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Sinatra offers a good account of Joe E. Lewis in a film made during his most fruitful as an actor before the laziness of the Rat Pack years crept into his work. Plus it contains one of his most beautifully sung songs "All the Way". The moody black and white camera work also helps set the tone for this rather downbeat bio pic. As the two women in his life Jeanne Crain and Mitzi Gaynor both perform well but the really strong woman's role goes to Beverly Garland, always an underused and undervalued actress, as Eddie Albert's loyal wife. She is strong, gritty, sensible and sympathetic as needs be doing a great deal with what could have been a nothing part.

"The Joker Is Wild" gives us Frank Sinatra playing Joe E. Lewis playing Frank Sinatra. At least that's my read of this entertaining and rather revealing look at a performer's life.

In the 1920s, Lewis is a singer on his way up. Then he tries to part ways with a mobster who thinks he owns the singer and threatens violence if the singer thinks otherwise. Sure enough, Lewis's bid for freedom ends with his larynx slashed and his head busted in. Years later, Lewis re-emerges as a popular nightclub comic, but he's still haunted by what could have been, not to mention a taste for the bottle he works into his stage show a lot better than he does into his life.

Sinatra likened himself to Lewis; he jokes about the two of them forming an Olympic Drinking Team with Dean Martin on his classic "Sinatra At The Sands" album. Perhaps he saw a chance to portray a kindred spirit and a close friend on screen, but watching Sinatra's gritty, unsentimental performance, given at the peak of his career, suggests a deeper agenda. Even Sinatra's friendliest biographers say the man had a dark side, and certainly that is Lewis's situation here, a celebrity who falls into a deeper gloom the more he succeeds, lashing out at those who love him. He's fundamentally decent, but a manic-depressive streak runs deep inside him, coiled around his heart like a rattlesnake.

There's a scene, just after Lewis's wife leaves him, when his faithful pianist Austin Mack (Eddie Albert) suggests Lewis cancel the show. Lewis's reply is the classic entertainer's problem: "What would I do instead?" I get the feeling Sinatra knew that all too well.

Charles Vidor directs this film with assurance and a deft touch, giving Sinatra's early scenes the proper brooding background and his later ones a sense of instability as he amuses his audiences with his cocktail-fueled banter while worrying his friends, who hear the cynicism-bordering-on-nihilism just beneath the surface. The irony of Lewis's life is the bleaker it becomes, the funnier he gets. "I'm fine, I'm fine," he says after passing out on a nightclub floor. "It's you people that are spinning around."

The surrounding cast is competent enough, but this is Sinatra's film, and he carries it off very well, digging into the layers of Lewis's (and his own) tortured, schizoid persona. It's a fair criticism to call this a star vehicle (as Moonspinner55 does in an earlier review here) because Sinatra is sucking up all the oxygen on screen and every scene is designed to showcase his performance. Yet Sinatra's performance merits the treatment, because he serves the story. Watch the scene when Lewis wakes up in his hospital bed and realizes his voice is gone, a scene that works not only because it is so tautly acted but because we all know that's "The Voice" in that bed not able to muster enough vocal power to call over a sleeping friend. Watching him bang a wall in frustration is one of the lumpiest scenes in Sinatra's film career, ironically shot out of focus just like the famous card-showing sequence in "The Manchurian Candidate."

There's also great music, like "All The Way," a Sinatra classic that won an Oscar for this film and is showcased three different times, each in a different way, most effectively the last time, when Sinatra can barely get the words out. You could call this film "Star Is Born For The Straight Guy"; there's plenty of macho melodrama as we watch Lewis charging toward his own alcoholic doom while assaulted with dodgy lines like "I don't know what you're looking for in that bottle, but the faster you run toward it, the farther away it gets."

But the film does have the courage to end on a boldly downbeat note, one that leaves us wondering both about Lewis and the man who plays him. Is showbiz literally worth dying for, as Lewis seems to tell his doctor? Does that make a career like Lewis's heroism or suicide? The best part of "The Joker Is Wild" is the way it leaves you hanging. Was it a cry for help from the Chairman of the Board, or just him letting us know what's what? Your guess is as good as mine.

