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Sinatra: All or Nothing at All
Sometimes I feel like a time traveler trapped between the fetishized past of supposed authenticity and the hyper-speed present, where news, culture and opinion travels as fast as it’s posted on social media. In the world I grew up in, Frank Sinatra was one of the most important men in America. He embodied cool with a microphone in one hand, a drink in the other, and a legion of beautiful women, tough guys, and power brokers at his beck and call. Nowadays, I wonder if anyone under the age of 40 gives a crap and knows anything about him besides being the guy who sings the song they play after the ball drops in Times Square on New Year’s Eve.
The epic four-hour documentary Sinatra: All or Nothing at All makes a compelling case for why you should give a crap. The son of immigrants, his tireless work ethic made him a star and helped maintain his celebrity despite repeated setbacks. A visionary musician, he helped change the sound and presentation of popular music and won an Academy Award as a film actor. He helped elect presidents and fight against racism but was by no means a perfect person. Spread out over two parts, the documentary premiered on HBO in 2015 and is currently streaming on Netflix.
Using archival footage and new interviews with Sinatra’s near and dear, we trace his existence from its humble beginnings to his June 1971 “retirement” concert. To director and acclaimed documentarian Alex Gibney, the 11 songs Sinatra picked to perform that night “tell the story of a life.” They represent Sinatra’s history and that of the United States itself in thematic terms. “I’ll Never Smile Again,” evokes the hardships of World War II, “Ol’ Man River” is tied to Sinatra’s work as a civil rights advocate while “Try a Little Tenderness” and “The Lady Is a Tramp” synch up with Ol’ Blue Eyes’ romantic ups and downs.
Born in 1915, Francis Albert Sinatra grew up in Hoboken, New Jersey. His parents were hard working Italian immigrants who would eventually open a saloon where young Frank first performed, singing along to a player piano. “It was a horrendous voice,” he tells us. “One day I got a nickel or a dime, whatever it was and I said, this is the racket.” Life was already hard when the Great Depression hit, which would inform Sinatra’s drive. If you weren’t succeeding, you were suffering.
The teenage Sinatra spent his free time at Hoboken’s movie and vaudeville theaters.“Every time I saw somebody, I wanted to be them.” After seeing Bing Crosby, he approached singing with enthusiasm and discipline, picking up whatever jobs he could find and taking vocal lessons. Early gigs came and went before he hooked up with Tommy Dorsey in 1939, dramatically raising his profile. They split acrimoniously in 1942. Sinatra’s first solo appearances were mobbed by teenage girls, foreshadowing the market that would emerge a decade later and completely change the musical landscape.
Sinatra’s underworld associations have long been part of his legend and while Gibney doesn’t gloss over the truth he also sets the record straight on a number of counts. The fact is, like many musicians of the period, Sinatra came up playing clubs owned or frequented by mobsters and never turned his back on the people he knew. While the film dispels many rumors, it confirms Sinatra was the go-between for Chicago Mafia boss Sam Giancana and the 1960 Presidential campaign of John F. Kennedy, a relationship with historical implications which quickly became complicated.
The film also pulls few punches in discussing Sinatra’s love life. Sinatra repeatedly cheated on first wife Nancy before leaving her for good after getting “tied up” with actress Ava Gardner. She would later give him a taste of his own medicine, leaving him in 1953. In 1966, at the age of 50, he married 21-year-old Mia Farrow. He unceremoniously dumped her two years later, sending a lawyer to the set of Rosemary’s Baby to serve divorce papers after its shooting schedule conflicted with a film of his she was supposed to appear in.
Most interesting is Sinatra’s political history. He tirelessly spoke out against bigotry and racism and campaigned for Franklin D. Roosevelt and Kennedy, both liberal Democrats. He claims this resulted in him being “stamped” a communist and he was rebuffed by Pentagon brass after offering to entertain troops during the Korean War. However, after falling out with Kennedy, he supported such Republicans as Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan. According to entertainer Harry Balafonte it was all a means of getting back at the Kennedys.
Sinatra’s retirement was short-lived. He was back performing and recording by 1973, though the vitality of old had been replaced by the soft comfort of nostalgia. Adulation replaced innovation. Narrating himself, Gibney runs through the achievements of Frank’s later years, a successful marriage, awards and charity work, but also a creeping bitterness, particularly towards the press. 1979’s recording of “New York, New York” was his last great moment, the last time he turned “a song into a standard.”
Sinatra: All or Nothing at All falls into that small number of documentaries whose narrative is equal to any scripted film. It’s a story, epic in scope, that intersects with a lifetime’s worth of American politics, popular culture and history. It’s a remarkable tale of the remarkable life of a deeply flawed man who also possessed incredible talent and unwavering determination.
Benjamin H. Smith is a New York based writer, producer and musician. Follow him on Twitter: @BHSmithNYC.
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