Underated Sinatra Movies

[bhowells]

"Come Blow Your Horn," has my vote a most pleasing comedy, also stars one of my favourite character actors the great Lee J Cobb.

[Briant]

I watched 'The Lady in cement' recently. Almost a 'Carry on' type treatment of gay people by Sinatra's character. 'The Detective' with Lee Remick was a better film I think.

[GRAEME]

name='Briant']I watched 'The Lady in cement' recently. Almost a 'Carry on' type treatment of gay people by Sinatra's character. 'The Detective' with Lee Remick was a better film I think.

Little known amazing fact: Sinatra's cop character in The Detective, Joe Leland, is the same character that Bruce Willis plays in the Die Hard movies.



Roderick Thorp's fictional detective's name was changed to John McClane for Die Hard of course.

[batman]

The First Deadly Sin (Frank's last leading role IIRC) is a pretty good film, a mix of detective thriller and character study.

[dremble wedge]

Suddenly

[batman]

name='dremble wedge']Suddenly

I don't think many people under-rate Suddenly ... it's a corker!

[Lord Brett]

The Naked Runner (1967). Shot by Sidney J Furie very much in the style of The Ipcress File, and only spoiled by the film's terrible ending. One wonders if Francis Albert walked out and left the producers to edit together what they had.

[GRAEME]

The Joker's Wild.

[batman]

name='Lord Brett']The Naked Runner (1967). Shot by Sidney J Furie very much in the style of The Ipcress File, and only spoiled by the film's terrible ending. One wonders if Francis Albert walked out and left the producers to edit together what they had.

Apparently he did just that. The producer was Brad Dexter (of M7 fame) who was also a friend of FS. IIRC they fell out over something Dexter said about Mia Farrow and so FS walked.



Edit - I just copied this from wikipedia ...



"Reports are of a troubled shoot with Sinatra playing the spoiled superstar. Two weeks into filming he temporarily closed down the shoot and flew to Las Vegas to marry Mia Farrow. He returned with the intention of combining their honeymoon with his filming and took regular weekend trips to the south of France. This restless approach annoyed Dexter who had been looking to arrest what he saw as increasing laziness in Sinatra's on-screen performances. After one incident where Sinatra's helicopter (the star demanded a helicopter for all but the shortest journeys) got lost in the London fog and he arrived late, Sinatra threw a tantrum and demanded production be shut down and moved to Palm Springs. Furie threatened to quit the picture rather than put up with Sinatra's behavior and had to be persuaded by Dexter to return. Sinatra was placated for the time being and shooting went without incident. However in Copenhagen Sinatra left to perform at a rally for California's Democrat governor Pat Brown (running against Republican Ronald Reagan). Word arrived from the States that Sinatra was not going to return to Europe and wanted his outstanding scenes to be filmed at a soundstage in Los Angeles.

Dexter and Furie decided to take the maverick action of finishing the film with a stand-in for Sinatra's remaining scenes, editing in close-ups from earlier shots in postproduction and over-dubbing the dialogue. However, the main problems were a lifeless depiction of spy-games, listless - if at times stylised - execution, heavy-handed plotting and little real characterisation. There are however some interesting locations - among them a still blitzed Leipzig and a rare view inside Centre Point."

[dpgmel]

Another vote for "Suddenly " from me.

[AdrianTurner]

Suddenly just happens to be on BBC2 tonight at 1.30-2.45am. It's a little gem, in the same category and not unlike Kubrick's The Killing, and Sinatra withdrew it from distribution following the assassination of JFK, as he did with The Manchurian Candidate. It was invisible for several years.

[mrs_emma_peel]

I agree - Suddenly is a tense, tautly written, teriffic thriller.

[mariocki]

Thanks for the information on The Naked Runner Bats, I've always liked this film but that now explains the rather rushed & disappointing ending.

[francesgumm]

name='GRAEME']The Joker's Wild.

Love this film. Based on the life of Joe E. Lewis.

[Briant]

'The Man with the Golden Arm' was a title I remember from the fifties. Kim Novak co-starred. Has anyone seen 'Johnny Concho?' A Western drama with one of my favourite villains Leo Gordon amongst the cast.

[christoph404]

"The Manchurian Candidate" (1962) Its a brilliant film and a great performance from Sinatra, its underrated insofar as I don't think it was a box office success and was not widely shown after its release, but it was certainly critically acclaimed.

[billy bentley]

I always thought Sinatra was the best real singer to try his hand at film acting. By this I mean someone who really established themselves as a successful siinger/musician first

[1stas]

name='christoph404']"The Manchurian Candidate" (1962) Its a brilliant film and a great performance from Sinatra, its underrated insofar as I don't think it was a box office success and was not widely shown after its release, but it was certainly critically acclaimed.

I agree, brilliant film.

Angela Lansbury's best film.

The remake they made with Denzel Washington was awful, it didn't capture the darkness of the film at all.

[billy bentley]

Always though Sinatra was the best of the singer/pop star/musician's turned film actor. can't think of anyone better, can you ?

[TimR]

name='christoph404']"The Manchurian Candidate" (1962) Its a brilliant film and a great performance from Sinatra, its underrated insofar as I don't think it was a box office success and was not widely shown after its release, but it was certainly critically acclaimed.

Agreed - an excellent, complex film.



It was a failure when it was released, but has a high reputation now, at least in the US, and is well-known. It is shown on television on a regular basis and it is known by people who were too young to see it when it was released.