Search - Frank Sinatra: Signature Collection on DVD

Good collection of classic Sinatra films at an ultra-low pri

Penumbra | Atlanta, GA USA | 10/01/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

""The Frank Sinatra Collection" includes three classic films:

"The Man with the Golden Arm" (1955) 1 hour 59 minutes, B&W
Notable for Sinatra's performance as a junkie going through cold turkey withdrawal from heroin.

"Till the Clouds Roll By" (1946) 2 hours 17 minutes, Color
Almost every big name of the day puts in an appearance in this Jerome Kern biopic. Precious little Sinatra, but he does get the honor of performing the big finale number.

"Suddenly" (1954) 1 hour 15 minutes, B&W
Sinatra as a would be assassin waiting for the Presidential motorcade. After 1963 Sinatra had this film noir withdrawn from circulation. (Because the copyright wasn't renewed this one fell into the public domain and a lot of bad copies are floating around.)

The inclusion of "The House I Live In" (1945) as a ten minute bonus feature more than justifies the price of the entire collection.

The DVD package says, "Carefully Re-Mastered for Best Possible Picture Quality." While these prints certainly aren't HD, they probably look as well as they did when they were shown on TV. The black & white films are plagued by dust and artifacts.

Despite the definition flaws, I can't bring myself to deduct any stars from the rating. With this much classic Sinatra for such an ultra low price, you can't say St. Clair doesn't provide plenty of bang for the buck.

If you like movies from Sinatra's prime, you'll enjoy this 5 hour 41 minute collection.

Recommended.



"

Getting Your Money's Worth, and Then Some

Alejandra Vernon | Long Beach, California | 03/01/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a fantastic trio of Sinatra films, and though he is only in the last scene of "Till the Clouds Roll By," his performance singing "Old Man River" warrants it being a "Sinatra film." Both "The Man With the Golden Arm" and "Suddenly" are in black and white, and show their age by being quite grainy, but are well worth watching and especially owning if you're a Sinatra fan. "Till the Clouds Roll By" is in color and in remarkable condition, and the running time on this version is 2 hrs. and 17 minutes. An added bonus is a ten minute film to teach kids about the evils of bigotry (although this being a WWII film, it is not exactly Japanese-friendly). Included are 2 songs, "If You Are But a Dream," and "The House I Live In." The audio on these songs is poor, but shows us the era when Frankie made the girls swoon, and we can understand why.

THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN ARM (1955)

Viewing this film is like lifting a rock to see what has been existing under its dark weight, and from the stylish Saul Bass titles and jazzy Elmer Bernstein score, it is a riveting film, with a brilliant, intense Sinatra performance.
As an ex-con trying to beat a heroin addiction, "Frankie" (Sinatra) slips back into his old habits and friends upon release from prison, and is chained to a guilt-based relationship with Eleanor Parker, who is excellent as "Zosch," a woman who manipulates from her wheelchair, blaming "Frankie" for her fate, and resenting his friendship with "Molly," beautifully played by the gorgeous Kim Novak, who exudes vulnerability and a soft, sweet soul.

Well written from the Nelson Algren novel, and visually interesting with superb b&w cinematography by Sam Leavitt, the details of the costuming are also worth noting...I love Molly's old threadbare chenille bathrobe...and like much of the clothes in the film, looking like it was bought in a thrift shop.
I don't find this 1955 film dated at all; its themes and "types" are timeless and occur in every class and level of society, and the characters can be found in the Bowery or Beverly Hills.
The film was nominated in three Oscar categories: Best Actor (losing to Ernest Borgnine in another gritty film, "Marty"), Best Art Direction/Set Decoration ("The Rose Tattoo"), and Best Score (losing to the romantic "Love is a Many Splendored Thing").

TILL THE CLOUDS ROLL BY (1946)

Though only marginally a biography of Jerome Kern, and with a corn and syrup plot, anyone who likes traditional American musical theater will appreciate this film, which is a great showcase for Kern's wonderful songs.
Robert Walker as Kern, and Van Heflin as his arranger James Hessler are good, but this film is all about the music and the singers, especially Judy Garland, Lena Horne, and Frank Sinatra.
Directed by Richard Whorf, with Vincente Minelli directing the Judy Garland portions, and musical numbers staged by Robert Alton.

Musical numbers include:
Excerpts from "Showboat," with Lena Horna exquisite singing "Can't Help Loving that Man of Mine." Others include Kathryn Grayson, Tony Martin and Caleb Peterson.
"Howja Like to Spoon Me" from the "London Gaieties" with Angela Lansbury.
"They'll Never Believe Me," Dinah Shore.
"Till the Clouds Roll By" from "Oh Boy" with Ray McDonald.
"Leave it to Jane" with June Allyson and Ray McDonald.
"Look for the Silver Lining" from "Sally" with Judy Garland. This may be the most interesting song of the film.
"Who" from "Sunny" with Judy Garland.
"I Won't Dance" with Lucille Bremer and Van Johnson.
"Smoke gets in Your Eyes" from "Roberta" with Cyd Charisse (a short but lovely dance).
"The Last Time I Saw Paris" with Dinah Shore.
"The Land Where Good Songs Go" with Lucille Bremer.
"Yesterdays" by the chorus (one of my favorite songs).
"Long Ago and Far Away" with Kathryn Grayson.
"A Fine Romance" with Virginia O'Brien.
"All the Things You Are" with Tony Martin.
"Why Was I Born ?" with Lena Horne.
"Old Man River" with a remarkable vocal performance by a very bushy-haired Frank Sinatra.

SUDDENLY (1954)

Frank Sinatra is riveting as a cold-hearted hit man obsessed with his spurious war record, who traps a family in their house, along with a few others that get caught in his net, as he plots to assassinate the president, who is making a stop in Suddenly, California, on his way to Los Angeles. It's a great character study, and Sinatra pulls it off flawlessly, making this a taut thriller, with a quiet, folksy beginning that turns into a nightmare.
Sinatra followed his Oscar Award winning performance in "From Here to Eternity" with this film, which unfortunately hasn't been seen much, and one of the reasons is Sinatra himself; he was horrified to know that Lee Harvey Oswald had watched "Suddenly" shortly before the Kennedy assassination, and requested the film be pulled from distribution.

Co-starring Sterling Hayden who is excellent as Sheriff Tod Shaw, it has well paced direction by Lewis Allen, a crisp script by Richard Sale, and a score by David Raskin. There have been other films with this type of hostage scenario like the '55 Humphrey Bogart "Desperate Hours" and its 1990 remake, and this is up there with the best.
Filmed almost entirely in one room, it holds one's attention, mostly due to Sinatra's superb performance."

Good Low Budget Film Noir

RJTRULES | Cleveland, Ohio | 01/09/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"If you like old film noir movies, you can't go wrong with this very inexpensive Sinatra set. Man With The Golden Arm is memorable and captivated me in terms of venturing into Sinatra films. Suddenly is pure low budget noir, quick paced and entertaining-Sinatra is one really evil dude in this picture, so be prepared! Till The Clouds Roll By is a very long musical extravaganze-nothing in terms of plot but great to just fast forward to a few noteworthy performances (Sinatra closes with an incredible "Old Man River"). All b&w, somewhat grainy.......but at this price, a winner."