TCM and the 'Rat Pack'..........

[dvdjunkie]

The month of May 2008 has been designated Frank Sinatra month with a salute to the Man and His Music and Movies. They have really gone overboard with some rarely-shown Sinatra films along with his very good television specials. Each Sunday this month they have been showing - Sinatra: A Man and His Music from 1965 with the orchestras of Gordon Jenkins and Nelson Riddle, the they showed Sinatra: A Man and His Music with special guest Nancy Sinatra from 1966, and last week they showed Sinatra: A Man and His Music from 1967 with Carlos Joabim and Ella Fitzgerald as his guests. This coming Sunday, May 25 it will be the 1973 TV Special that Frank Sinatra did with his only guest being Gene Kelly. Should be a great show, it is the only one that I haven't seen before.

For the movies, they have delved into the vaults at Turner Classic Movies for films like Some Came Running, The Tender Trap, Young at Heart, and this past Wednesday, May 21, they showed OCEAN'S 11, the original 'rat pack' movie with Frank, Dean Martin, Joey Bishop, Peter Lawford, Sammy Davis,Jr., and friends, followed by the 1962 premiere of SERGEANTS 3, the second of the 'rat pack' films, and this one is basically the story of "Gunga Din" set in the Old West. The third film on the agenda was ROBIN AND THE 7 HOODS, and then 4 FOR TEXAS, the tour-de-force for Charles Bronson and Victor Buono along with Frank and Dean Martin, and for the eyes-only there was Anita Ekberg and Ursula Andress. Four really good movies of four diifferent genres.

Hope all of you have catching this Sunday and Wednesday salute to the golden voice of Frank Sinatra and his friends. It has made television worth watching once again.

;D ;D

[Larry's 66 Diner]

In my opinion, one of the best — and it seems, lesser-known — of his movies is Suddenly, in which he plays a hit-man out to assassinate the President passing through the little rural town named Suddenly. (See related thread in the Archives.)

I got it a couple years ago on one of those little $1.00 DVDs and I just absolutely enjoy watching it again and again! :thumbsup:

[kelly]

They also show Cast a giant shadow with Kirk Douglas in overnight cycles MAN this treat for me I wasn't born when some of Sinatra specials were on

[Midge]

I enjoyed the Sinatra TV specials a lot, especially the one with Gene Kelly. They showed some clips from the musicals they did such as Anchors Aweigh and Take Me Out to the Ballgame, and then they did a dance together. It was magical.

[robin]

I have several CD's of Dean, Frank and Sammy both solo and together - and they keep me warm at nights!

[Larry's 66 Diner]

They were quite a combination, weren't they? :thumbsup:

[robin]

Larry, they certainly were!

Their studio recordings were excellent - especially Dean and Frank's Reprise recordings of the 1960's - but the best way to really enjoy them is to listen to their live shows either individually or together.Nobody could have come away from one of their gigs feeling short changed!

[diane]

One of my favourite musicals is "Anchors Aweigh" - I always feel it is much, much better than
a lot of the critics say. Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly were a great team. I also agree with you
Larry - my favourite "dramatic" Sinatra film is "Suddenly" . I should watch that with Herb - it might
give him an appreciation of Frank Sinatra , which he doesn't have at the moment.

[Midge]

I think one's opinion of Anchors Aweigh will vary depending on your tolerance for Kathryn Grayson. Her operetta-ish singing style clashes with the more contemporary, relaxed songs of Sinatra and Kelly ("I Fall In Love Too Easily," "She Begged Me."). Also, the inclusion of Jose Iturbi into the plot seems forced. He was a well-known pianist in his day, but his screen presence was mediocre at best. I do like Anchors Aweigh, but when Kelly and Sinatra aren't on the screen, things do tend to bog down.

Suddenly was shown on TCM last week. It is a very good suspense film with a great cast. It does have a low-budget, B-movie feeling about it. Perhaps this is because the print TCM showed was rather soft, as if it were a third-generation dupe.