Sinatra--Hollywood His Way

Starred review from September 15, 2010

In 2008, Tom Santopietro published Sinatra in Hollywood, a fantastic, extensively researched study of Sinatra's work in film. Film critic Knight's new book is like a visual counterpart to that, both in quality and in quantity. Offering hundreds of photographs and a more fan-based approach, this coffee-table book is filled with quotations, snippets from reviews, and trivia, and it features a lighter tone overall. This is not a criticism but a commendation for blending behind-the-scenes details with classic images to add to the experience of looking back at Sinatra's films. The volume's greatest asset--aside from the copious photographs--is Knight's coverage of almost all of Sinatra's 59 films in equal measure, creating a true compendium of his movie career; the commentary on and five pictures of Sinatra in what is probably his most forgettable film, The Kissing Bandit, are alone worth the purchase price. VERDICT This highly enjoyable, well-written visual treat belongs in any library and in the hands of all fans of Frank Sinatra.--Peter Thornell, Hingham P.L., MA

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