31 Stars in 31 Days: Day 4 - FRANK SINATRA

Ol' Blue Eyes takes center stage today as the star of the day. A multi-talented performer who hit his peak in the mid 50's thru the mid 60's. I recently bought this 10 film collection a few months ago and decided to break some of them in today. With a double bill of Frank as Miami private eye Tony Rome in two jazzy films. But first as usual, let's get to my fave things about Mr. Sinatra.


Favorite Frank film: FROM HERE TO ETERNITY (1953)
Favorite Frank role: John Baron (SUDDENLY) - I know he won an Oscar for his terrific turn as Private Angelo Maggio in Eternity but I love him even more as the ruthless hitman in Suddenly.
Favorite Frank co-star: even though he starred with tons of Hollywood's top actresses, I think his best co-star was Dean Martin.
Number of Frank films seen so far: 20 out of 64

Frank is taking requests today

Today's film: TONY ROME (1967) and LADY IN CEMENT (1968) - Frank is super cool as Miami detective Tony Rome in these two films. First in Tony Rome, he must solve the mystery of a missing diamond necklace for a millionaire. The millionaire's daughter (Sue Lyon in one of her first adult roles) is at the center of this mystery which quickly spirals out of control. Bodies start piling up fast around Tony and he becomes the main suspect. So he makes it his mission to find out what's going on. Co-starring Jill St. John, Richard Conte, and Gena Rowlands, Tony Rome is one cool film with Frank wise-cracking and drinking the whole time. Probably picked up some pointers from his buddy Dino. Oh and whoever did the close-up shots for this film has a running gag as every time a beautiful woman appears, the camera zooms in on her...ummm...posterior. Gotta love the 60's. And the fun and flirty banter Frank has with Jill is priceless.


Tony: This isn't a family. It's just a bunch of people living at the same address. 
Rating: *** out of *****

"You want me to do what?" Ann Archer is not thrilled about something

Frank would return the following year with another Rome film titled Lady In Cement which has Tony discovering a blonde floating at the bottom of the ocean while he is out searching for buried treasure. But once again things don't turn out as simple as they appear..as Tony gets caught up in Miami's elite and some of the city's worst scumbags. While not as good as his first outing, things are a little lighter. Take for instance Tony wears a light beige suit in this one as opposed to a dark suit in the first film. And his hair is lightly colored blonde this time out as opposed to black in the original. He still cracks jokes even faced with danger. Great support from Dan Blocker (TV's Bonanza) and the extremely sexy Raquel Welch as society queen Kit Forrest. Wait until she makes her appearance...all I will say is WOW! Oh and the running gag of zooming in on women's posteriors is still in effect.


Rating: **1/2 out of *****

Easy Tony, easy...I'll get you a drink!

Happy Birthday Raquel Welch (1940 - present)

Happy Birthday to Raquel Welch. She burst on the film scene during the 60's and was an immediate sensation with her sexy looks. Over the years she became a pretty good actress
not dependent on just her looks. Happy Birthday Raquel! Some of my favorite Raquel films include Fantastic Voyage (1966), Bandolero! (1968) with Jimmy Stewart and Dean Martin,
Hannie Caulder (1971), Kansas City Bomber (1972), The Three Musketeers (1973), and more recently Tortilla Soup (2001)

Happy Birthday Raquel Welch

Happy Birthday to the sexy superstar Raquel Welch, who turns 70 today. And I must say she looks fabulous. My favorite films of Raquel are One Million Years B.C., Fantastic Voyage, 100 Rifles, Hannie Caulder, Kansas City Bomber, and The Three Musketeers. Her most recent films include Legally Blonde with Reese Witherspoon, and the TV shows 8 Simple Rules and Welcome to the Captain. One of her children is actress Tahnee Welch from the Cocoon movies. Trivia note: she auditioned for the role of Mary Ann on Gilligan's Island.