Customer Reviews

Sinatra in Hollywood 1940-1964

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

If you're a Frank Sinatra fan, a classic movie lover or better yet both, then you're in for a treat. According to the voluminous liner notes in a marvelous book this project was six years in the making and it's worth all the painstaking efforts that were put into it.

It's great to hear the fully orchestrated recordings from Higher and Higher as opposed to the commercial releases that only had a vocal chorus due to the musician's strike at the time. It's wonderful to hear the songs from Step Lively as they have never been released commercially before. The House I Live In is very moving.

Of course, the songs from Anchors Aweigh, It Happened in Brooklyn, Take Me Out to the Ball Game and On the Town are exceptional. Some reviwers had complaints about O'Brien to Ryan to Goldberg and Pearl of the Persian Sea, but if you understand the plots of these movies the songs make sense within the context of these films. The set is meant to be a comprehensive retrospective of all of Frank's motion picture work, so everything is included. Although not mentioned, Come Up to My Place and On the Town, both from On the Town, are extended versions. What's Wrong With Me? with Kathryn Grayson from The Kissing Bandit, a low point in Frank's movie career, is a nice surprise. You're Awful from On the Town has always been a favorite song of mine and it's nice to hear it remixed to stereo. Also beautiful is The Right Girl for Me which Frank sang to Esther Williams.

It goes from great to better. Buy this set just for the Finian's Rainbow set alone. These are killer. Frank has support from Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong and Ella Logan. Need I say more? What a find! Another favorite is You, My Love with Doris Day from Young at Heart. And the soundtrack version of The Tender Trap is far and away better than the commercial version.

Hopefully, whoever owns the rights to the Carousel recordings, if they're still around, will get smart and release them because they could make a fortune. The Capitol version of Soliloquy here is great!

All in all this is an execellent release and, hopefully, now we'll get complete soundtrack recordings of Anchors Aweigh, It Happened in Brooklyn, Take Me Out to the Ball Game, On the Town among others. Thanks to Didier Deutsch, Charles L. Granata, George Feltenstein and Darcy Proper for putting together an excellent compilation. Run out and buy it immediately.

Although I was disappointed with SINATRA IN HOLLYWOOD, I'll still give it three stars because, after all, it is Frank Sinatra. But be warned--this is a collection aimed at the die-hard Sinatra completist and not the mere curiosity seeker.

The packaging is feast for the eyes. Everything is beautifully bound and printed. The 120-page book is outstanding, with essays by Leonard Maltlin, Michael Feinstein, Charles L. Granata, Didier C. Deutsch, Scott Allen Nollen and the perennial Will Freidwald. The photographs are also beautiful.

As for the music, I must start with a disclaimer. I personally am not a fan of Sinatra's Columbia records from the '40s, and three of the six discs in this collection are devoted to this period. If you're a fan of Sinatra's records from the '50s and '60s--which, let's face it, most of his listeners are--this collection may not be what you're looking for.

That said, I'll limit my remaining comments to the last three discs.

Throughout the six discs, the songs are broken up chronologically by film. In my opinion, disc four is the best. It features tunes from the films "From Here to Eternity," "Three Coins in the Fountain," "Young at Heart," "Finian's Rainbow," "Not as a Stranger," "Guys and Dolls" and "The Tender Trap."

The selections from "Young at Heart" are sublime, featuring an intimate Bill Miller piano accompanied version of "Someone to Watch Over Me" (with subtle orchestration later added by Riddle) and a fantastic Bill Miller/jazz quartet version of the Sinatra stalwart "Just one of Those Things." These two cuts alone are almost reason enough to by the whole set. Interestingly enough, "Young at Heart" also features a Bill Miller-accompanied version of "One for my Baby," which is almost identical but recorded four years prior to the legendary version on ONLY THE LONELY.

The "Finian's Rainbow" selections feature a charming duet with Ella Fitzgerald (and the Oscar Peterson Trio!) called "Necessity," as well as a fascinating two-minute scat number with Louis Armstrong called "Ad Lib Blues." The other tunes from "Finian's Rainbow" are also excellent.

Disc five is also good, highlighted by songs from Cole Porter's "High Society" and Rodgers & Hart's "Pal Joey." "Pal Joey" yields the classics "I Didn't Know What Time it Was," "There's a Small Hotel" and "I Could Write a Book" (none of which, if I'm not mistaken, have appeared on Capitol or post-Capitol Sinatra albums). There's also yet another classic version of "The Lady is a Tramp" (my personal favorites being the free-flying, wild knocked-out, koo-koo, groovy version from 1974's THE MAIN EVENT, followed by Sinatra's duet with Ella on the SINATRA + ELLA + JOBIM video) as well as a gorgeous rendition of "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered," one of my all-time favorite tunes by any composer.

Disc six fizzles, featuring lesser tunes from 60s-era films and gin-soaked Rat Pack interpretations.

One problem with this collection is that many of the tunes are duets or collaborations with lesser talents (Shirley McLaine's perfomance of "Let's Do It" is almost unbearably bad). Other tunes are instrumental while others still are unfinished outtakes (After a beautiful beginning, a most promising 1955 version of Rodgers & Hammerstein's epic "Soliloquy" has no vocals after the first few verses. About five minutes later, Frank returns to the mike and handles the last verse or two). These rarities are interesting, but they don't exactly provide the prolonged ecstasy one would experience with a classic concept album.