"The Joker Is Wild" gives Frank Sinatra probably his best acting assignment playing nightclub-entertainer Joe E. Lewis. After having his throat cut by mobsters in the 20's Chicago, Lewis turned to stand-up comedy after several years of recovery. But his self-destructive ways cause his private life a lot of problems. Frank Sinatra is magnificent in the lead-role given great support by Eddie Albert,Jeanne Crain and especially by Beverly Garland,as Albert's wife. Sinatra had a magnificent hit-song from this movie with "All the Way". One of my favorite recordings of his. It's a shame this movie isn't out on DVD. I hope Paramount will release this gem very soon.The movie should not be missed by any Sinatra fan.

Movie about singer stand-up comedian Joe E. Lewis with Frank Sinatra in the leading role as the beloved and at the same time tragic entertainer who survived a vicious knife attack in Al Capone's Chicago that ended his singing career.

Alone and forgotten years later Joe E. is spotted at the Belmont Race Track by his old friend Swifty Morgan, Jackie Coogan, who thinks that his velvet voice is back,or never really left him. Swifty offers Joe. E a job in a Broadway song and dance number with Sophie Tucker. It turns out that Joe E. is nowhere the singer that he used to be but he had developed a very sharp sense of humor and rapid-fire delivery. That together with a couple of stiff drinks on the stage, to loosen him up, had the night club costumers rolling in the aisles.

We get to see Joe E. Lewis go from being almost forgotten to reaching the top of the entertainment world and then slowly destroying himself and those who loved and cared for him. Like he did to the blood-blooded socialite Letty Page, Jeanne Crain, who wanted to marry Joe E. but finally gave up when Joe E. left her for two years during WWII doing shows and getting drunk, overseas. Marrying showgirl Martha Stewart, not the one that you think but someone else,(Mitzi Gaynor) lasted just two years. As Martha was getting parts in motions pictures Joe E. got drunk doing his night-club act and in the end turned their home into a card playing casino and horse room. With dozens of Joe E.'s friends in attendance where Martha felt that she was a stranger in her own home.

Martha just about had it when she came to visit Joe E. in Vegas, in the middle of making a movie, and got the cold shoulder from him. Joe E. was more interested with the goings on the crap table then with the emotional state of his own wife. Hurt and humiliated by Joe E.'s actions Martha got herself gloriously drunk on a half dozen cocktails told him good-by for the last time and ended up walking, or better yet staggering, out on him for ever.

Joe E. on the stage doing his act really gets hot under the collar when one of the drunk, like himself, and abusive patrons in the audience makes a nasty and snide remark about him and is drunken wife, Martha. That leads Joe E. to get off the stage walk up to him and lay him out together with his friend and on stage piano player Auston Mack, Eddie Albert, who tried to intervene.

"The Joker is Wild" is a movie about the self-destruction of a talented entertainer who was trapped in a bottle because he needed it to preform on stage. At the same time turned him into a drunken an abusive personality that eventually proved to be his biggest enemy by far. More then any of the abusive and obnoxious customers that he had to deal with while he was preforming on stage.

Frank Sinatra as Joe E. Lewis has a chance to sing a number of his biggest hits notably the movie's theme song "All The Way". Sinatra's acting as the troubled and alcoholic comedian is among his best. There's a somewhat up-beat ending with Joe E. seeming to see the light and turn his life around which Joe E. did and outlived the predictions of his doctors who told him that if he didn't stop drinking he'd never live past middle-age. It had been reported from those close to him at the time that in the last years of his life Joe E.Lewis did his night-club act while downing glasses of tea not booze. Still it was obvious that the many years of heavy drinking took a toll on Joe E. Lewis and was a major reason in his not so sudden but very shocking physical deterioration and death.

P.S Joe E Lewish 1971 death certificate it stated that he died of among other things acute alcohol related complication's.

