Sinatra in Palm Springs

Sinatra in Palm Springs is an outstandingly well made and engaging documentary that tells the often surprising story of a figure most of us think we already knew. It's a personal story told by insiders who knew, worked, and played with him, not a biography or the story of Sinatra's fame and career, but an often funny and entertaining, intimate view of his life and the fifty years he lived in the desert. This film is surely not a paint-by-the-numbers, predictable bio-pic like so many others. It's a sharp and revealing insider's look at the private life of an American icon. Photographed and edited with great flair, there is never a dull moment in this movie. More importantly, it is directed with intelligence, bringing to the screen an appreciation of Sinatra and the desert as his home, without ever being star-struck. Sinatra in Palm Springs contradicts many myths about Frank Sinatra in the popular press and mind. So, don't miss it. That's an offer you can't refuse. Think you know Sinatra? Think again.

This documentary may not be everyone's cup of tea, but if you have a fondness for Palm Springs, and especially Frank Sinatra, you will love this movie, hence the ten stars I gave it. Sinatra lived in Palm Springs/Rancho Mirage for 50 years and he loved it much more than either Vegas, L.A. or New York. He could live a low key lifestyle yet still party with his friends and not be bothered, like he would in major cities. He had three homes in the Coachella Valley and while they were nice homes, they weren't over the top, like the Bob Hope residence as an example. The stories told by his Palm Springs friends paint a picture of an immense talent who just liked to hang out at his favorite restaurants and bars in Palm Springs, and talk about sports. The documentary does a good job of interviewing the owners of the places Frank went to and they tell the story of an immensely generous man who gave of his time and money to fund hospitals, charities, and aid to average folks down on their luck. Sinatra came to Palm Springs in 1947 and had a modern home built for him, that set the standard for mid-century homes that followed. Once Sinatra had a home built, other celebrities followed, and Palm Springs cemented its reputation as a playground to the stars. The mob also came to Plam Springs and that story is also told, but they viewed Palm Springs as their vacation spot and did not practice business in the valley. The documentary interweaves the old Palm Springs of the 1940's with modern Palm Springs, and it is well done if at times a bit repetitious. Movies filmed in Palm Springs are also briefly shown as are some of the Palm Springs neighborhoods. To lighten the mood, anecdotes by Don Rickles and other comedians make for some out loud laughs. As Sinatra's friends note, he could at times be mean and ill tempered so it was important to find out if he was in a good mood before approaching him, especially if you were a reporter. As someone said, many famous celebrities have lived in Palm Springs, but most visitors to the area only want to know where Frank Sinatra lived. His first home is still a feature of each years Modernism Week, and rightfully so. The house still feels like Frank Sinatra will walk in the door at any minute.

My parents were of Sinatra's generation, so I grew up being exposed to him. For me, this film brought back a strong feel of the pleasant aspects of the sixties - the freshness and zest for life. Seeing things through the eyes of his friends and his wife brought out a side to a man that my generation related to the Rat Pack - the Las Vegas scene. Knowing little about Palm Springs beyond it behing the home of Bob Hope and other celebrities, I was unaware of how closely Sinatra was tied to the place and or how closely the place was tied to him.

In this documentary, I feel as if I were taken back to a different time and that I somehow was a part of it. I've seen far more biographical documentaries that I could ever count but I cannot think of any having focus on a single individual that has been as good as this. A number of the individuals interviewed have since passed on, reminding me of how every one of us has his or her time in the sun. I think that this provides a nice little album of everyone concerned. To be honest, this slice of culture is valuable enough that I think it should be added to the national historic registry of works having important cultural significance.

It's been well over 70 years since Mr. S first moved to the Coachella Valley, yet his spirit is still felt, remembered and talked about today. And, thanks to director Leo Zhan's effective first-hand Palm Springs trip down memory lane, Frank and Barbara's presence (Frank passed in 1998 and Barbara departed in 2017) will now be remembered for years to come. Through vintage Palm Village and old Hollywood film footage, Sinatra's rocky marriage to Ava Gardner, his notorious E. Stewart Williams Twin Palm Estate parties (a raised flag between the two palm trees informed his friends he was home and the bar was open), the purchase and build of his 18 room/23 bath Rancho Mirage "Compound," a look into his Villa Maggio home, footage of his favorite restaurants/hangouts (Melvyn's, Lord Flecthers, The Purple Room, The Rivera - to name but a few), interviews and personal stories by locals who knew him and/or served him, and one-on-one interviews with Barbara Sinatra effect lives on. It's hard to tell if Zhan purposely left out Frank's reported hot temper, choosing to highlight only his documented tossing of his pasta at a wall if made correctly, but those are facts/rumors that don't really have a place in a documentary that worships the man and the myth. If you like looking back, in order to understand the looking forward, "Sinatra in Palm Springs" will fill you with needed nostalgia and desert glamor that should not be missed.

This could be a much better documentary without the annoying typing of information graphics repeatedly.