Barnes & Noble
Forget Howard Stern -- Frank Sinatra was the original king of all media. On this exhaustive 160-track, 6-disc set we find Ol’ Blue Eyes, fresh from his success as a big-band singer, storming Hollywood; or at least steadily working his way up through the ranks to eventually become a major screen star. Songs from each of his musical films are here, from Las Vegas Nights to Robin and the 7 Hoods, including fascinating alternate mixes and outtakes. In addition, there are promotional spots for the films, as well as historic radio clips and speeches (including Sinatra’s acceptance of his 1946 Honorary Oscar for “The House I Live In”).
Musical gems abound. This is the first time that material from iconic Sinatra musicals including On the Town, Anchors Aweigh, and Guys and Dolls has officially found its way to disc. Rare tracks include a complete version of “Stardust” (Sinatra’s beloved performance has him singing only the verse) and the Sinatra ballad that can be heard playing in the background of a bar scene in Advise and Consent. A true find is the previously unissued material from an aborted early-'50s cartoon version of Finian's Rainbow that pairs Sinatra with Ella Fitzgerald. One could go on and on -- the amount of revelatory material is staggering, and considering that the majority of it is seeing CD release for the first time, invaluable. In the words of Sinatra expert Will Friedwald, In Hollywood is “the missing link.” It’s also a must for all Sinatra fans, meaning all fans of great singing. William Pearl
All Music Guide
Frank Sinatra's studio recordings have been collected in comprehensive box sets issued by the various record labels for which he recorded (RCA Victor [when he was a singer in Tommy Dorsey's orchestra], Columbia, Capitol, and Reprise) and there have also been multi-disc collections of his V-Disc recordings and radio shows. That leaves his work in television and film, a more challenging prospect for compilation (at least, legally) since so many different companies are involved. Yet Reprise has managed to do the job here for the singer's movie performances, gathering together soundtrack recordings made for films released by Paramount, MGM, Columbia, RKO, Universal, Warner Bros., United Artists, and 20th Century Fox between 1940 and 1964. The chronological sequencing provides a portrait of Sinatra's musical development that parallels his studio recordings during the same period. He first turned up on screen in the Dorsey band in Las Vegas Nights, released in 1941, not acting, but merely singing the previous year's breakthrough hit "I'll Never Smile Again," albeit under a dialogue scene by the film's principals. After he went solo, he began making tentative appearances in films like Higher and Higher that traded on his bobbysoxer appeal. With 1945's Anchors Aweigh, he graduated to big-budget movie musical stardom at MGM, but by the end of the decade was making forgettable pictures for RKO. At the end of the third disc, one begins to hear the mature Sinatra, singing standards in his familiar '50s style, emerge in the tracks from 1951's Meet Danny Wilson, and the rest of the '50s are triumphant, with the Rat Pack movies of the early '60s providing a coda. The seven-hour, six-disc set is more than complete, containing outtakes and promotional spots in addition to the actual soundtrack recordings for a box packed with material Sinatra fans will eat up. William Ruhlmann
Entertainment Weekly
Sheer pleasure. (A) Chris Willman