Comedian Joe E. Lewis is best remembered as a precursor of comedians like Rodney Dangerfield and Foster Brooks as well as a pal of Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra. The common thread was creating one-liners that had something to do with drunks. He is sometimes confused with Joe E. Brown because of his name, though the two had little in common except being in the show business at about the same time. This film starring Frank Sinatra is therefore a kind of personal homage to a friend, one that would hold little interest as a story unless the viewer knew of the connection in advance. In starts sort of nowhere and goes sort of nowhere, relying for its interest on an unusually literate script and some really good direction and camera work. The best scene is one toward the beginning where Sinatra and a radiant Jeanne Crain meet behind a cyclorama in a theater and flirt with each other as the shadowy figures on the other side of the screen are partying. Twenty-first century viewers will find the dialogue, the sets, and the constant smoking and drinking very curious -- sometimes offensive to modern sensibilities. But that is a characteristic common to many films made between the beginning of "talkies" in about 1930 and the introduction of blockbuster mega-films in the late 1950's and early 1960's. The social diameters and definitions of acceptable behavior for women, black people, drunks, so-called burlesque shows, and "cafe society" and the like were either narrower or broader during that time than they are today. This is definitely not a film made from a play or novel requiring attention to literary unities. Still, it hangs together pretty well for anyone patient enough to concentrate on its more dramatic moments. Look for it on Turner Classic Movies.

Frank Sinatra plays Joe E. Lewis, a nightclub singer in 1920s Chicago. He's headed to the top, and gets invited to sing at a swankier club, but the gangster who owns his current club doesn't want him to leave. He threatens his life repeatedly, but Joe won't listen, not even to his best friend who's worried for his safety. I don't want to give the story away, even though if you look up the film, you'll most likely read about it in the first sentence of the synopsis. But, I will warn you that this is an extremely heavy drama that's hard to watch, harder if you really like Frank Sinatra, and harder still because it's a true story. Something really bad happens to Joe, so prepare yourself.

In the wake of his tragedy, Joe's friends, played by Eddie Albert and Beverly Garland, stick by him. Sophie Tucker—playing herself in the film—gives him a break and helps him reinvent himself as a stand-up comic. Jeanne Crain plays a caring, classy beauty who falls in love with Joe despite his scars, on the inside and outside.

Frank Sinatra gives a wonderful performance in this film, and it's not hard to imagine we're seeing the real him during some scenes. The Joker Is Wild hit home for Sinatra in many ways. Not only was he friends with Joe E. Lewis in real life, and he knew intimately the ups and downs of show business—and other "businesses"—but he was extremely self-conscious of scars on his face. Putting yourself on display and hoping the audience will like you is one of the most nerve-wracking things a person can do. Both Joe and Frank knew the hardships of such a vulnerable vocation, they were both sensitive about their fears and flaws, and they were both, at times, told they drank too much.

If you love Frank Sinatra, you're going to want to watch this very well-acted drama. The very famous Jimmy Van Heusen and Sammy Cahn song "All the Way" was written for the film and won the Oscar that year. However, if you love Frank Sinatra, this will be difficult for you to watch. Just prepare yourself and be sure to watch it with some good friends, or at least a comfy blanket and pillow.

I don't have a great number of DVD's and tapes, but this picture is one of them. My father was a good friend of the "CEO" and others involved in the management of the Beverly Hills Supper Club, in the northern Kentucky suburban area of metropolitan Cincinnati. This was a 5-star dining and show facility, with about 700-seat dining/show area, and full, Vegas-style gambling room (the same "interests," from Cleveland, also controlled the Desert Inn in Las Vegas). My parents and I went there often when I was a youngster, and I had the opportunity to meet Mr. Lewis, and several other of the headliners who appeared there. He was very courteous and nice to me, and this was at the high point of his career. It was the era when there were major venues throughout the U.S. - where in addition to Joe E. Lewis - the clubs also had shows starring Sophie Tucker, Jack E. Leonard, Ted Lewis, Jimmy Durante, Nelson Eddy, Billy Daniels, Lena Horne, and many, many others. Joe E. Lewis was in the very top echelon.

