NOTE:
Sinatra's final films saw
him develop
the role of a gritty, tough-talking Detective role that heakened back
to his early radio character 'Rocky Fortune.' But where his
earlier private eye roles were straightforward adventures, the new
characters were bleak, hard-edged anti-heroes who tackled modern social
problems and prejudices. The violence escalates as well, and
these final films are the darkest, grimmest films he ever made.
Cast
A Giant Shadow (1966)
MGM/UA;
Screenplay by
Melville Shavelson, based on a novel by Ted Berkman; Directed by
Melville Shavelson,
146 min.
Cast: Kirk
Douglas .... Col. David 'Mickey' Marcus
Senta Berger .... Magda Simon
Angie Dickinson .... Emma Marcus
James Donald .... Maj. Safir
Stathis Giallelis .... Ram Oren
Luther Adler .... Jacob Zion
Topol .... Abou Ibn Kader
Ruth White .... Mrs. Chaison
Gordon Jackson .... James MacAfee
Michael Hordern .... British ambassador
Allan Cuthbertson .... Immigration officer
Jeremy Kemp .... British Immigration senior
Sean Barrett .... British Immigration junior
Michael Shillo .... Andre Simon
Rina Ganor .... Rona
Roland Bartrop .... Bert Harrison
Robert Gardett .... Gen. Walsh
Michael Balston .... Sentry #1
Claude Aliotti .... Sentry #2
Samra Dedes .... Belly dancer
Michael Shagrir .... Truck driver
Frank Latimore .... UN officer
Ken Buckle .... UN officer
Rod Dana .... Aide to Gen. Randolph (as Rodd Dana)
Robert Ross .... Aide to Chief of Staff
Arthur Hansel .... Officer
Dan Sturkie .... Parachute sergeant (as Don Sturkie)
Hillel Rave .... Yaakov
Shlomo Hermon .... Yussuf
Frank Sinatra .... Vince Talmadge
Yul Brynner .... Asher Gonen
John Wayne .... Gen. Mike Randolph
REVIEW: Cast
A Giant Shadow, based on Ted
Berkman's biography of Colonel Mickey Marcus, the American soldier
who served as an adviser in the fight to establish the state of Israel
in 1948, thinks it's a bigger movie than it is, but is an
interesting film to watch today, since it portrays the dillema
of an American soldier, Colonel David "Micky" Marcus, played by flinty
Kirk Douglas, who's struggling to decide whether to stay and help the
fledgling country of Israel fight their battles against the Arab
nations, or return home to the United States. Based on true
events (although with a liberal dose of fiction thrown in), it's
fascinating to see the spin that's taken on these events in
1966. The black and white portrayals between the warring
factions are incredibly naive, but for the purposes of this
film, it works. Also on the plus side of this movie are the
extended cameos that pop up, of which Frank is one as the very
funny pilot 'Vince Talmadge' - but other walk-ons include Yul
Brynner and a never-crustier John Wayne as General Mike
Randolph. The rousing score by Elmer Bernstein is a
classic, and the battle scenes continue to amaze, but the film is often
confusing, or slips into a stop-everything rut when
it focuses on Douglas's agonizing over being faithful to his
wife who remains in the U.S., or pursue a heated relationship with sexy
freedom-fighter Senta Berger. What is so surprising about
this film is how the topic still elicits such ferocious
response from Arab/Israeli apologists who want to spin the events their
own way. If you have a clear head, you can watch this film
and enjoy it as it was meant to be enjoyed: as a solid period
film with amazing action sequences, improbable romance, and
more stars than you can shake a stick at.
Assault
On A
Queen (1966)
Paramount
Picttures/Seven Arts Productions/Sinatra Productions;
Screenplay by Rod
Serling, from the novel by Jack Finney;
Directed by Jack
Donohue,
106 min.
