Newsletter: Classic Hollywood: Ol’ Blues Eyes is 100

T

his is Susan King, a 25-year veteran of the Los Angeles Times and guardian of the Golden Age of Hollywood galaxy. Every Friday in my Classic Hollywood newsletter I talk about all things vintage, including notable births and deaths, TV and movie milestones, the latest in DVDs and books, and memories of the stars of yesteryear I have interviewed.

I never met Frank Sinatra, but he’s been a part of my life since my mother took me to see “Ocean’s Eleven” when I was just a wee thing. I’ve seen most of his movies -- sorry, I never caught 1970’s “Dirty Dingus Magee” -- and own the majority of his discs.

Saturday marks the centenary of the Chairman of the Board. Centennial celebrations have been happening all year with new books, CDs, DVDs coming out and a huge exhibit at the Grammy Museum among the festivities.

Frank Sinatra during a recording session at Capitol Records in 1953.

(M. Garrett / Getty Images)

Frank Sinatra during a recording session at Capitol Records in 1953. (M. Garrett / Getty Images)

The American Cinematheque’s Egyptian Theater is celebrating Ol' Blue Eyes' 100th with screenings of the brilliant 1962 political thriller “The Manchurian Candidate” and 1955’s searing “The Man With the Golden Arm,” for which he was Oscar-nominated, on Friday, followed by 1960’s “Ocean’s Eleven’” on Saturday and 1955’s “Guys and Dolls” scheduled for Sunday.

TCM is airing Sinatra films and TV specials every Wednesday in December. This coming Wednesday, TCM will be airing the 1973 special “Frank Sinatra: Ol’ Blue Eyes is Back”; 1949’s “On the Town” and “Take Me Out to the Ball Game”; 1945’s “Anchors Aweigh”; 1947’s “It Happened in Brooklyn” and 1948’s “The Kissing Bandit.”

Just as most Sinatra fans, I have my favorite Sinatra movies and songs.

Favorite song: The Oscar-winning “All the Way,” which he introduced in 1957’s “The Joker Is Wild”

Favorite Sinatra song when he was a band singer: "I'll Never Smile Again"

Favorite non-musical Sinatra film: “The Manchurian Candidate”

Favorite musical Sinatra film:  “On the Town”

Favorite Sinatra film I’ll watch any time it’s on: 1955’s “The Tender Trap”

Favorite bizarre Sinatra duet: Sinatra singing and Eleanor Roosevelt reciting “High Hopes,” the Oscar-winning tune he introduced in 1959’s “A Hole in the Head” on 1960’s “The Frank Sinatra Timex Show: Here’s to the Ladies.” 

Hawaiian Eye

Where did the time go? Tom Selleck, starring in the CBS police drama “Blue Bloods,” became a TV superstar when the lighthearted detective series “Magnum, P.I.” premiered on CBS with a two-hour movie on Dec. 11, 1980. The series about a detective working in Honolulu ran for eight seasons and earned Selleck an Emmy in 1984. It also starred John Hillerman, Larry Manetti and Roger E. Mosely.  For most of its run, “Magnum, P.I.” was my must-see TV on Thursday nights. I think I still have my “Magnum” calendar.

Around Town

The UCLA Film & Television Archive is presenting a fascinating evening of vintage newsreels Monday at the Billy Wilder Theater in Westwood. “Los Angeles in News” will feature unreleased Hearst Metrotone News footage of Clara Bow opening the It Cafe in Hollywood, Charles Lindbergh’s antiwar speech and even Nikita Khrushchev’s visit to Hollywood.

Clara Bow and her husband Rex Bell at the opening of her “It” Cafe in Hollywood in 1937.

Clara Bow and her husband Rex Bell at the opening of her It Cafe in Hollywood in 1937. (UCLA Film & Television Archive)

It will also present newsreels such as 1930’s “Los Angeles Gets Biggest Hospital,” featuring the governor and Mary Pickford officiating at the cornerstone laying of a new hospital, and “Hollywood Kids Do Some Stepping,” also from 1930, which features young students at the Mosconi school displaying their talents.

Blaine Bartell and Jeffrey Bickel from the archive will be on hand to discuss these newsreels.

From the Hollywood Star Walk

Notable births this week include Rita Moreno (Dec. 11); Gilbert Roland (Dec. 11); Marie Windsor (Dec. 11); Bob Barker (Dec. 12); Edward G. Robinson (Dec. 12); Frank Sinatra (Dec. 12); Dionne Warwick (Dec. 12) ; Van Heflin (Dec. 12); Jamie Foxx (Dec. 12); Dick Van Dyke (Dec. 13); Morey Amsterdam (Dec. 14); Patty Duke (Dec. 14); Abbe Lane (Dec. 14); Lee Remick (Dec. 14); Tim Conway (Dec. 15); Don Johnson (Dec. 15); and Stan Kenton (Dec. 15)

The Wizard of Fantasy

For most baby boomers, it’s hard to believe that Tuesday marks the 49th anniversary of the death of Walt Disney. The 65-year-old Disney died of cancer at 9:35 a.m at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Burbank, which is across the street from the Walt Disney Studios.

The L.A. Times obit that ran in the paper on Dec. 16 began: “Walt Disney, the one-time Missouri farm boy who for more than a quarter of a century created fantasies that made a troubled world laugh, died Thursday."

And five decades later they still do.

For more vintage Hollywood, go to the Classic Hollywood Los Angeles Times Facebook page and follow me on Twitter at @mymackie.