Customer Reviews

Meet Danny Wilson [VHS]

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Saloon singer Danny Wilson (Frank Sinatra) is always getting into trouble due to his quick temper and has to rely on his friend and pianist Mike Ryan (Alex Nicol) to get him out of these many scrapes. Danny is sacked from various singing jobs and his career is going nowhere when he meets Joy Carroll (Shelley Winters). She introduces him to crooked club owner Nick Driscoll (Raymond Burr) who can see that Danny has star quality and potential. Unfortunately, Driscoll is a hoodlum and gangster and ties Danny to an unfair contract which gives Driscoll 50% of all the singers future earnings. Danny and Mike reluctantly agree to these outrageous terms of the contract just to get started but soon have cause to regret it when Danny becomes successful.

"Meet Danny Wilson" was directed by Joseph Pevney in 1952 when Sinatra was going through a difficult period and finding it hard to get work. Personally, I enjoyed the film very much (in spite of the negative reviews it received at the time of its release) and it was in fact almost a mini biography of Sinatra's own life story. This was Sinatra's last film before giving his Oscar winning performance in "From Here to Eternity" which deservedly put his career firmly back on track. Alex Nicol and Shelley Winters give good support and Raymond Burr makes the most of his villainous part.

The film contained a marvellous selection of songs including: "All of Me", "She's Funny That Way", "When You're Smiling", "That Old Black Magic", "I've Got a Crush on You" and "How Deep is the Ocean". Sinatra puts all his songs over with confidence and style and in this film proves once again without question (to me) that he was the most outstanding and talented singer in Hollywood (and a pretty good actor too!).

Some favourite lines from the film:

Frank Sinatra (to Alex Nicol): "25 measly bucks to sing your fool head off all night for a bunch of creepy stiffs!".

Shelley Winters (to Sinatra): "Nice girls can't go in a bar and drink alone - and I'm a nice girl".

Raymond Burr: "Personally, I'm a Crosby fan". Sinatra: "That should make Bing very happy".

Winters (to night club audience): "Ladies and gentlemen - meet Danny Wilson!".

Shelley Winters and Sinatra seem to work well together and share a duet titled "A Good Man is Hard to Find" so it is hard to believe that the two stars did not get on during the filming as has been alleged in some recent biographies. To sum up although "Meet Danny Wilson" is not one of Sinatra's better known films it is nevertheless very entertaining with a brilliant performance by Sinatra and the songs are really fabulous. Well worth looking at.

Shelley Winters has said that this movie began in chaos and ended in catastrophe. Sinatra at the time was divorcing his wife Nancy for filmland beauty Ava Gardner, and tensions on the set were palpable. Sinatra was distracted and angry, giving Miss Winters the brunt of his explosive temper; at one point she walked off the set and remained homebound for two days. None of this shows in the finished product, which was panned at the time of its release and thereafter mostly forgotten, even among Sinatra afionados. Frankly, it's one heck of an entertaining movie, expertly written, acted and directed and based not-so-loosely on the Hoboken crooner's rise to fame. Sinatra doesn't need to stretch his abilities much as the brash, cocky singer who's fast with his fists and ready to mouth off to anyone who ticks him off. Raymond Burr, prior to his Perry Mason role, was usually cast as brutish heavies; he's excellent as the nightclub-owning gangster who shakes down Sinatra. For Sinatra fans, Burr fans, rags-to-riches fans, '50s film noir fans, this one's a must. A forgotten 5-star gem!!

If you are a real Sinatra buff, the song performances by Sinatra are what make this B-movie quality film worth watching.

This film may not be the best of Sinatra's musical performances such as Pal Joey, but it does offer a Sinatra different from On the Town, with more edginess in his performance. That the film relates to real life for him as has been previously reviewed is accurate, but the barely concealed frustration he had to be going through in his professional life kept coming out in his performance. This, combined with a number of songs not normally associated with him, make the film worth watching for Sinatra afficionados and for the general movie buff as well.
Think of it as a precursor to Suddenly. Sinatra could act when he wanted to and in this film he was showing some emotion and talent which seemed to escape the critics of the time.
I gave it three stars for the new Sinatra that was just beginning to emerge on the screen as well as for the songs.

Why this fine film has been overlooked for more than fifty years is beyond me.
Frank Sinatra's performance as the obnoxious little vocalist who comes good at the end is a standout and his songs remain evergreen.
If ever a film needed to be looked at anew this is the one.
Release it on DVD. Now!