. After Burt Lancaster stops the fight from happening, Maggio is noticeably shaken and states that he is glad he stopped the fight, this sort of comment/action might be seen as un-masculine given the nature of the persona usually attributed to Brooklyn, hustlers, and soldiers. 

Frank Sinatra won an Oscar for his role as Maggio, an award I personally think he deserved.
 Frank Sinatra winning an Oscar® for "From Here to Eternity"

Until next time, Stay golden!

File #3 On The Town/The Third Man

So far Sinatra has kept up with a strange relationship towards his female co-stars. One in which it becomes the female’s job to pursue him and eventually convey their feeling for him in order for him to fall in love with them instead of the other way around. One might view this as a somewhat feminine trait however, especially in On The Town, the inclusion of Gene Kelly and Jules Munshin complicates things in a sort of “theater of distractions” sort of way. On one hand you have Gene Kelly, who in many ways plays a character similar to Frank Sinatra’s in Anchors Aweigh. While Jules Munshin provides more or less the comic relief in the trio he happens to be the first one of the three to land a girl more importantly Ann Miller, who, if you actually watched Mulholland Drive, played Niomi Watts’ landlord.

In a way you could decipher the type of masculinity these three sailors represent by looking at whom they pair off with.

Take Munshin for instance, he pairs off with Ann Miller who plays a very domineering personality thus you could say that Munshin fits into the same quasi-submissive role as Frank Sinatra but more of a humorous dunderhead or rather caveman who ironically ends up with the smart girl, I like to call this the “jock character”

As I had mentioned earlier Frank Sinatra plays a somewhat submissive masculinity. He is still a man’s man and his character is not particularly feminine but the fact that he is pursued instead of being the pursuer isn’t exactly “manly”. Sinatra ends up with Betty Garrett, a street-smart cab driver who is noticeably forceful in her pursuit of Frank Sinatra.  However unlike in Anchors Aweigh, Sinatra is slightly on par this time around with his co-star/director Gene Kelly.

Not unlike before, Kelly is seen here as a the masculine figure of the group however this time around he needs help from Sinatra where it were once the other way around. Kelly ends up with Vera-Ellen a girl who Kelly feels has the air of celebrity but in fact is nothing but a burlesque dancer in Coney Island.

On the Town could be seen as the beginning of Sinatra’s gradual transformation into the screen version of his recording persona, yet he has still got a long way to go before he becomes his SNL self ...

Here's a SNL video parodying Ann Miller and Frank Sinatra...among other things (they mention On The Town too! Bonus)Leg Up Video by Saturday Night Live - MySpace Video

Until Next Time!  

 

File #2 It Happened in Brooklyn/The Nose Knows

In It Happened in Brooklyn, Frank Sinatra takes Gene Kelly’s place as alpha-male for the majority of the film thus a shy British noblemen fills his former role without threatening Sinatra’s dominant masculinity. What’s funny is that Sinatra begins as somewhat of a carbon copy of his character in Anchors Aweigh up until he returns to Brooklyn where he “magically’’ is transformed into a confident masculine man with an almost ever present smile. Sinatra’s musical prose and ability to land women are on full display in It Happened in Brooklyn and because his character, conveniently, works at a record store Sinatra is able to easily mirror his recording persona, often breaking out in song and entertaining the customers. Still the one who steals the show for me has got to be Jimmy “Schnozzola” Durante. The man’s a comic genius. He reminds me of The Penguin from the Batman TV show but with Danny DeVito’s voice, plus this monkey….

In It Happened in Brooklyn we begin to see a connection between the Sinatra on screen and the presumed Sinatra off screen as a recording artist, that being said we see many situations in which it is easy to see why girls found him attractive but also keep him down to earth as a “Brooklyn boy” who despite this recording artist persona remains a masculine figure especially compared to his co-star, the lovably square Peter Lawford.

From here it seems Sinatra is coming in to his own film-wise and a merge of similarities between his movie characters and recording artist characters is evident.

I also found this old cartoon called "Little 'Tinker" it's about a skunk who wants to find love but, let's face it he stinks so he decides to act like Frank Sinatra and wouldn't you know it his act works! enjoy
(Sinatra bit starts at 3:00) Little 'Tinker

Over and out, Ha-cha-cha-chaaaaaaa!   

Welcome/File #1 Anchors Aweigh

In Anchors Aweigh Gene Kelly seems to replace the Sinatra I characteristically know and love as the womanizing source of machismo leaving Frank in a position of a strange femininity drowned by innocence and self-doubt. If your first impression of Frank Sinatra came from Saturday Night Live sketches and reading The Way You Wear your Hat you were probably just as shocked as I was by seeing a scrawny shy version of Sinatra who knows nothing about how to woo women. Of course once you get past this image, musically it’s the same old Frank and in a weird way there are instances where his facial expressions seem to go out of character as far as his image goes. Gene Kelly not only acted in Anchors Aweigh but also designed the film’s dance sequences, which is no surprise if you are at all familiar with Singin’ in the Rain, which Kelly provided the choreography and co-directed. Like Sinatra, Gene Kelly was also a symbol of masculinity at the time yet in Anchor’s Aweigh it isn’t hard to look like Hercules when Sinatra is playing a character that acts like a more charming version of Boo Radley. As hard as it is to imagine Frank Sinatra as Clarence Doolittle the character actually fits very well into the songs he sings noting his versatility. Unlike Gene Kelly, Sinatra sings somewhat deeper songs that balance out the typically cheery tunes performed by Kelly and his character’s coy nature throughout the film only adds to that distinction. Thankfully another, more bizarre, difference between Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra here is the act of dancing with a cartoon mouse in what has got to be the most out of place part in the whole movie. All in all despite the character’s differences in the film the actors seem to have a great chemistry with each other and it shows during the musical numbers and stage presence.

Until next time, Anchors Aweigh people!