Cast:
Frank Sinatra .... Mark Brittain
Virna Lisi .... Rosa Lucchesi
Val Avery .... Trench
Leslie Bradley .... Officer #3
Lawrence Conroy .... Junior officer
Richard Conte .... Tony Moreno
Reginald Denny .... Master-at-Arms
Anthony Franciosa .... Vic Rossiter
Arthur Gould-Porter .... Officer #4
Errol John .... Linc Langley
Alf Kjellin .... Eric Lauffnauer
Ronald Long .... Officer #2
Murray Matheson .... Captain
Lester Matthews .... Doctor
Barbara Morrison
Gilchrist Stuart .... Officer #1
John Warburton .... Bank manager
REVIEW: Considering
the talent that was
behind the concept,
with a knockout book by "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" author Jack
Finney, and the screenplay by Twilight Zone alum
Rod Serling, I would have expected this high-concept film to be a lot
more thrilling than it turned out, something along the lines of Indiana
Jones, but somewhere the transfer from book to film went awry. The idea
is a smash: a motley mix of five men are hired by sexy, shady Italian
entrepreneur Virna Lisi to refubish a World War II submarine, and
become modern-day pirates! Their first target: the super ocean liner
Queen Mary, which they'll hold hostage with the submarine while the
theft takes place. With a setup like that, even I could've penned a
plot that winds up more suspense than this film does. But saddled with
an interminable build up, not unlike the yawn-inducing opening stretch
in Ocean's Eleven, and Sinatra as lead brigand
'Mark Brittain' just walking through the picture with no real
connection to either the character or plot, the interest leaks right
out of the film. By the time the actual attack is set into motion,
which picks things up for a few minutes, the audience could probably
care less. Several veteran character actors get to shine, which helps a
lot, as Richard Conte and Reginald Denny both nicely delineated in
their roles, and the musical score, by Duke Ellington
is nicely jazzy, but still the whole feels flabby, and
could've used some punching up in the first reel. Still, there's enough
entertainment here in the scenery and the supporting cast to make it
worth a look. You also might want to track down the snappy original
novel for an idea of how the film could've played
out. VHS only.
The Naked
Runner (1967)
Artanis
Productions/Warner Brothers;
Screenplay by Stanley Mann, based on the
novel by Francis Clifford;
Directed by Sidney J. Furie,
101 min.
Cast: Frank Sinatra .... Sam
Laker
Peter Vaughan .... Slattery
Derren Nesbitt .... Colonel Hartmann
Nadia Gray .... Karen
Toby Robins .... Ruth
Inger Stratton .... Anna
Cyril Luckham .... Cabinet minister
Edward Fox .... Ritchie Jackson
J.A.B. Dubin-Behrmann .... Joseph
Michael Newport .... Patrick Laker
REVIEW: A
shamefully undervalued
picture, this European
cold-war spy thriller is certainly a change of pace for Sinatra, who
turns in a nicely-tuned performance as industrial designer Sam Laker,
who is in England with his 10-year-old son Patrick. While there he is
contacted by an old World War II buddy Slattery, who is part of the
British Secret Service, and believes that Sam, with his blank dossier
and low profile is the perfect choice to assasinate some escaped
Communist spies. While it's not as sharp a film as say, The
Icarus Agenda, and the editing is choppy (reportedly due to
Frank walking off the set of the film to be with his new bride Mia
Farrow), there is a minimilist leanness to the production that lends
itself to the story, as this ex-GI, who thought his life with a gun was
over, finds himself falling into old patterns in his pursuit of the
Russians. Peter Vaughan is nicely caustic in his featured role as
instigator 'Slattery' and the European settings give the film a cold,
old-world look that feels just right. Unfortunately, due to the
aforementioned difficulties on-set with Frank, some obvious stand-ins
were hired to take Frank's place in a few shots, and the plot can be
baffling due to the sometimes questionable editing choices made by the
producers. Rarely shown on TV, and not yet released on DVD, you might
want to wait before purchasing this title, but if it's available for
rent, give it a try. VHS only.
Tony
Rome (1967)
Twentieth
Century Fox;
Screenplay by Richard L. Breen, from the novel by Marvin
H. Albert;
Directed by Gordon Douglas,
110 min.
Cast: Frank Sinatra ....
Tony Rome
Jill St. John .... Ann Archer
Richard Conte .... Lt. Dave Santini (Miami Beach Police
Dept.)
