Reviews and commentary for movies with Frank Sinatra.
Monday, May 19th 2008
Grade: C-
Synopsis: During the Napoleonic Wars, a British navel officer (Cary Grant) and a Spanish guerrilla (Frank Sinatra) salvage a huge cannon to use against the French.
The Pride and the Passion is spectacularly produced epic featuring hundreds of extras, beautiful Spanish scenery, and several awesome sequences: including an attempt to transport massive cannon up and down a mountain, and the climactic assault on the fortified city of Avila.
That said, the film also suffers from some of the worst miscasting in history. Cary Grant’s last period piece was 1940’s The Howards of Virginia, after which he wisely swore off the genre. Admittedly, he acquits himself far better here, but he’s still ill suited for costume dramas and it shows. Even worse is Frank Sinatra, who’s just ridiculous as a Spanish guerrilla. At least Sophia Loren is passable as object of both men’s desires. MORE »
Posted at 4:39 PM in Movie Reviews, Cary Grant and Frank Sinatra.
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Thursday, May 15th 2008
Grade: B
Synopsis: Synopsis: An assassin (Frank Sinatra) and his gang hold a family and a sheriff (Sterling Hayden) hostage as they plan to kill the President in a small California town.
Suddenly may start rough, with some stilted dialog and suspect acting, but once Frank Sinatra shows up, it kicks into gear and never looks back.
Sinatra, in a rare chance to stretch his acting chops, is superb as a sociopathic assassin with a chip on his shoulder. Watching the film, you can’t help but wish he’d played more villains, perhaps in a Hitchcock picture, because his ability to switch from charming to frightening is so uncannily believable. MORE »
Posted at 12:02 PM in Movie Reviews and Frank Sinatra.
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Tuesday, March 4th 2008
Grade: C-
Synopsis: In order to finance a crap game, one gambler (Frank Sinatra) bets another (Marlon Brando) that he can’t take a missionary (Jean Simmons) to Havana.
Ah Guys and Dolls, the movie with many great songs, but only one great singer. If you’ve ever heard Sinatra, Dean and Sammy sing any of this show’s songs; you know how good those songs can be. That’s not to say Stubby Kaye and company are bad, just not as good as Dean and Sammy.
But enough about the movie that might have been, as it stands Guys and Dolls isn’t bad, just a bit too long and uneven. MORE »
Posted at 4:29 PM in Movie Reviews and Frank Sinatra.
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Tuesday, January 22nd 2008
Grade: C
Synopsis: A pair of tabloid reporters (Frank Sinatra and Celeste Holm) covers the wedding of a stuffy socialite (Grace Kelly) whose ex-husband (Bing Crosby) still holds a torch.
High Society is a somewhat musical remake of The Philadelphia Story (1940), notable as star Grace Kelly’s final film before she retired from acting to marry the Prince of Monaco.
Kelly delivers a fine farewell performance, easily equaling Katherine Hepburn’s turn in the original. Opposite her, Bing Crosby shines, oozing an easy charm in Cary Grant’s role. Supporting them, Frank Sinatra is entertaining albeit miscast in the James Stewart role, and Celeste Holm, fresh off her scene-stealing performance opposite Frank in The Tender Trap (1955), is absolutely perfect in Ruth Hussey’s role. MORE »
Posted at 6:50 PM in Movie Reviews and Frank Sinatra.
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Friday, January 18th 2008
Grade: D+
Synopsis: In World War II Burma, an American Army Captain (Frank Sinatra) leads a small band of natives determined to hold off the much larger Japanese force.
Never So Few is a frustratingly uneven film that should have been better.
The film starts out stumbling. Frank Sinatra looks ridiculous with a goatee and the dark jungle scenes feel stagy. The film waffles between action and melodrama, never really committing to either, until Steve McQueen makes his entrance. Things then pick up briefly as McQueen works his charm, but soon stumble once again as the film tries to work in an awkward love story. Finally, in the film’s final quarter, Never So Few finds its stride. The striking cinematography as Sinatra and company come across a battalion of slaughtered soldiers is excellent, and at long last gives some real sense of the jungle. Further, the script tightens up considerably, as the characters finally have something to do, but unfortunately, it’s too little too late. MORE »
Posted at 11:45 AM in Movie Reviews, Frank Sinatra, John Sturges and Steve McQueen.
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