Ole Blue Eyes Packs Them In At Cinema Arts Centre
Sinatra Retrospective Is Sellout.
Photos
A sold-out crowd watched the Chairman of the Board do it his way during a Frank Sinatra retrospective at the Cinema Arts Centre last week.
"I enjoyed it very much. It was nice to see some of those pictures of him, especially the ones with Ava Gardner," said Les Petrilli of Bethpage.
The 90-minute film, which came to the CAC courtesy of Shelley Archives, featured moments from Sinatra's entire career, from his early days as a singer in the 1940's, to his years as an actor in Hollywood movies, to his Las Vegas club days with the rest of the "Rat Pack" and his last public appearance at his 80th birthday celebration in 1995. Sinatra died at the age of 82 in May 1998.
"Sinatra was a great performer but also a great humanitarian," said Jack Ostrager, a Bellmore resident and a CAC member. "He enriched us not only with his music but by who he was and what he did for others."
In addition to watching Sinatra with his old pals in the "Rat Pack"--Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr. Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop--there were also clips of Sinatra singing with other musical legends like Ella Fitzgerald, Bing Crosby, Elvis Presley, Louie Armstrong, Count Basie plus Tommy Dorsey, Harry James and their orchestras. The audience also saw Sinatra at work on the sets of many of his movies, including The Manchurian Candidate, Pal Joey, On the Town and Young at Heart.
One of the clips of Sinatra recording in the studio included one from sometime in the 1960's where he shared a tender moment with his daughter, Nancy. He was also shown on stage performing his well-known hits like "Lady is a Tramp", "Strangers in the Night", "My Way" and "New York, New York". Clips from his 80th birthday celebration were also included, which gave the audience a glimpse into the different types of fans Sinatra drew in, including fellow New Jersey resident and musician Bruce Springsteen, comedian Roseanne Barr, actors Johnny Depp and Angela Landsbury and singer Patti Labelle. The film concluded with a montage of pictures of Sinatra with many of the people in the film plus one of him with one of his more famous ex-wives, Ava Gardner.
Thursday night's viewing was not only a first for the audience but for archivist Bill Shelley as well.
"It just came back from editing so this was the first time I saw it. All in all it was pretty darn good and quite enjoyable. My favorite moment was seeing Sinatra in the studio," he said.
