Sinatra—An Appreciation Of A Career in Film and A Look Back By the Film Society of Lincoln Center

It begins with Tim Whelan's 1944 RKO comedy "Higher and Higher," with comedian Victor Borge and a young Mel Torme, and continues with a quartet of musical comedies. Three of them co-star Sinatra's close friend and dancing teacher, Gene Kelly, 1945's "Anchors Aweigh," and "On the Town" and "Take Me Out to the Ballgame," both from 1949 and both also starring Jules Munshin and Betty Garrett. "On the Town" features a series of remarkable credits, including direction by Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly, a screenplay by Adolph Green and Betty Comden (based on their own play) and original music by Leonard Bernstein and Roger Edens, including the fantastic Leonard Bernstein composition, "New York, New York." The fourth of these musical-comedies, this one more comedy than musical, is 1947's "It Happened in Brooklyn." While charming in its own right, this film is also notable for the only pairing of Sinatra with co-star Jimmy Durante and the first appearance together on film of Sinatra and Rat Pack pally, Peter Lawford.

The next film in the series, "From Here to Eternity," was a huge leap for FAS. In the late 1940's and early 1950's, Sinatra went through a rough time. His career began to decline, he fell in love with Ava Gardner, beginning an affair in 1949. In 1951, his divorce was finalized and he married Ava, beginning what was, by all accounts, a turbulent marriage. In addition, his voice began to show the strain of constant use, climaxing when he ruptured his vocal chords. He was dropped by MGM studios, and also parted ways with Columbia Records. When he heard about Fred Zinnemann's plans to make "From Here to Eternity," Sinatra knew he would be perfect as Maggio, the scrawny Italian-American soldier with a chip on his shoulder. However, his career was considered dead, and it took an intense campaign, including appeals by Gardner, for Sinatra to win the role that famously saved his career, winning him an Oscar, to boot. The film was released in 1953, the same year he separated from Ava, and the same year he signed a one year contract with Capitol Records and began working with Nelson Riddle, who more than any other person helped shape Sinatra's second singing career. The concept albums they created, including "Songs For Young Lovers," "Swing Easy," "Songs For Swinging Lovers" and "In the Wee Small Hours."

In 1955, Sinatra continued with cinematic excellence, picking up his second Academy Award nomination, this time for Best Actor in Otto Preminger's classic story of heroin addiction, 1955's "The Man With the Golden Arm." Incidentally, Sinatra was beaten out for the Oscar by his "Eternity" co-star, Ernest Borgnine, who won for "Marty." Three comedies and a bio-drama followed, including "The Tender Trap" (1955), "High Society" (1956), "The Joker is Wild" (1957) and "Pal Joey" (1957). "High Society" is especially notable as the first film pairing of Sinatra with the source of the inspiration for his singing, Bing Crosby. The film is a musical adaptation of "The Philadelphia Story," with the scene moved to Newport, Rhode Island and Katherine Hepburn's character now played by Grace Kelly. Throw in Louis Armstrong, Celeste Holm and classic songs by Cole Porter (including the classic Sinatra-Crosby duet on "Did You Evah?") and you have a top-notch musical. "The Joker is Wild" is a fine bio-pic about the life of singer-turned-comedian Joe E. Lewis, co-starring Eddie Albert, Mitzi Gaynor and Uncle Fester himself, Jackie Coogan. "Pal Joey" winds up this set with Rita Hayworth, Kim Novak and Ol' Blue Eyes belting out "The Lady is a Tramp."

The last two truly notable films in the series are "Ocean's Eleven" (1960) and "The Manchurian Candidate" (1962). The former is the only time the full "pack" got together for a film. Frank, Dean and Sammy, along with Joey Bishop and Peter Lawford were the core of the Rat Pack, with "associate" members such as Henry Silva, Angie Dickinson and a cameo by Shirley MacLaine thrown in for good measure. The plot? Eleven ex-Army buddies get together for a major heist, knocking over multiple casinos in Las Vegas at midnight on New Year's Eve. Watch for Dean performing "Ain't That a Kick in the Head."

John Frankenheimer's "The Manchurian Candidate" earned Angela Lansbury a well-deserved Best Supporting Actress nomination, and is a top notch thriller, staring Lawrence Harvey as a soldier returned from the Korean War missing some important information in his brain. I'd love to tell you more about the film, but being that it's a suspense thriller, that would be giving too much away. Suffice it to say that the film also features Janet Leigh and Henry Silva in supporting roles.

Not all of Sinatra's memorable roles are represented here, of course, with the horribly miscast "Guys and Dolls" among the absent (Marlon Brando got the primary singing role...go figure), but the Film Society retrospective will offer a good cross section of his work on screen. Comedies, musicals, dramas, tragedies and action films are all present, and hopefully will give the public a newfound appreciation for Frank Sinatra, arguably the greatest all-around entertainer of the twentieth century.

[indieWIRE will publish a complete list of the films in the series prior to their screening later this summer.]