STUDIO: Warner Brothers
RELEASE DATE: May 13, 2008
STARRING: Frank Sinatra
WRITTEN BY: Various
DIRECTED BY: Various
FEATURES: Various

It's hard to believe that it's been ten years since "The Chairman of the Board" said his final goodnight and sang "My Way" for the last time. Frank Sinatra passed away a decade ago and to mark the occasion, Warner Brothers is releasing four box sets worth of films, many of which have never before been available, along with a Golden Globe-winning mini-series about one of the most influential musicians of all time. Sinatra's music is undeniably a part of the pop culture landscape, but just looking at the themes behind each of the four DVD sets makes clear how much of his movie career has been underappreciated. He was a major actor for decades, appearing in all kinds of films from landmark musicals like On the Town to the hip-defining Rat Pack films and everything in between. Sinatra's "biggest" films as an actor - From Here to Eternity, for which he won the Oscar, and The Manchurian Candidate, which was referenced as recently as last week in the campaign to be the next President - aren't included in the set but those are the few exceptions. Really, any one of the four sets released this week gives you a great glimpse at how talented this man truly was as an actor and the entire collection displays a versatility that often goes underrated. Don't just buy one. If you can afford it, get 'em all.

Chronologically, the first set would be Frank Sinatra: The Early Years, a five-movie collection of movies so unheralded that none of them have been available on DVD before. The box includes Frank's first real role in 1943's Higher and Higher, filmed when the actor was still in his mid-20s. The next year's Step Lively is also included, along with 1947's It Happened in Brooklyn, 1948's The Kissing Bandit, and 1951's Double Dynamite. A set from around the same time of Sinatra's career is the great The Frank Sinatra & Gene Kelly Collection, a personal favorite of mine as 1949's On the Town was one of my favorite musicals as a kid and the three-disc box includes the classic flick along with 1945's Anchors Aweigh, one of Frank's first musicals, and 1949's Take Me Out to the Ballgame.

The box set that will probably be the most popular this Father's Day will be The Golden Years, another great collection from the prime of Sinatra's acting career and another five flicks that are all new to DVD, even the Oscar-nominated The Man With the Golden Arm. The flick that almost won a second Oscar for Sinatra is next to 1955's The Tender Trap, 1958's Some Came Running, and 1965's None But the Brave and Marriage on the Rocks. While Golden Arm is a must-have, this is the set that might provoke the most raised eyebrows as the "golden years" for most Sinatra fans would have to include The Manchurian Candidate and From Here to Eternity, along with some probable other personal faves from this era under that header. For example, I'd take The List of Adrian Messenger over Marriage on the Rocks any day. It's hard to quibble with five new Sinatra movies on DVD and don't consider this a knock, but if you use the word "Golden", it's going to cause a disagreement. Pick it up and decide for yourself.

The final two releases in the Frank Sinatra Collection are The Rat Pack: Ultimate Collector's Edition box set and the two-disc release of Sinatra: The Mini-Series. The former includes Ocean's 11, Sergeants 3 (which was never before on DVD), 4 For Texas, and the great Robin and the 7 Hoods. Warner Brothers was only able to send some of the DVDs in this massive collection and this has to be the set we most regret not getting. It's the definition of cool. Finally, Sinatra was nominated for a stunning 9 Emmys and won the Golden Globe for Best Mini-Series in 1993. The film stars Phillip Casnoff as Sinatra, along with Olympia Dukakis, Gina Gershon, and Marcia Gay Harden.

For more information on the Frank Sinatra DVDs dominating new release sections this week, check out the official site.