Frank Sinatra: The Early Years

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Was there ever a bigger star than Sinatra in so many different areas of show business? As a pop singer, a recording artist, a comedic and dramatic actor, a nightclub entertainer, you name it, Sinatra topped it. It's no wonder, then, that Warner Bros. are commemorating the tenth anniversary of his death with a series of his movie reissues, box sets of MGM, RKO, and Warner releases, also available separately.

This first set covers Sinatra's early years, from 1943 to 1951. It also shows his ups and downs during this period because while Sinatra was never less than charming and classy in any role, not all of his films were first class. Let's review the movies in this box, the first few briefly and then in more depth the one I think is the highlight of the set.

Things begin with "Higher and Higher" (1943), Sinatra's third film but his first screen credit. Here he plays himself, co-starring with Michele Morgan and Jack Haley. There are a few good tunes involved, and the tone is upbeat and snappy, but the plot and characters are fairly thin. Still, you can find a good time. Next comes "It Happened in Brooklyn" (1947), by which point Sinatra was getting top billing. Sinatra appears with co-stars Jimmy Durante, Peter Lawford, and Kathryn Grayson. Again, the songs are fine, Durante is wonderful, and Grayson provides the romance; unfortunately, the material is again fairly thin. After that is "The Kissing Bandit" (1948), also with Kathryn Grayson, a period Western set in Old California, the story of a young fellow who has to live up to his father's reputation, romantic and otherwise. Sinatra said it was the most embarrassing film of his career, and I wouldn't disagree. Then, there is "Double Dynamite" (1951), starring Sinatra with Jane Russell and Groucho Marx. You'd think that trio could save any picture, but they don't. It would be another couple of years before Sinatra decided to try dramatic acting to save his career, the turning point coming in 1953 with "From Here to Eternity" (a Columbia Picture not included in the sets).

On a more positive note, however, is the best movie in the box, "Step Lively" from 1944, Sinatra's fourth film and the first one in which he finally got principal billing. George Murphy, Adolphe Menjou, Gloria DeHaven, Walter Slezak, and Eugene Pallette co-star, with Tim Whelan ("The Thief of Bagdad," "Badman's Territory") directing this fast-paced, screwball musical-comedy remake of the Marx Brothers' "Room Service" from half a dozen years earlier.

"Step Lively" has a madcap plot, with people yelling, screaming, and running around in all directions, the film cramming as much snappy dialogue as possible between musical numbers. It's a style of comedy we don't see anymore, and, truth to tell, it doesn't quite work as well here as it did for the Marx Bros. in 1938. Nonetheless, the actors are having fun, and their joy is infectious.

Sinatra may have had the bigger fan base, but "Step Lively" is really George Murphy's picture, playing a fast-talking Broadway producer, Gordon Miller, who's got the whole cast of his next musical holed up and rehearsing at a hotel managed by his brother-in-law, Joe Gribble (Walter Slezak). But Miller's got no money to pay the bill, and the hotel's owner, Mr. Wagner (Adolphe Menjou), is coming to check the books. Sinatra plays a schnook playwright, Glenn Russell, who gave Miller a play (which Miller didn't bother to read) and some money (which Miller quickly spent), and now Russell wants to see where his money and his script have gone.

Gloria DeHaven is the romantic interest, Christine Marlowe, the singing star of Miller's new production. Miller tries to con Russell out of even more money, but Russell is as poor as he is. When Miller finds out Russell can sing, he figures to put him to work in the show. Meanwhile, Wagner is trying to root out his uninvited guests, and Miller is trying to get a big check from a rich, anonymous donor through an intermediary, Simon Jenkins (played by the rotund Eugene Pallatte).

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