The movie is quite factual, overall - a couple of exceptions being that Austin Mack was very, very bald, while Eddie Albert possessed one of the greater heads of hair in Hollywood; and Lewis' wife Martha (played by Mitzi Gaynor) was actually a minor showgirl, and did not become the important Hollywood figure the film depicted. Some have indicated that in later years during his career he drank tea during his "post time" episodes on-stage. While he always had possession of his faculties whenever I saw him, I once asked Sam Tucker, the "capo" in-charge at Beverly Hills how much Mr. Lewis drank; he indicated it was still a substantial quantity.

Mr. Lewis said, when this film was released, that "Sinatra had more fun playing (his) life than (he) did living it." Sinatra's performance here is outstanding, as well as those of the two female leads, and Albert and Coogan, along with all the supporting cast. And this is one of those biographical films where I feel the personas of the subject individual and his portrayer were very, very similar in both their "real lives."

I've wondering myself about Sinatra's The Joker is Wild why it has a higher reputation at IMDB and didn't got DVD release in Brazil yet, thus I decide check out in a pale print available at Youtube to find out a proper answer, at its time Sinatra was already bigger to pick up the best offers, therefore this picture sounds another step foward for him, a summarized plot about a promising singer Joe and his partner a piano player Eddie Albert playing in small Mobster's nightclub in Chicago, due a best job in high-class club, he was threatened by his former boss, after the first show Joe ends up with his throat cut, he survives however disappears without a trace.

Some years later his faithful partner locates Joe in New York playing a chipper act as clow in a Burlesque theatre, they suggest a coming back partnership again, however Joe is changed and loath, worst starting drinking, even so they begin a kind of stand-up shows underlined by jokes, out of the blue Joe meets a gorgeous claimant Jeannie Crainn, among countless pledges of a future engagement it never happen, actually Joe entering in a self-destroying process almost irreversible in gambling, drinking and smoking, it means no future for Joe.

An overlong dramatic feature has their best sequences in Joe as stand up performance on double meaning jokes, sharp lines concerning many neuralgic subjects and also involving their own buddies and wife, even against some complainer customers on audience as well, a sort of corrosive behavior, possible under Sinatra guidance quite sure, unfortunately it lost itself in an endless offering, undermining the auspicious preposition.

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First watch: 1992 / How many: 2 / Source: TV-Youtube / Rating: 7.5.

When The Joker Is Wild first came out I saw it at the Nostrand Theatre in Brooklyn, New York. It was the best possible first exposure to Frank Sinatra. He is first rate in this biographical film about the life of Joe E. Lewis. Later on in his film career, Sinatra walked through a lot of roles, but not in this. This is a perfect blend of his persona being tailor made for the part. The supporting cast of Eddie Albert, Jeanne Crain, Mitzi Gaynor, Jackie Coogan, Beverly Garland are also well cast and give Frank excellent support. I have a bootleg copy of this movie, but hopefully Paramount will put this out one day.

The song All the Way is interestingly used in the film. When Joe E. Lewis is a cabaret singer, Sinatra sings it and of course first rate. Later on after the mobsters try to cut his throat and damage his vocal cords, it's used in the background as a reminder of what he had lost.

I don't know if the real Joe E. Lewis ever did any records from back in the twenties. I have heard him do some of his stand-up routines in that gravelly voice the gangsters left him with. Sinatra might have ruptured his own valuable vocal cords if he ever tried to really imitate Lewis. Still it's a marvelous performance.

All the Way won the Oscar in 1957 for Best Original Song, it was the first time a Sinatra song was so honored. Frank was never in better voice and it remains to this day my favorite Sinatra record.

Don't ever miss The Joker Is Wild when it's broadcast.

As a result of an unfortunate event early in his career, Joe E. Lewis (Frank Sinatra), turns to another form of entertainment to make a living. "The Joker Is Wild" charts the ups and downs in Joe's career and the effects these vicissitudes have on those around him. The film is based on the real-life story of Lewis, singer/comedian, and the plot spans the years from the late 1920s to well into the 1940s; it's set mostly in Chicago.

Emotional ups exist, but the downs in Lewis' life are profound and deep, and the overall tone of the story is depressing. The melancholy of what might have been knifes through whatever joy and laughter superficially appears at any given time. Fate is not always kind.

