He is. And the whole show is a ... just too much.

My pleasure!

Interviewed Shirley Jones in the Seventies. A great talent and a lovely, confident person. Spent a week or so on that cruise where I also interviewed David Cassidy.

told he would need to do two different takes Sinatra walked saying "i was hired to make one movie not two".

@@jadezee6316 Shirley Jones, Sinatra’s co-star has a different take on it. She says, she was there, and Sinatra used this excuse to get out of the film to chase down his ex-wife Ava...He thought they could make it work, it did, but for a short time before their hot heads started fighting again...

Stunning. Sinatra is a genius. The way BB should be played and sung.

@@jadezee6316 that was his save face cover story - he knew he wasn't talented enough to take on the role. There is no possibility that everyone involved didn't know the movie was being filmed in both Cinemascope 55 and a more conventional medium. It was done the same way for Oklahoma but using Todd AO and CinemaScope 35. No surprises, just a balding, insecure little man in a fedora.

@@sandrashevey8252 your sarcasm is delicious!!

Of course, I'm glad you enjoyed!

Fine soundtrack recording but lousy film. It works better on stage, just like “Kismet”.

A very good point. @@davidallen508

"gave up" = chickened out _after_ having recorded the soundtrack ... he knew he couldn't pull off such a complex role

I'm a massive Sinatra fan but I think Macrae was superb in the film.

@@Marcel_Audubon : Sinatra was a more than capable actor, with two Oscar-nominations (winning one) to his name. He played all kinds of characters, from assassins to war veterans to gigolos to detectives. And he did them well. So, I don't believe that he was afraid of being able to deliver. Either he really was just hasty about the filming process in this case, or maybe Shirley Jones's explanation could be true. But I don't think anyone seriously thinks he could not act the role.

Another version of the story says that Frank didn’t want to spend a summer in Maine. Still, I’m more inclined to go with the one about how much he was getting paid. Too bad either way. The part was perfect for him. Listen to him sing the Soliloquy on “The Concert Sinatra”, and it becomes obvious that he could have easily done the part.

For reference, see Fritz Lang's 1934 French-language movie of Molnar's "Liliom" - basis for "Carousel" - with Charles Boyer.

@@stevenl8054 I will. I love film history...and Charles Boyer!

Don't believe Sinatra's feeble cover story. Oklahoma scenes were all shot twice - all todd AO movies were done that way, it was known by _everyone_ in the industry because so few theaters had screens wide enough to show Todd AO versions. Sinatra just used it as a weak excuse to back out. I can't think of anyone LESS like Billy Bigalow than scawny, balding, middle aged Frank Sinatra - what were they thinking in the first place? No one's gonna believe a Billy Bigelow with a combover!!

Sinatra was well-known for not liking to do more than one take, feeling that he was freshest on his first. Whether that was the whole story, or even the real one, it did fit his viewpoint on filming multiple takes.

Who cares what he's sitting on.

I am the baby in the Come Blow Your Horn number.

how is a balding, scrawny, middle aged man with a combover the "ideal" Billy Bigelow?? Hw was about 20 years too late for the role and he knew it.

@@Marcel_Audubon Bigelow as a raunchy character. Sinatra could have pulled it off. Besides he could deliver a song like noon else. Both Raitt and MacRae stink so far as I`m concerned..too pretty, too polished!

@@sandrashevey8252 no denying that Sinatra was a raunchy mafia wannabe, you're right about that,, but it takes acting chops to pull off Billy Bigelow and Sinatra didn't have 'em - he always played himself. Plus, do you really think a 95 lb., middle aged carousel barker with a combover would turn the heads of all the girls in the county?? I don't

@@Marcel_Audubon My G-d. Sinatra won a Best Supporting Oscar for `From Here to Eternity`. He is a classic actor. Can`t say as much for other Mafia wannabes. Great in dramatic roles, great in musical comedy roles. Lillian Burns Sidney, who hired him at MGM, when she was in a role of complete power, is hardly ever wrong. She wanted Dean Martin when he was starting out. So was she though so she did not get her way. Martin proved himself a tremendous actor as does Sinatra. You`re wrong here. Sorry!!!! Frank is also a better chat show host than Carson whom he replaced a couple of times. Sinatra has a natural ebullience and affection. I met him once at the AFI Lifetime Achievement Award show: Orson Welles. He looked like the Moon. All lit up. A friend of mine, a publicist, dated him. NOT a good lover!

@@sandrashevey8252 have you gone off your medication for the holidays? coz that's how you present yourself

Wahhhhhhh! I don't like Frankie! Wahhhhhhhhh!!

@@michaell9356 you don't? no need to cry about it - most people don't like lounge lizards