Ocean's 11

I had never seen the entirety of this version of Ocean's 11, so I was glad to finally get a chance to watch it. The environment of the film is very glamorous, and is what I think of when Sinatra, the Rat Pack, and Vegas come up in a conversation. Sinatra, Martin, and Lawford stay at the best places, know a large network of people, and have women fawning over them. Sinatra especially gets the label of being a playboy in this film; the first scene that he's in there is a woman just waiting around to give him a massage and then after a bit he just dismisses her somewhat rudely. He also talks to his ex-wife about going away together, and in another scene a woman named Adele angrily bursts into his apartment and it is clear that they had some sort of relationship. The whole notion of being a playboy seems to be the idea of masculinity that is promoted in this film, in particular because Sinatra is the ringleader and the organizer behind the heist and in a way the other guys look up to him. Along with an element of glamour there is also a huge element of risk in this film, and the belief that they are so good at what they do that they will never get caught.

Some Came Running 11/23/10

Prompt: Compare this film as a representation of postwar masculinity to The Manchurian Candidate. Consider its model of masculinity in relation to Playboy discourse.

The notion of masculinity here seems clear cut and set at first glance, but then when observing the character that Sinatra plays, Dave Hirsh, I realized that masculinity in this film is in fact more nuanced and complicated than I first thought. It seems that the picture of postwar masculinity that is painted in this film follows along some stereotypical themes; a love of drinking, drinking excessively, being tough and getting into fights, and spending time with lots of women, some with less respectable reputations than others. While Dave Hirsh partakes in all of these activities, he is a much more complicated and mixed up figure. We also get a picture of a returning GI who seems to be beaten down by his life experiences, and now is not really sure what to do with his life or where to go since returning. Dave alternates in being extremely caring and eloquent, while other times he is very introverted and reflective. Just like Major Bennett Marco reaches out to Rose for stabilization and comfort when trying to assimilate back into 'normal' society, so does Dave try and reach out to Gwen French to help him move on towards a 'normal' and settled life, but unfortunately she is too stubborn and pigheaded to let down her barrier so that she can love him and help him.

Underneath Dave's heavy drinking exterior he is really quite sensitive and caring, and desperately wants to find someone to spend the rest of his life with. He thinks he has found that person when he falls in love with Gwen and she finally lets down her barrier and tells him that she cares for him too, but that happiness is short lived; Gwen repeatedly pushes Dave away and then tells him that she cares for him because she is scared of her feelings for him as well as his lifestyle and she can't make up her mind about what she should do. Eventually she shuts Dave out for good, which pushes him right into the arms of Ginnie Moorhead (Shirley MacLaine), a less than respectable woman who is completely in love with Dave. I became extremely annoyed with Gwen during all of this and think that she acted in a completely stupid and childish manner; she is always so condescending and cold towards Dave, but if she would have just gotten off of her high horse for a minute and talked to Dave about her reservations with regards to marrying him they could have worked everything out. Gwen was definitely my least favorite character in the film and most of the time I just wanted to tell her to stop being so dumb.

The Joker is Wild

Prompt: How does Sinatra's portrayal of Joe E. Lewis compare to Frankie Machine? To earlier roles? How does Lewis compare to Sinatra himself?

While there are definitely some parallels between the characters of Joe E. Lewis and Frankie Machine, they are not exactly dealing with the same problems. Lewis is an overly confident and cocky young man who gets into trouble when he does not take mob threats seriously. Being attacked and getting his throat cut swiftly ends his rising singing career and seems to be the catalyst for driving Lewis to the bottle. By the time we once again see Lewis in the 1940s he seems to be well on his way to becoming an alcoholic, and is a man beaten down by life. He has a very low opinion of himself and doesn't really feel that he amounts to anything, and that attitude and chip on his shoulder later ends up ruining his relationship with the love of his life, Letty Page (played by Jeanne Crain). In addition to using alcohol to help mask the pain he was feeling, Lewis started telling jokes, many of them extremely self deprecating. Lewis and Frankie Machine both have substance abuse problems, but by the end of each film they both seem to have mastered their addictions. Even though Frankie does kick his heroine addiction, the end of the film is so depressing and melancholy, and the viewer is left not knowing if he and Kim Novak's character will end up together or if he will find a respectable job and be able to support himself. The end of The Joker is Wild is definitely a little more positive, even though Lewis has driven away everyone who loves him; at least he still has a job and it seems like he makes the decision to give up alcohol and enjoy the rest of his life. After thinking about Letty, Martha, and his best friend Austin (all whom have been driven away by Lewis' drinking and behavior), Lewis seems to realize that he does not want to throw away the rest of his life by drinking and cheerfully walks off to the nightclub where he is performing his act.

The character of Joe E. Lewis also seemed to influence Sinatra's later personal performance style. In class we watched a performance that Sinatra did at Caesars Palace in May of 1978, and one can definitely see some similarities between Sinatra's performance style at that point and the style of Lewis. They both had no inhibitions what-so-ever about drinking heavily before going on stage and Sinatra and Lewis both had drinks with them on stage while performing most of the time. When Lewis was being heckled by drunk men in the audience, he gave it right back to them and didn't seem to hold back at all. One thing that really shocked me during Sinatra's performance at Caesars Palace was when he called out William Randolph Hearst, and all of his writers, for being evil and pathetic people. Not only did Sinatra tear all of them down, he made jokes about Heart's death. While I can understand where Sinatra's anger is coming from (Hearst and his writers notoriously disliked Sinatra and went after him in the press any chance they could), I still cringed a little bit because the language Sinatra used was so harsh and accusing!