This film exhibits classic 3-Act structure. Acts 1 and 3 are effective; the middle Act is repetitive and overly long. At least 15 to 20 minutes could have been edited out of Act 2 to render a more efficient plot. The script is overly talky. And I could have wished for a different, more melancholy, ending to match the story's overall tone.

Both casting and acting are credible, and so is Vidor's direction. B&W lighting is clear and crisp. Some clever scenes use silhouettes behind a curtain. Background music is jazzy, with scores from the appropriate historical era. The film deservedly won an Oscar for the appropriately melancholy "All The Way", sung by Sinatra.

Though this film can correctly be thought of as a Frank Sinatra cinematic vehicle, the story itself is still compelling. It's worth watching. Despite a repetitive, bloated second Act, "The Joker Is Wild" conveys realistic and forceful human drama, thanks to fate's capricious nature.

Tremendous 1957 film showcasing the life of Joe E. Lewis. After a brief singing career ended, due to Chicago gangsters, Lewis finds another voice in comedy. Nevertheless, he was left an embittered person unable to even be happy around those who loved him dearly.

After playing a junkie in 1955's "The Man With the Golden Arm," Sinatra again gives a wonderful performance as the alcoholic Lewis. He belts out "All the Way" the way that song was supposed to be sung.

Jeanne Crain is in fine form as the wealthy woman who loved him dearly but did not marry him due to his behavior and the advent of World War 11.

The real surprise here is the wonderful supporting performance of Mitzi Gaynor as the chorus girl that Lewis wed on the rebound. Gaynor proved that she could really act as well as sing and dance here. Her drunken scene where she told Lewis off was great.

Eddie Albert got plenty of practice being around alcoholics when he appeared with Susan Hayward twice in "Smash-Up The Story of a Woman," as well as "I'll Cry Tomorrow." Albert plays the part of Lewis' understanding pianist with conviction.

The ending may be a downer but is true to life. At least, Lewis was ready to stand on his feet despite being alone.

Interminable biography of comedian/singer Joe E. Lewis is transformed into a Frank Sinatra star-vehicle, which is handicapped by a leaden script that turns over all the old show-biz clichés, rarely revealing anything human. Lewis, a crooner in 1920s Chicago, is bullied by gangsters but rebels and has his throat slashed; he recovers and enters burlesque as a comic, then becomes a full-time comedian--with an alcohol problem. This is the kind of movie where the star is center-stage, drunk and slurring his words, and everyone in the audience (including his ex-fiancée!) exchanges worried glances about his well-being--it's a nightclub yet no one else is drunk, therefore no one else can infringe on Sinatra's spotlight. Frank is doing a real star-turn, but these unplayable scenes are made up of timeworn pathos. The film is bolstered by solid supporting work from Eddie Albert, Jeanne Crain and Beverly Garland--doing a sassy Eve Arden--but it's ultimately too long and too shapeless to hold interest. ** from ****

This movie has a great assortment of Sinatra standards. I enjoyed it very much and thought Frank did a credible acting job in the Joe E. Lewis role.

The ending was a little weird with his reflection in the shop windows talking back to him but hey that was a way for Hollywood heroes to express their innermost feelings to the audience. Eddie Albert who I enjoyed so much in Roman Holiday is in here. Jeanne Crain is also in here. She seemed to be a big star in her day but suprisingly, is not remembered today as some of her other contemporaries are. The story is interesting. Gaynor is good although she gets a little irritating when she pleads to Frank.

Frank Sinatra plays a comedian and singer in trouble with the mob in this biopic based on the life of Joe E. Lewis. Sinatra delivers a credible performance and gets to sing the wonderful "All the Way."

