For diehard fans of Frank Sinatra, it may be the ultimate Christmas present.
Earlier this year, the Chairman of the Board’s daughter Nancy Sinatra made a most welcome discovery among the dust-covered items in her father’s still uncatalogued archive: an extremely rare 35 mm print of a long-lost holiday episode of the ambitious but failed 1957 ABC television series, The Frank Sinatra Show. The episode, “Happy Holidays with Bing and Frank,” teams Ol’ Blues Eyes with the popular crooner who preceded him in the public eye, Bing Crosby.
If the discovery of this seasonal gem isn’t reason enough to celebrate, the fact that the special–which marked the then-42-year-old singer/actor’s directorial debut– was filmed in color is enough to ring any Sinatra fan’s jingle bells. The show was originally broadcast in black and white.
According to Tina Sinatra, who oversees the family legacy with her sister Nancy, “What makes it so special is two things–one: that Dad is the impetus behind it; and two: it’s 35 mm and in color. It’ll be seen unlike it was seen when it was first aired.”
Upon discovering the forgotten classic, the Sinatra sisters donated it to the Museum of Television & Radio, which is now screening it in Beverly Hills and New York.
Tina and Nancy, along with the episode’s producer, William Self, Sinatra’s 25-year-old granddaughter, Amanda Lambert, attended the episode’s inaugural screening in Beverly Hills on Dec. 10, two days before what would have been Sinatra’s 86th birthday. It was the first time the sisters had seen the film, and after the screening they held a Q&A session with the audience, which included actor Philip Casnoff, who played the singer in the Tina-produced CBS mini-series Sinatra.
“He loved Christmas,” Tina said. “His mother was born on Christmas Day, and good Italian boys are raised to worship their mothers.” And, like many December babies, Sinatra himself always enjoyed a bit of deferential treatment so that the season didn’t eclipse his own special day. “We were always very careful not to trim the tree after his birthday,” she revealed.
The special opens with Sinatra in a swingin’ 1950s bachelor pad singing “Mistletoe and Holly” while trimming a Christmas tree (he dropped an ornament but, producer Self said, refused to stop the cameras to fix the gaffe).
“You see how neat Dad was with the trimming of that tree?” asked Nancy. “Forget it!”
“That was one time,” countered Tina. “It was late, he was tired–”
“–and drunk!” Nancy finished.
Sinatra is joined by Crosby and they exchange gifts, which include each other’s latest Christmas albums (“I’ll play it immediately when I get home,” says Bing. “Privately, so I can gnash my teeth”). With the help of some holiday cocktails, the duo then launch into a series of familiar yuletide tunes, including “Jingle Bells” and “Deck the Halls.” They also time-travel back to Victorian England, where they engage in some traditional caroling with the locals, and be-bop back to Frank’s crib for rousing versions of “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” and “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town.”
“You had Santa really bouncin’ there,” admires Bing.
“He was leapin’!” Frank concurs.
The program’s retro charm and snappy patter inspired many laughs, intentional and otherwise, but the highlight was clearly the finale, where Crosby croons the holiday tune he made immortal (and the best selling song of all time), Irving Berlin’s “White Christmas.”
Self told the audience that contrary to popular myths (and a few in-jokes in the script) the then-53-year-old Crosby never felt any rivalry toward the younger singer, and Sinatra was easy to work with–under the right circumstances. In fact, the two singers had co-starred in the hit film High Society just a year earlier. “He was not difficult to work with if he admired you and trusted you, and he loved Bing,” he said.
“They admired each other,” Tina said. “They had a genuine camaraderie…and Bing really admired Dad. He didn’t have any kind of jealously toward him.”
Nevertheless, Self revealed, “There was a dispute as to which key to sing the songs in. And Frank ‘compromised’ and sang it in his [own] key.” Amazingly, the two singers actually performed the individual parts of their duets as much as 10 hours apart. “Crosby liked to lip-sync in the morning,” said Self. “Frank liked to record live at night.”
To accommodate both styles, Crosby prerecorded his parts, which were played back on the set. Sinatra’s longtime pianist Bill Miller would accompany the playback, and Sinatra would record his portion live. Later arranger Nelson Riddle pulled the pieces together to provide a synchronized orchestral score.
Both Sinatra sisters clearly enjoyed the screening. “It’s so cute,” said Tina. “It’s very vintage. I love the effect of the bachelor’s lair.” Still she admitted to also being a little melancholy with her father’s birthday approaching, and Nancy agreed.
“Watching this was very hard for me,” the older Sinatra daughter revealed.
The special will likely be released on CD and DVD in the near future, once the family obtains the necessary legal rights and clearances to release old materials in new formats.
For now, “Happy Holidays With Bing and Frank” will be screened at the Museum of Television & Radio’s locations in New York and Beverly Hills through Jan. 6. For those Sinatra-philes who can’t get to the either of the Museums, the TRIO Popular Arts Television cable network will be airing the special at 9 p.m. on Sinatra’s birthday, Dec. 12, at 9 p.m. on Dec. 23 and again at noon and 6 p.m. on Christmas Day.