The Tender Trap 11/9/10

Prompt: Consider how Sinatra's character here is similar to or different from his characters in earlier films, such as Anchors Away, or his wartime characters. How does his image relate to his recording persona?

Sinatra's character in The Tender Trap is the playboy persona times ten. Charlie Reader has so many women that seem to be at his beck and call; he knows this and loves it. Women bring him food, offer to clean up his apartment, even sew monograms on his shirts. They fall all over him and have no reservations about being physically intimate with him even though they are completely aware that they are just one of his many women. The character of Charlie Reader is a far cry from the socially awkward, shy, and self-conscious men like Clarence Doolittle in Anchors Away. The manner of Charlie Reader also correlates with the recording persona of Sinatra at the time; he was considered to be quite the playboy and ladies man and seemed to share many of the same personality traits as Charlie.

The Man With the Golden Arm

Prompt:  Consider whether and how Sinatra's performance relates to the Method, and what kind of hero or antihero Frankie Machine is.

Sinatra's performance here does seem to be trying to follow in the footsteps of the Method actors, but in my opinion it is Zosch Machine (Eleanor Parker) who steals the show. Her character is supposed to be mentally disturbed, completely crazy with jealousy, and very needy when it comes to attention from Frankie, and she does all of that extremely well. I was simultaneously repulsed by Zosch's behavior and awed by how well Eleanor Parker got across the torturous battle that raged inside Zosch's head. While Sinatra was also good in this film, I did not get a true sense of the Method until he started using heroine again and experiencing the withdrawal symptoms. I thought he did a great job of getting across the feelings of pain, despair, and cravings while his character was quitting his addiction and going cold turkey while locked in Kim Novak's apartment (whose acting is much better here than in the last film I watched her in, Pal Joey).

Frankie Machine is set up as a hero in the community where he lives because he was able to kick his heroine addiction, and then even though he does start using again he is once again able to kick the habit, this time without any professional help. While this type of character is not the 'traditional hero,' I still feel like in a way he is because he knows he has a problem and really wants to try and not use drugs anymore.

The Manchurian Candidate 10/26/10

Prompt: Consider this postwar film in relation to From Here to Eternity and Kings Go Forth. Consider the politics of this film -- is it leftist? Does Sinatra's character carry leftist overtones? How are Sinatra's war characters in these films similar to or different from those in his earlier musicals?

I had never seen The Manchurian Candidate before watching it for this class, and I actually really enjoyed it and I think it's a great film. We have been talking about Sinatra and his politics recently, so it was also interesting to keep that in mind while viewing this movie. I guess the film could be seen as leftist because the plot does breed a sense of distrust for governmental authority, and portrays some figures of power as being incompetent or clueless as to what is really going on. There is so much emphasis put on the evils of communism and how it will run the country into the ground, while in fact it is the people who are leading the communist witch hunt who are plotting with Russian communists to take over the U.S. government. It really plays with perceptions of reality, and forces the viewer to think about their own prejudices; the "bad guy" might sometime be the person behind the scene who is pulling all of the strings.

Sinatra's characters in his earlier musicals are very different from the men he portrays in war films, even though in most of his musicals he seems to be in uniform as well. I feel that as Sinatra's film career developed over time, so did his characters; he went from playing shy, self conscious, or insecure guys to portraying more assertive, confident, and confrontational men.

None but the Brave 10/12/10

Prompt: This is the only Sinatra-directed film. How does his direction relate to his stardom? How does the film compare to other Sinatra films?

Once again in this class, I have ended up liking a film that I was not looking forward to watching at all. I guess the saying "don't judge a book by its cover" can also apply to films, because even though war films are not my favorite genre it is good for me to expand my film watching horizons. In class the past few weeks we have been talking about Sinatra and his relation to the fight against racial and ethnic discrimination, so this film goes along with that discussion very nicely. Sinatra plays Francis, the chief pharmacist mate, who is also an Irishman with an affinity for alcohol. Along with Capt. Dennis Bourke (played by Clint Walker), Francis stands up for the Japanese and defends them when most of the American soldiers who are also stranded start saying derogatory comments. One thought provoking moment was when Capt. Bourke told 2nd Lt. Blair, "I wanna whip the enemy as much as you do, not because he's Japanese but because he's the enemy." To me that is such a crucial point to stress because it seems like many people carried around hatred towards the Japanese, no matter what their allegiances were, just because they were Japanese. This film is also interesting because we get to hear the Japanese commander's thoughts, which helps to humanize the enemy and show that they are also just people who are trying to do their job and stay alive as long as possible. The truce between the Japanese and the Americans makes for an extremely unusual dynamic; it allows us to see that even when their lives are at stake the commanding officers of each country open up and become friends with one another. However, as soon as the truce is off and the goal is to fight for their own country, the two groups of men have to shoot at people that they have come to respect and like, and eventually all of the Japanese soldiers are killed. Right before the end credits start rolling, the words "Nobody Ever Wins" come up on the screen. I think that this phrase is trying to get the message of tolerance across, and say that this is a messy world and hating others because they are different from you will in no way benefit you in the long run. None but the Brave is very different from other war films that Sinatra has been in because this is the first time where we meet and get to know the enemy, and see that nothing makes them the enemy except the fact that the two countries are at war with one another.

On a completely different and amusing note, one of my friends found a website yesterday that posted the blog entry that I wrote about Kings Go Forth!
http://www.examiner.com/frank-sinatra-in-national/student-review-of-sinatra-movie-king-s-go-forth