This is certainly one of my favourite Frank Sinatra performances not least because his "Joe" character actually gets to do some crooning. Indeed, it's how this charmer makes his living, along with pianist "Austin" (Eddie Albert) singing in a nightclub. When he gets a better offer though, his boss makes it clear that moving isn't an option. When he defies him, well surgery ensues and a period in the wilderness of New York follows with his friends, including "Austin", unaware of his location. Then a chance encounter sets in train a bit of a reconciliation as he discovers he has a knack for patter that gets the audiences laughing. Gradually, he gets his confidence back and falls in love with "Letty" (Jeanne Crain) and all looks set fair. Success, as they say, is a two-headed beast though and with his fame, celebrity and a wartime entertainment posting, comes an addiction to gambling and to the bottle, too. With a self-destructive path stretching out before him, maybe it's only "Martha" (Mitzi Gaynor), one of his dancers, who can stop his implosion - but that's a very big maybe! Sinatra is at his most natural here, as is Albert, when they are on the stage and those scenes give us a good excuse to listen to the likes of "All the Way" and "I Cried for You" as well as a small dose of cyclorama-shaded Bing Crosby too! The dialogue for the stand up routines is a bit dated now, but still has some natural pith to it, especially when being heckled - "Last time I saw a mouth like that, it had a hook in it!". The story ends quite effectively in a way that nowadays might scream sequel but then just meant that life goes on, and as an observation of the flaws of a man faced with trauma, drama and success Sinatra delivers well whilst eliciting a little sympathy too.

Really good movie based on a true story.

Frank Sinatra plays Joe E Lewis. When the movie opens he's a young, up and coming singer in Chicago. When he leaves one club for a better one, the mob boss owner of the first joint has him beaten and his throat slit. Lewis survives but not his singing voice.

We meet him years later in New York playing the clown at a burlesque show. He rebuilds his career, this time in comedy. But heavy drinking threatens to derail him this time.

Sinatra's acting is excellent. It's hard to play a drunk, the temptation is to overact it. But Ol Blue Eyes nails it. The slight slur, the uneven stance. It's almost like Frank knew a thing or two about drinking. Eddie Albert is great too. He plays Lewis' longtime friend and piano player. And Mitzi Gaynor is just stunning.

Amazing biography of an amazing man. Joe E. Lewis was the quintessential star of the roaring 20's, with apologies to Al Jolson. A great singer who crossed the wrong people and paid for it with a slashed throat. Sinatra's performance is beyond belief. Already noted as a great actor he outdoes himself. It's been heard that FS "walked" through his roles but not here. Shows how much respect he had for Lewis. A great supporting cast ( Eddie Albert, Jeanne Crain, Mitzi Gaynor and Jackie Coogan) help the film but without the "Chairman of the Board" it would have been just another biography. Sinatra's rendition of "All the Way" is not to be missed. Do yourself a favor and see this movie.

This is not one of Frank Sinatra's best films, but his acting in the film is excellent. The rest of the cast also performs well.

But this is not a very entertaining film. Certainly, it is a depressing story about a mean, thankless alcoholic who reliably punished those who dared care about him.

Supposedly it's a biography of Joe E. Lewis, but the degree of accuracy in the script is debatable and questionable, so it loses some of its allure as a "true story". What the viewer is left with is a showcase for some great talents caught in a film about a crime victim who never rose above his self perception as a loser, which is too bad.

Lewis is portrayed as a lush. Sinatra manages to play the various shades of intoxication masking deeper feelings. He has a love/hate relationship with booze that overpowers every other aspect of the film.

The ending is a disappointment, seemingly an attempt to inject real humor combined with a hollow sentiment that resolves nothing.

If only this movie was available on DVD! This movie is good for those people who have had major setbacks in life, and need to start over. It reinforced in me the need to make the best of your situation in life.

Frank played the title role impeccably. I think its a travesty that his performance didn't garner him a best actor nomination. That just shows you how superior the actors of that era were in comparison to the actors of today.

Again, I'm befuddled as to why this movie is not available on DVD. Hopefully, it will be more accessible for viewers who know very little of the acting talents of old blue eyes!

