When Frankie Went to Hollywood: Frank Sinatra and American Male Identity

by Karen McNally

Overview

This first in-depth study of Frank Sinatra’s film career explores his iconic status in relation to his many performances in postwar Hollywood cinema. When Frankie Went to Hollywood considers how Sinatra’s musical acts, television appearances, and public commentary impacted his screen performances in Pal Joey, The Tender Trap, Some Came Running, The Man with the Golden Arm, and other hits. A lively discussion of sexuality, class, race, ethnicity, and male vulnerability in postwar American culture illuminates Karen McNally’s investigation into Sinatra’s cinematic roles and public persona. This entertainment luminary, she finds, was central in shaping debates surrounding definitions of American male identity in the 1940s and ’50s.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780252075421
Publisher:	University of Illinois Press
Publication date:	03/06/2008
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	248
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Karen McNally is the Course Leader for Film Studies at London Metropolitan University.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments     vii
Introduction: Meet Frank Sinatra     1
The Postwar Success Story and Working-Class Alienation     13
Ethnic Stereotyping and Italian American Cultural Identity     43
Anticommunist Witch Hunts and Civil Rights     66
Vulnerable Masculinity and Damaged Veterans     90
Male Performance and Swingin' Bachelors     133
Conclusion: Chairman of the Board     171
Notes     185
Bibliography     207
Frank Sinatra Filmography     222
Index     225

Editorial Reviews

"McNally's study . . . has an unexpected share of gossip and biographical surprises. . . . An exploration of Sinatra's forthright ethnicity, his strident championing of civil rights and his sexual objectification."—Times Literary Supplement

"A valuable addition to masculinity studies and Sinatra scholarship. Highly recommended."—Choice

"[McNally] provides meaning and recognition to Sinatra's films, a very important part of his career and his life. Her book is well worth reading."—Film International

“A provocative work. . . . McNally’s illumination of the importance of Sinatra and his image to understanding male identity in postwar America will force readers to reexamine simplistic definitions of manhood from the period as well as the cultural significance of the Chairman of the Board.”—Journal of American History

From the Publisher