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By Jerry Pearce

Frank Sinatra may have been one of the preeminent vocalists of the 20th Century, but it’s fair to say that his talents didn’t extend solely to the act of holding a microphone. Indeed, some have claimed that Sinatra was an even better actor then a singer, and if we overlook his vast recorded catalog, it’s quite obvious that Sinatra’s greatest advocation next to stretching his vocal cords was his performance ability in front of a motion picture camera.

From his first speaking role as himself in the RKO production of “Higher and Higher” in the 1940s all the way to his brief cameo in the 1995 CBS television film “Young at Heart,” based around a song of his, it’s hard to disagree that Sinatra had real presence on the theater screen, amplified by a body of movie work that rivals his recorded music and serves as ample proof that the singer belongs in that rare yet moderate category of 20th Century performers that had excelled both at musical and dramatic work, a talented group of individuals that includes Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Judy Garland, and so on.