The Joker Is Wild (1957) : Brief Review -

Frank Sinatra's memorable performance in a tragic tale of an emerging singer turned into a burlesque joker. I can tell you five reasons why this film is a must-watch and then find other reasons why this film could have been much better to make it a must-watch. Joe is an emerging singer who gets the big break he's looking for, but his owner isn't nice enough to let him go. His vocal chords are destroyed, and his face is disturbed too, so he can never be a singer. Joe takes a new start away from the place and makes himself a silent joker. His old pals find him, and with the help of the newly found love of his life, Joe makes a career as a burlesque artist. But he has become a heavy drinker, and that leads him away from his friends and partners. He decides to keep distance from his girlfriend because of his medical conditions, but then opts to quit drinking. By the time he makes a decision to marry her, it's too late, and he is ready for another marriage, only to see it fall into pieces. Well, the tragedy works here in the beginning when we see an emerging talent getting slashed, and that scene when Joe makes his first comic act. The problem appears in the conflicts that take place after this. Alcoholism and medical issues couldn't be glorified against a man's willpower, right? This film fails there and cuts you off from the emotional connect forever. Lewis was like that, maybe. So it's about the pain behind the joker's face, alright. But you have to show the joker as a helpless fella, not an arrogant, stupid drinker. Losing a girl can't be as big an issue as losing your talent or life. The last conversation between Joe and his mirror image could have been used intellectually, but they just wanted a soft, happy ending, I guess. Nevertheless, Sinatra makes sure you are entertained. Like Lewis told Sinatra, "You had more fun playing my life than I had living it."

RATING - 7/10*

By - #samthebestest.

This was frank Sinatra's best ever film and performance, but does not seem to get the publicity of some of his other musical films, like pal joey, high society, etc, even in franks biographies there is very little mentioned, also all thru the film, the theme of "chigaco" (which seemed to be joey lewis's theme song,) and yet frank did not sing it in the film, when the single record of "all he way" was released "chicago" was the b side, was it cut because the film was too long? I have read that the fabulous Mitzi Gaynor did a great dance to frank singing "chigaco" does anyone know if this is true, also does anyone know if the full uncut version is out there somewhere.On the film frank gave a solid performance, and I read somewhere that he cast the film, if he did he had immaculate taste.

Probably best remembered for introducing one of Sinatra's best 50's ballads "All The Way", "The Joker Is Wild" is otherwise a fairly run-of-the-mill biopic of what turns out to be a pretty unlikeable guy, singer-comedian Joe E Lewis, who, from what we see here, is a moderately successful headliner on the nightclub-circuit with a predilection for getting drunk, gambling, abusing his friends and treating his women shabbily. Sinatra in real life was a friend and drinking partner of Lewis on whose then recent same-title autobiography the film was based, but after establishing some sympathy at the start for the Chicago-based 30's entertainer when he gets badly beaten up and his throat slashed after crossing a big-time gangster's lieutenant (in reality, said gangster was Al Capone) for switching gigs to a competing night club, Lewis from then on comes across as a morose, selfish, self-destructive type who by the end of the movie, seems to have quite deservedly lost all his friends and supporters.

In the movie, Lewis compensates for the early damage to his singing voice by playing up the withering comedy ad-libs he used to link his songs and some of his jokes and put-downs are quite funny, giving Frank the chance to combine his singing with some deadpan humour but without ever really imbuing his character with any redeeming charm. By the time Lewis has at last admitted his own failings to himself in a corny me-and-my-conscience routine at the end, I found I didn't care whether or not he walked under a bus as he made his way back to the nightclub to perform his next act, a supposedly new man.

Sinatra's fair-to-middling but ultimately unsuccessful characterisation apart, I did like Eddie Albert as his long-suffering accompanist and the vivacious Mitzi Gaynor as the show-girl who inexplicably takes in Lewis on the rebound from his failed romance with rich society girl Lettie, played by Jeanne Crain. "All The Way" apart however, the rest of the songs aren't that great and by the end Lewis's "Chicago That Toddling Town" theme song will irritate you as much as his "It's post time" catch-phrase as he downs yet another drink.

I sense a darker treatment was possible of this material as other Hollywood films of the decade about alcoholism showed, so that in different hands Sinatra might have been stretched more, but maybe old Frank was too close to his still alive chum Lewis to appreciate this and dig deeper. Instead, this glossy, shallow screen biography doesn't play with a full deck and is ultimately trumped by its lack of conviction.