Frank Sinatra - They Were Very Good Years

Starring:Frank Sinatra
Studio: PASSPORT VIDEO
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Description
The Frank Sinatra series traces the career of this century's most versatile entertainer. Placing special emphasis on Frank Sinatra's film and television work, this remarkable 5 part series chronicles the ups and downs, and over and outs of a career that has spanned more than half a century. Included are classic film clips from his fifty-seven theatrical films as well as Mr. Sinatra's two forays into series television, and his numerous guest appearances on television shows over the years, plus interviews with the people who know him best: friends and coworkers such as Eddie Alber, Sammy Davis, Jr., Shirley Jones, Juliet Prowse, and many others.

The Bobby Sox Years (Part 1) Chronicles Frank Sinatra's early life as a struggling band singer from Hoboken, New Jersey. Dynamic rare archival footage and insightful interviews illuminate the world that shaped Sinatra's early life, from his birth in 1915 to the early 1940's when he had teenage girls in bobby sox swooning at his concerts with the Harry James and Tommy Dorsey Orchestras.

The Hollywood Years (Part 2) Frank Sinatra's appearances with Tommy Dorsey led to a few appearances in film. A contract with MGM then brought him star status with such luminaries as Gene Kelly, Kathryn Grayson, and Esther Williams. He was no longer a mere celebrity, he was becoming a legend, and the legend would continue to grown until Frank Sinatra became synonymous with music itself. The legend next went on to tackle television with a weekly series of his own.

Hollywood, The Second Time Around (Part 3) After leaving movies for television he returned to the motion picture screen at a time when may thought his career was over. But Sinatra proved that he could bounce back and bounce back he did, going on to win a Oscar for his acting in From Here to Eternity. He followed that film with a series of hit films (and a few misses) over the next two decades.

The Swinging Years (Part 4) As the leader of the Rat pack, Sinatra epitomized the high life of the late 1950's. Among his cohorts were Dean Martin, Peter Lawford, and Sammy David, Jr. They worked together and they played together. When they weren't in front of the cameras or in a recording studio, Las Vegas was their home.

Description

The Frank Sinatra series traces the career of this century's most versatile entertainer. Placing special emphasis on Frank Sinatra's film and television work, this remarkable 5 part series chronicles the ups and downs, and over and outs of a career that has spanned more than half a century. Included are classic film clips from his fifty-seven theatrical films as well as Mr. Sinatra's two forays into series television, and his numerous guest appearances on television shows over the years, plus interviews with the people who know him best: friends and coworkers such as Eddie Alber, Sammy Davis, Jr., Shirley Jones, Juliet Prowse, and many others.

Customer Reviews:

Good info...bad narrator.......2007-02-02

This is probably as definitive a set of "extended bio" as you will be seeing in a while. Since the original set comprised of 6 VHS tapes (which I also still own), the video quality on the newer interviews (Jeanne Carmen, Joey Bishop and others) are pretty standard to a late 80s set. However, due to questionable (read: poor condition) source material, the video quality for the "Colgate" "Frank Sinatra Show" and the promotional footage for Sinatra's movies are substandard. Very soft, almost kinescope video footage for a nearly 60 year old TV ad or stage footage is acceptable to a certain extent.
The narrator seems to be reading from a script that doesn't offer many revalations, I'm afraid. The way he phrases sentences together, one sometimes thinks he's summarizing (a la E! THS) an event and allow the video and/or audio finish the rest of the thought.

All in all, it's a good comprehensive collection of video footage, though I would certainly like to have seen more of the Frank/Ava video footage and pictures as opposed to "Their marriage was one of turbulence" and then move onto an affair he had with Juliet Prowse. Certainly Frank and Ava were the Bradgelina of the 50s, weren't they? Why no more attention to that than there was for the Kennedy afillation?

Frank Sinatra, the very good years.......2007-01-04

Good images. Very interested in early years of Frankie.

GOOD BUY FOR THIS PRICE.......2004-04-03

A nice package of three discs which is an extended version of a 2 DVD set with the same title which lacks of last part Sinatra Memorial. One of the most important advantages of this DVD is it has more than 5 hours running time. So the price is very cheap for such a DVD with long playing time. The set includes 6 parts ("The Bobby Sox Years", "The Hollywood Years", "Hollywood: The Second Time Around", "The Swinging Years", "The Vintage Years" and "Sinatra Memorial". This DVD is replete with many old footages from his early years. Particularly, if you are looking for Sinatra's historic movie career, this DVD will satisfy you. DVD includes some interviews with his friends and co-stars such as Sammy Davis, Jr., Shirley Jones and Juliet Prowse. It is disappointing that within these different parts, some scenes and footages are used couple of times. It is not good to see the same things over and over again. From time to time, picture and sound quality decreases due to the age and rarity of the footages used. Unfortunately, at the fifth part, some scenes freezes very frequently. I am not sure if this defect is on my copy only or not. However, considering its long playing time and cheap price, it is still worthwhile to add this one to your Sinatra Collection even with all these disadvantages.

nice overview of Sinatra.......2003-12-13

There are very few DVDs or Videos covering Frank Sinatras life. This set is the closest I ve found. If you are looking for a lot of his music this isn't the set,but it covers Sinatras life very well. You'll find clips from many of his movies and TV shows as well as important milestones in his life. If you get a couple of his TV shows such as "A Man and his Music",the Rat Pack Dismas house DVDand the excellent A@E Rat Pack Biography along with this set you would have a nice DVD collection of Sinatra..his music and his life.

Very dissapointed.......2003-08-26

I had no idea when I purchased the Sinatra DVD set that it would be a 5 hour history of his life and career (most of which we know) and very little singing.
Most of the 3 DVDS consist of short musical sound bites and talk.

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