Sinatra came out after retirement, at age 57, to do another of his concerts, this time backed by the wonderful Gordon Jenkins and Dan Costa and with guest star GENE KELLY, at age 61.
Frankie starts off with a standard called YOU WILL BE MY MUSIC before getting into some oldies like I GET NO KICK FROM CHAMPAGNE, STREET OF DREAMS, I'VE GOT YOU UNDER MY SKIN, I'VE GOT THE WORLD ON A STRING and LAST NIGHT WHEN WE WERE YOUNG. His voice is not quite as mellow as it was in the past and he doesn't hold onto the end notes the way he used to, but he's still in good form and the band sounds great. You can spot some celebrities in the audience, including Richard Conte and Lucille Ball.
He talks briefly about films he'd rather forget--like HIGHER AND HIGHER, JOHNNY CONCHO, THE KISSING BANDIT (that one got lots of laughs), and the "one about the cannon"--you know, THE PRIDE AND THE PASSION with Cary Grant and Sophia Loren.
Then comes the best part of the program--his easiness and charm comes through as he greets his guest, GENE KELLY, after clips from "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" and "Anchors Aweigh" are shown. They both start to talk about the old days at MGM and sing a little ditty called "We Can't Do That Any More", but little by little they ease into some dance steps and before you know it, Gene Kelly is doing some good taps (without getting too strenuous) and so is Frank.
Another great moment comes when Frank sings "Nice and Easy Does It" while Gene goes into his dance, up and down steps, but mostly taking it easy. At the end of this number, they both get huge applause.
Frankie ends his show with "Let Me Try Again" and the beautiful ballad, "Send in the Clowns" (which I myself performed publicly a few times).
For the finale, a reprise, this time the complete song of YOU WILL BE MY MUSIC and the show ends.
Summing up: Nice work by Frank and Gene, and especially the skillful and scintillating sounds of that orchestra on all of the music.
