Frank at 100
Arguably the 20th century’s most admired vocalist and an abiding icon of cool, Frank Sinatra was also an accomplished screen actor, earning high praise from his peers and contributing to many undisputed classics. To mark Sinatra’s centennial, we’re doing it his way, offering a selection of his film work that displays the range and intensity of his talents.
Busby Berkeley
1949|
USA|
93 minutes
Sinatra and Gene Kelly reteam for an enchanting turn-of-the-century musical about baseball’s early days, buoyantly directed by Busby Berkeley and highlighted by Frank’s rendition of “The Right Girl for Me.”
Vincente Minnelli
1958|
USA|
137 minutes
In Vincente Minnelli’s chronicle of small-town hypocrisy, Frank Sinatra gives one of his most textured portrayals as an embittered ex-GI who returns to his Midwestern hometown to write the next chapter of his life.
Lewis Milestone
1960|
USA|
127 minutes
Before Steven Soderbergh made it a franchise, Oscar winner Lewis Milestone helmed this glitzy, good-natured time capsule featuring the entire Rat Pack as part of an 11-man gang planning to heist five Vegas casinos at once.
Frank Sinatra
1965|
USA / Japan|
106 minutes
The lone directorial effort by Sinatra is a tense and intelligent drama about the crew of a downed World War II plane, stranded on a remote island in the Pacific and compelled to forge a tentative piece with a Japanese platoon.
John Frankenheimer
1962|
USA|
126 minutes
Nothing is as it seems in John Frankenheimer’s quintessential Cold War thriller, as Sinatra must decipher the inscrutable acts of a decorated war hero with ties to a McCarthy-like demagogue.
Otto Preminger
1955|
USA|
119 minutes
Sinatra gives an astonishing, Oscar-nominated performance as Frankie Machine, a heroin-addicted drummer released from prison who resolves to pick up the pieces of his life. Restored 35mm print courtesy of the Academy Film Archive.
Fred Zinnemann
1953|
USA|
118 minutes
Sinatra rebounded from a professional slump and ensured his place on the A-list for the rest of his life with his Oscar-winning turn as Maggio, a cocky GI stationed at Pearl Harbor in the days preceding the invasion.
Not for nothing, as his Hoboken crew might say, was Frank Sinatra called “The Chairman of the Board.” Arguably the 20th century’s most admired vocalist and an abiding icon of cool, Sinatra held court with elegant but unassailable authority. Much more than a singer who dabbled in acting, he was an accomplished performer, earning many accolades including the Academy Award for his dramatic work and even taking a laudable stab at directing. Like his idol Bing Crosby (with whom he occasionally shared scenes), Sinatra’s stage presence translated well to the screen. He was a charismatic star who took a methodical approach to the roles that challenged him; his preparedness evident in the fact that a second take was seldom necessary. George Axelrod, who wrote and produced The Manchurian Candidate, called him “one of the best screen actors in the world . . . lyrically sensitive . . . magic.” To mark the centennial anniversary of Sinatra’s birth, we’re doing it his way, offering a selection of his film work that displays the range and intensity of his talents.
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