5 Movies: The Man With The Golden Arm, Marriage On The Rocks, None But The Brave, Some Came Running, The Tender Trap
Starring: Frank Sinatra, Kim Novak, Eleanor Parker, Deborah Kerr, Dean Martin, Shirley MacLaine, Debbie Reynolds
Director: Otto Preminger (The Man With The Golden Arm), Jack Donohue (Marriage On The Rocks), Frank Sinatra (None But The Brave), Vincente Minnelli (Some Came Running), Charles Walters (The Tender Trap)
Studio: Warner Brothers
Video: 2.40:1 anamorphic/enhanced for 16:9 widescreen (The Man With The Golden Arm ratio not listed), color/B&W
Audio: English DD 5.1 (The Tender Trap), DD Stereo (None But The Brave), DD Mono (All others)
Extras: Featurettes, Trailers
Subtitles: English, French, Portuguese
Length: 119 minutes (The Man With The Golden Arm), 109 minutes (Marriage On The Rocks), 105 minutes (None But The Brave), 136 minutes (Some Came Running), 111 minutes (The Tender Trap)
Rating: ****
May 2008 marked the tenth anniversary of Frank Sinatra’s death, and Warner Brothers has just released four DVD box sets of classic movies that are part of a media blitz featuring efforts from Reprise Records, Turner Classic Movies and MGM Home Entertainment. Even the U.S. Postal Service is getting into the act, with a commemorative Sinatra postage stamp now available. The Golden Years box set features five classic Sinatra movies from the fifties and sixties; three other new DVD sets from Warner will feature his early films, his famous collaborations with Gene Kelly, and of course, his classic movies with the Rat Pack. Most of these films have not previously been available on DVD.
The Man With The Golden Arm (1955) was Sinatra’s Oscar-nominated performance in Otto Preminger’s classic B&W film noir that dealt realistically with the downfalls of drug addiction. Although the title would suggest a James Bond-ish theme, the “golden arm” actually refers to Sinatra’s talent as a heroin-addicted card dealer trying to make it as a jazz drummer, but caught helplessly in a downward spiral. Elmer Bernstein’s jazzily cool music underscores the action and helps accentuate this film’s (and Sinatra’s) effectiveness. [Kim Novak is pretty effective too, as well as the striking Saul Bass title designs. This was the first jazz score for a commercial feature and started a trend, but you only get to see a minute or so of Sinatra playing the drums…Ed.]
In The Tender Trap (1955), Frank is the ultimate confirmed bachelor, living in one of moviedom’s all-time great swinging bachelor pads. His carefree life takes an unexpected turn when he meets ultra-organized Debbie Reynolds, and instantly intrigued, falls inexplicably in love with her. Some Came Running (1958) is Vincente Minnelli’s sequel to the multi-Academy Award winning film From Here To Eternity, featuring Sinatra as a war veteran returning to his hometown after a failed attempt at a literary career. The film is notable in that it paired Sinatra with Dean Martin for the first time; Martin got rave reviews for his work here as Sinatra’s gambler friend, and this movie laid the groundwork for their later “Rat Pack” endeavors.
None But the Brave (1965), an underappreciated WWII drama, served as Sinatra’s directing debut, and will be of keen interest to fans of Clint Eastwood’s Letters from Iwo Jima in that it also tells the war story from both the Japanese and American sides. The action follows a platoon of Japanese soldiers stranded on an island in the Pacific; Sinatra is among a group of American soldiers whose plane crash lands on the island. After becoming aware of each other, the two encampments share a tenuous but necessary existence. Marriage On the Rocks (1965), also starring Deborah Kerr and Dean Martin, tells the story of an advertising executive (Sinatra) and his wife of nearly twenty years (Kerr) who seem to have lost the spice in their lives. A trip to Mexico intended to spice things up inadvertently leaves them divorced (by a shyster lawyer played hilariously by Cesar Romero), and they decide to take advantage of the situation to renew their vows. Before that can happen, Sinatra is called away on business, and he asks his best friend (played by Martin) to keep his wife company until his return. Martin and Kerr are inadvertently married in much the same way as the divorce occurred, but Kerr decides to maintain the status quo for a bit to give Sinatra a little something to think about. Martin, on the other hand, is torn between his loyalty to his best friend, and his growing feelings for his best friend’s wife.
Warner has done a good job with the transfers of these classic films to DVD. The transfers are fairly pristine, with crisp image quality, good color saturation, and good contrast. The sound quality for each is serviceable; three of the films have only mono tracks, but in all likelihood, that’s all that exists for them. The Tender Trap has been upgraded to DD 5.1, but it appears to have been sourced from a mono original, and the sound pretty much reflects that. However, these films are mainly dialogue-driven, so the sound is quite acceptable in all cases. Each appears to maintain it’s original aspect ratio; however, I have no available information to confirm this.
This entertaining box set from Warner does, if nothing else, prove that Sinatra was not only “The Voice,” but he was a pretty darn good actor, too. He covers the gamut, from light-hearted comedy to Oscar-nominated drama, and all with a style that was uniquely Frank Sinatra. This set is far from perfect, but it’s great to finally have these movies available on DVD. Highly recommended!
— Tom Gibbs
