Frank Sinatra: The Man and His Music

Even at its budget price, this DVD is the definition of mixed blessing. The Judy Garland TV broadcast that makes up the first half of the double feature offers many entertaining moments split between and shared by Garland and guest stars Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. Two transcendent solo performances--Garland's "The Man That Got Away" and Sinatra's "I See Your Face Before Me"--make the disc a good buy, at least for those who don't mind the garish colorization. Were Sinatra's eyes ever this blue? That, and the attempted disguise of the Garland hour as Sinatra's own, are hardly where the shoddiness stops. Filling out the disc is a mind-bogglingly, ill-conceived, would-be documentary, The Man and His Music (not to be confused with Sinatra's series of A Man and His Music TV specials). Low-quality copies of early movie trailers and random concert footage--sans sound--fill most of it, augmented by poorly written narration and, despite the title, very little music. Snippets of vintage TV appearances supply some cute material, making the piece watchable for about five of its 50 minutes. Otherwise, this cheap, badly organized biography offers little for even the most rabid Sinatra admirer. --Rickey Wright

Frank Sinatra: The Man and His Music