The Frank Sinatra Show with Ella Fitzgerald

The ‘50s were fab for Frank: he won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar in '54 for From Here to Eternity, he made a string of hit albums for Capitol Records (most with arranger-conductor Nelson Riddle, that still rank as the best of his career), the Beatles had yet to appear and put Sinatra (and everyone else) into at least partial eclipse, and he had his own TV show, from which this particular program is taken. Scheduled to be filmed outdoors in Palm Springs, but moved inside due to rain (resulting in the use of sets that were makeshift at best), Sinatra reacts here with the kind of “so what?” confidence one would expect from the Chairman, and everyone else happily goes along for the ride, especially Rat Packer Peter Lawford (who was married to the sister of then-Senator John F. Kennedy) and dancer-singer Juliet Prowse, Sinatra's squeeze at the time. Recorded in 1959, this hour isn't nearly as enjoyable as the one with Elvis Presley (VL-5/04) from the following year--unless, of course, a Lawford-Prowse duet and an appearance by Brit entertainer Hermione Gingold are your idea of heaven. But it does have Ella Fitzgerald, who's sublime on the ballad “There's a Lull in My Life,” totally swinging on “Just You, Just Me,” and amusing in her one duet with Frank (on “Can't We Be Friends”). As on the Sinatra-Presley program, the black-and-white visuals here are poor, and the audio suffers from terrible tape hiss. Nevertheless, this is a worthy document that's sure to appeal to Sinatra fans, making it a strong optional purchase. Aud: P. (S. Graham)