Product Description

FRANK SINATRA: THE EARLY YEARS COLLECTION DOUBLE DYNAMITE A racetrack tip puts bank clerk Sinatra in the green – and in hot water when a substantial amount of cash is missing from the bank. With Jane Russell and Groucho Marx. HIGHER AND HIGHER Starting out – the King of Swoon’s first credited feature-film role! A maid poses as a debutante in hopes of wooing wealthy bachelor Frank. With Mel Torme and Dooley Wilson. IT HAPPENED IN BROOKLYN Ex-G.I. Sinatra can’t find an apartment when he returns from World War II, but he does find romance in the old neighborhood. With Kathryn Grayson, Jimmy Durante and the signature hit Time After Time. THE KISSING BANDIT He’s also a singing bandit! Sinatra brings sly comic ease to the role of timid youth struggling to continue his family’s bandito tradition. With Kathryn Grayson, Ann Miller and Cyd Charisse. STEP LIVELY The kid from Jersey winningly steps into his first top billing. An antic backstage farce based on the Broadway hit that also inspired the Marx Brothers’ Room Service.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #23702 in DVD
• Brand: Warner Brothers
• Released on: 2008-05-13
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Box set, Black & White, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, French
• Number of discs: 5
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 461 minutes

Amazon.com
The young, skinny Frank Sinatra was a big-band singer and the heartthrob of the bobby-soxers when he launched his movie career--a moment in time memorably captured by Frank Sinatra: The Early Years Collection. Five movies take the gangly kid from Hoboken through his hesitant first forays into the Hollywood game; everything here is in the minor-but-tuneful category, before he re-launched his career with From Here to Eternity. It's a fun set for Sinatra fans, not so essential for the casual viewer (and no extra features for vintage-movie mavens). Frankie's first feature, in 1943, was Higher and Higher, in which he plays--hmm--a young singer named Frank Sinatra. All right, it's not much of a stretch, but the kid fits quite comfortably into a madcap ensemble that includes Jack Haley, Mary Wickes, Dooley Wilson, and a youthful (practically unformed) Mel Torme. This is the kind of wacky universe in which a scullery maid has a French accent (it's Michele Morgan) and a British nobleman has a Danish accent (it's piano comedian Victor Borge). The film is completely insane, but fun. Step Lively (1944) has the same director, Tim Whelan, and a similarly over-heated farce in play: a theatrical producer (obnoxious George Murphy) tries to whip together a show while dodging hotel managers (Adolphe Menjou, deadpan Walter Slezak). Frankie's in there as a playwright who also sings. It's a version of the Broadway play that also served the Marx Brothers in Room Service, but the whole thing is really too labored to pay off. It Happened in Brooklyn (1947) doesn't offer much in the way of substance (Sinatra is a WWII vet returning to his beloved, but now less friendly, Brooklyn), but at least Frank is teamed with Jimmy Durante. Oh, and Kathryn Grayson and Gloria Grahame are in there too, even if the real love match is Sinatra and Durante singing together. Tunes are by Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne, including "Time After Time."

1948's The Kissing Bandit became for Sinatra what The Silver Chalice would be for Paul Newman: a source of self-mockery in later years. A truly bizarre concoction about the son of a Zorro-like bandit settling in Boston, the film has one specialty number featuring Cyd Charisse, Ann Miller, and Ricardo Montalban, and a lot of filler. Sinatra's career was sliding by the time Double Dynamite (1951) was released, and the movie did little to help. Frankie's a poor bank clerk who scores on a horse-racing bet but can't prove he didn't actually rob the bank. It isn't great, although Groucho Marx at least has one of his better solo roles, while Jane Russell is stuck in a dizzy-dame part (rather than her preferred sassy mode). For Sinatra, career resurgence would have to wait a while--this box set gives you the superstar-in-waiting. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews

