Frank Sinatra outstanding in dramatic musical

"MEET DANNY WILSON" (1952) is one of Frank Sinatra's lesser known films and received poor reviews in most of the Press at the time of its release. My opinion however, is that this was the perfect part for Sinatra and he gave an impressive performance. The songs were superb - "When You're Smiling", "All of Me", "She's Funny that Way", "I've Got a Crush on You", "How Deep is the Ocean", "That Old Black Magic" and others. He put over the songs with immense style and confidence although this was the "shaky" period when his career was in serious decline and "Meet Danny Wilson" was the last film he made before his celebrated "comeback" in "From Here to Eternity" (1953) for which he deservedly won the Best Supporting Actor "Oscar". A fine cast included Raymond Burr (as corrupt club owner and gangster Nick Driscoll), Alex Nicol (as friend/ pianist/manager Mike Ryan) and Shelley Winters (as the love interest Joy Carroll). Winters and Sinatra seemed to work well together and share a duet entitled "A Good Man is Hard to Find"" so it is hard to believe that the two stars did not get on during the filming as has been alleged in some recent biographies. Favourite line: Raymond Burr: "Personally, I'm a Crosby fan". Sinatra: "That should make Bing very happy". "Meet Danny Wilson" is one of Sinatra's more obscure films but worth seeing with an interesting storyline, good performances and those marvellous songs. See it if you get the chance.

Clive "movie buff" Roberts