Finally, the collection does include several entertaining promotional spots, interviews and award presentations. Sinatra always did have a way with words.

Bottom line: There are a whole bunch of Frank Sinatra Boxed sets on the market these days. If you're gonna plunk down this kind of bread, make sure you buy the one you really want.

hearing Frank Sinatra in His Prime between 1940-1958 is a true Treasure.these Discs Capture Rare Outtakes,&different Versions of Material.Sinatra unlike so Many Other Artists was Made for the Big Screen.He is very Underrated for Soundtrack Material but upon hearing this Big Collection you will be updated&listen at Him in a whole new Light.hearing "Night&Day" at a Early Stage is Classic.His timing on Words is Priceless.the way He held a Note or dealt with a Certain Arrangement you can truly feel His Spirit&Heart in what He was doing.I like certain things from the 60's by Him but to truly dig where His Voice was second to none you have to hear His Early Material here onward to the Mid 50's.some times Box-Sets barely offer anything new but this one adds another Chapter to the Legacy that is Frank Sinatra.thus far the Best Box Set Out in the New Year Bar None.

I enjoyed every bit of the set except for two grouses.

ONE. Capitol Masters versions of the hit songs should have
been replaced by the original soundstage recordings. I under
stand this could be due to licensing restrictions. Tragic.
These restrictions mean we may go to the grave never hearing the audio beauty of the original.
TWO Sinatra`s commercial version of Someone To Watch Over Me pales in comparison to the movie version. And to add insult to injury, someone at Rhino thought it nice to use "orchestral sweetening" to the movie original which had only Bill Miller on piano accompanying Sinatra. How devastating to destroy a universally-accepted DEFINITIVE version of Gershwin`s hit song.

There`s obviously a huge gap between the commercial and movie versions of Sinatra`s hits. Same thing happened to Doris Day. These two artistes put their heart and soul into their singing for movies.

This is a great buy. There are many songs in it that I can't seem to find elsewhere, especially songs to some of Frank Sinatra's earlier movies. The recording quality is the best, without any of those annoying hums and buzzes you sometimes find in some albums from that era.

Time after time, Frank Sinatra has proven why he still reigns as a vocal master. The phrasing. The diction. The transition from teen sensation to fun-loving hipster to introspective crooner. His is the voice that offers all or nothing at all. And Rhino has
amassed a box set that is required for all music mavens. It took seven years to research and prepare this stupendous collection; "Sinatra in Hollywood (1940-1964)" contains 160 tracks --- all the tunes have been lovingly and painstakingly compiled by noted Sinatra experts from the best available masters, all of them virtually available for the first time on CD. This six CD set is a timeline of talent: cinematic performances, promos, even interviews with the Chairman of the Board (including his Academy Award acceptance speech), as well as outtakes from "Las Vegas Night" (Frankie's first flick),
"Ship Ahoy," "It Happened in Brooklyn" and "The Kissing Bandit". Just as important, the collection provides a technical overview of film sound preservation efforts and details of recorded film music innovations pioneered at Warner Brothers and MGM Studios
--- techniques which ultimately allowed the producers of this set to include true stereo mixes of many performances for the first time. The liner notes are written by music historians who
manage to infuse their writing with personal recollections and warmth. Add to this a 120-page deluxe book crammed with film stills, behind-the-scenes photos and movie poster reproductions, and you have a package that Frankie would be proud to say is "All
of Me," "Night After Night."

I have never been much of a Sinatra fan...until now. Frank Sinatra in Hollywood is a beautifully executed project that fully justifies Sinatra's place in musical films. As several of the other reviews at this site go into detail about the selections I will only add one thing: buy it, before it goes out of print!!! Now I will have to take a closer look at Sinatra's concept albums for Capitol.

Look - if your even considering this set, you're obviously not the casual fan looking for "the hits". If you are, then buy the Capital Years 3 disc set - or better yet, the Capitol re-packaging of "Concepts" - off of FSA's
c-l-a-s-s-i-c albums of the 50s+

But if you're at all interested in Sinatra's career, his gift as a singer - or simply as one of the most important, dynamic entertainers of the 20th Century - then you simply have to purchase this set at some point.

Everyone's comments are spot on. The sound on Disc one is puny. But the content is indispensible. Disc 4 is the highlight, but Disc 5 is close. And Disc 6 descends into Rat Pack throw-it-away-in-1-take hell.

The package is gorgeous, although it looks a little too much like a Johnny Cash wannabe long box.

Treat yourself. You deserve it. (Although I would suggest the box set Sinatra Vegas before this one - the DVD alone is priceless - prime Sinatra in a audio-visual remastered treasure. The CDs too, are amazing!)

the "Sinatra in Hollywood" collection is magnificent! if anything can be referred to as "a must" for FS lovers, this is it! this is a terrific opportunity to hear FS as he was showcased on the screen. we're fortunate that there are so many facets to this greatest of all entertainers (my opinion, of course). we can listen to the earliest w harry james, and go right through the recordings, radio performances, hollywood, tv, concerts, right to the very end. the "hollywood" package fits perfectly into the FS "puzzle." get it!

Everything was fine, except that all the plastic CD holders had demounted from the folder. Not great for storage, as they all fall out each time you open, unless you happen to remember. The CD's and book were in perfect shape.