A Goldmine of Early Sinatra Films for Fans!!!
Film buffs looking for examples of excellent Sinatra films are better directed to the Sinatra DVD box set, "The Golden Years", and also the individual DVDs, "Manchurian Candidate" (1962), "On the Town" (1949), "From Here to Eternity" (1953), "Guys and Dolls" (1955), "Pal Joey" (1957), and "High Society" (1956), among others. For film buffs who are also major fans of Frank Sinatra, however, this DVD box set is a real treat, as none of these films have been released in DVD format before, and many of them have been unavailable in VHS format for years.
All of the following films are in B&W, except for "The Kissing Bandit":

"Higher and Higher" (1943) was Sinatra's first full-length film, and, with Jack Haley on board in the lead male role, is somewhat amusing and entertaining filmfare. The highlights, for Sinatra fans, are Sinatra singing "A Lovely Way to Spend an Evening" and "The Music Stopped", along with a few other songs. The plot is thin, with Sinatra playing himself, but this film is still a must for major Sinatra fans who will want to own this dated, but rather fun romp. (2 1/2 out of 5 stars)

"Step Lively" (1944) is much more exciting fare for Sinatra fans, as Sinatra plays the lead male role and shares his first on-screen kiss (with co-star Gloria de Haven) in an amusing tale about a Broadway producer (George Murphy) trapped, with his cast, in a Manhattan hotel suite because he can't pay his bill. The plot is amusing, and Sinatra sings four songs, including "As Long as There's Music". (3 1/2 out of 5 stars)

"It Happened in Brooklyn" (1947) is easily the most interesting and entertaining of the films in this box set. Co-stars, Peter Lawford (long before he was in the Rat Pack!) and Jimmy Durante help make this film a thoroughly entertaining musical. Although the musical performances are mostly low-key and not big production numbers, the songs (by Jules Styne and Sammy Cahn) are top-notch, including "Time After Time", "I Believe", "The Brooklyn Bridge", and "It's the Same Old Dream". The high point of the film is the Durante-sinatra duet, "The Song's Gotta Come From the Heart". Also, in the 6 degrees of separation department, a young teenaged Andre Previn is featured on piano (he AND Frank Sinatra each married Mia Farrow a few decades later...)(4 out of 5 stars)

"The Kissing Bandit" (1948) Of all of Sinatra's 50-plus films, this is the film that made Sinatra BLUSH the most when reminiscing about his film career. Yes, this one nearly makes the SO-BAD-IT'S-GOOD department! Sinatra LOOKS fabulous throughout, in lovely Spanish outfits in glorious color, but his acting is at its worst (though a lot of Sinatra fans, like myself, find him rather charming in this film), and the songs are not memorable. This film is definitely worth seeing for its near-camp value, but maybe not a film most people would want to own...the far-superior "Meet Danny Wilson" from 1951 (actually, a VERY GOOD film!) would have made a better choice for this boxed set than "The Kissing Bandit" or the next film in the set...(2 1/2 out of 5 stars)

"Double Dynamite" (1951, but, apparently, filmed years earlier) has the saving grace of co-star GROUCHO MARX! However, even his considerable talents cannot save this film from having the dubious distinction of being even worse than "The Kissing Bandit"! The great Jane Russell also co-stars, but the script is very weak and Sinatra seems spaced-out throughout the film. However, for major Sinatra and Marx fans, there is some charm to be found here. There are also two songs. (2 out of 5 stars)

Now, I've judged these films AS FILMS rather harshly. But, as vehicles for Frank Sinatra in the early years of his career, "Step Lively" and "It Happened in Brooklyn" are really quite excellent. "The Kissing Bandit" and "Double Dynamite" are good for laughs (the wrong kind, but laughs they are!) and have a certain charm to them. Even at his worst, Sinatra could not help but entertain! For that, and for historical value, I rate this DVD boxed set 3 1/2 out of 5 stars, overall.

A GREAT BARGAIN!
Reviewer Coleen "Frankie-machine" did a good job of rating the films in this collection, except for "Higher and Higher" (based on the broadway hit), which in my opinion is this sets' best film.
Another reviewer says there are no chapter stops. That is not true. There ARE chapter stops about 10-12 minutes apart. However there are no scene selections, and that sucks! Discs however, are closed captioned.
[...]

Very enjoyable
Although the movies were not quite what I expecting, I did enjoy them. I would recommend them to any classic movie fan.