The Frank Sinatra Show with Ella Fitzgerald
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Actor: Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Jesse White, Nancy Sinatra, Nelson RiddleBrand: Music Video Dist
Cinematographer: Noble Moore
Cinematographer: Wally Stanard
Producer: Henry W. Sanicola
Producer: Murdo MacKenzie
DVD: Region Code 0
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 30 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-11-16
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Quantum Leap
DVD Reviews of The Frank Sinatra Show with Ella Fitzgerald
DVD Review: Priceless, though admittedly not for all tastes (and generations)
Summary: 5 Stars
After the first several minutes I was prepared to call off the show--the audio is, at best, "limited" and the clarity of the video is, frankly, quite wretched. But soon none of these mere technicalities mattered in comparison to the experience of reliving a "live" event. Many serious collectors would agree that the century's most distinguished musical pairing of Sinatra and Riddle never sounded better together (for evidence, simply pick up any of 20 or more of their Capitol "Concept Albums" from the 1950s), and the addition of the Hi Los plus the First Lady of Song (she starts out with Harold Arlen's "There's a Lull in My Life" and later puts on a demonstration of scat singing at its best) ensures that, out of the hundreds of thousands of hours of television programming, this is one of the few that might be considered essential. Sinatra himself swings up a storm (backed by a jazz combo led by Red Norvo) and matches Ella's Arlen ballad with a richly nuanced reading of Van Heusen's classic ballad "Here's That Rainy Day." But the highlight is without a doubt Frank and Ella dueting on "Can't We Be Friends" (with Ella impersonating Pearl Bailey, Dinah Washington, and Della Reese).
It's practically taken as a "given" that television was not Sinatra's medium--he just didn't have the "comfortable" look of Bing or Perry or the ability to wear a fuzzy wool cardigan But Sinatra's "edginess," while proving too big for the small screen, worked well on these Timex specials, bringing significance to the hour. And the producers of the show have to be given high marks for their creative use of "space"--employing the full depth as well as width of the stage while getting even Hermione Gingold (along with Juliette Prowse) in on the dancing.
And not to be missed is the moment when Ole Blue looks directly at the camera and speaks to--Cole Porter! He emphasizes the composer's greatness and acknowledges the songwriter's ill-health, before wishing him a full recovery (if only that had been possible).
Fifty years later and the viewer's alternatives to a network television show like this are too numerous to count. By why bother looking? None of them is likely to include anything remotely as good as this.
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Description of The Frank Sinatra Show with Ella Fitzgerald
FRANK SINATRA SHOW:WITH ELLA FITZGERA - DVD MovieJazz Music CDs
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