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!