Gena Rowlands .... Rita Kosterman
Simon Oakland .... Rudolph 'Rudy' Kosterman
Jeffrey Lynn .... Adam Boyd
Lloyd Bochner .... Vic Rood (drug pusher)
Robert J. Wilke .... Ralph Turpin (hotel house detective)
Virginia Vincent .... Sally Bullock
Joan Shawlee .... Fat Candy
Richard Krisher .... Donald Pines
Lloyd Gough .... Jules Langley (thug)
Babe Hart .... Oscar (thug)
Elisabeth Fraser .... Irma
Rocky Graziano .... Packy (necktie vendor outside restaurant)
Shecky Greene .... Catleg, a.k.a. John Fields
Jeanne Cooper .... Lorna Boyd
Harry Davis .... Ruyter (Dutch jeweler)
Stanley Ross .... Sam Boyd
Sue Lyon .... Diana Pines
REVIEW:
A
great little
detective role for Frank, which he
would reprise in 1968's Lady In Cement, Tony
Rome has Frank cast as the title character who is a private
dick in Miami. He lives and works from a houseboat, and when his former
partner Ralph Turpin (who's now a hotel detective) shows up, the case
he's given turns out to be much more personal than he would have
guessed. What starts out to be a kidnapping, turns into a showcase for
several characters pulled right out of the gutter, and mix in a
cocktail of blackmail, jewel robbery, forgery, and murder. Frank brings
his old Rat Pack ethos to the character, making Tony a hard-talking,
tough-nosed man who, in the best From Here To Eternity
tradition, get the daylights beat out of him several times over the
course of the film. At first Tony is baffled by the escalation of
violence involved in the case, but when his friend is murdered, Tony
gets personal, enlisting the help of divorcee Jill St. John.. Frank of
course has a history of playing detectives from his earliest radio days
when he took the role of 'Rocky Fortune', but Tony Rome is far
grittier, the humor more oddball, and the violence here is several
notches up from earlier films. It's an enjoyable diversion and a
memorable role for Frank.
The
Detective (1968)
Twentieth Century Fox;
Screenplay by Abby Mann, from the novel by
Roderick Thorp;
Directed by Gordon Douglas,
114 min.
Cast:
Frank Sinatra ....
Det. Joe Leland
Lee Remick .... Karen Leland
Ralph Meeker .... Curran
Jack Klugman .... Dave Schoenstein
Horace McMahon .... Capt. Tom Farrell
Lloyd Bochner .... Dr. Wendell Roberts
William Windom .... Colin MacIver
Tony Musante .... Felix Tesla
Al Freeman Jr. .... Robbie Loughlin
Robert Duvall .... Nestor
Pat Henry .... Mercidis
Patrick McVey .... Tanner
Dixie Marquis .... Carol Linjack
Sugar Ray Robinson .... Kelly
Renée Taylor .... Rachael Schoenstein
James Inman .... Teddy Leikman
Tom Atkins .... Harmon
Jacqueline Bisset .... Norma MacIver
REVIEW:
The
Detective, much like Tony Rome, takes
an ever-grittier look at modern life in this seedy mystery involving
the murder of the homosexual son of a wealthy department-store magnate.
Sinatra plays Detective Joe Leland, who, with his partner Robbie
Loughlin (a steady Al Freeman), investigate the crime and soon
arrest the murdered man's ex-roomate Tony Musante (playing the
psychotic 'Felix Tesla'), the trial is a success, Felix is exectued,
and Sinatra's character is promoted. But not long after, Jacueline
Bisset, playing the widow of a rich accountant whom she believes was
murdered at a racetrack hires Joe to investigate, but when Joe seeks
information, he's blocked by the police. When he pushes back, an
attempt is made on his life, and he discovers that there may be more to
this case, and the one that preceded it, than meets the eye, involving
cheating spouses, and a corrupt land deal. During all this, Joe also
has to deal with his hot-and-bothered wife, played with sultry abandon
by Lee Remick, and who serves no purpose other than to bring young
teenage boys into the theater, as well as dive into the dark and hidden
world of homosexuality in the late 60s. The subject matter is treated
with typical Hollywood sterotypes, with dark nightclubs and lots of
disparaging comments by Sinatra's character about "queers". Jack
Klugman makes an apearance as a family man who's on Sinatra's team, and
look also for appearances by Robert Duvall and "Sugar Ray" Robinson.
While this film has interest for it's decidedly dated point-of-view and
subject matter, its bleak, relentlessly off-putting mood and unblinking
subject matter will be hard for many to swallow.
Lady In
Cement (1968)
Twentieth Century Fox;
Screenplay by Marvin H. Albert and Jack
Guss, based on the novel by Marvin H. Albert; Directed by
Gordon Douglas,
93 min.
Cast: Frank Sinatra ....
Tony Rome
Raquel Welch .... Kit Forrest
Richard Conte .... Lt. Dave Santini
Martin Gabel .... Al Munger
Lainie Kazan .... Maria Baretto
Pat Henry .... Rubin
Steve Peck .... Paul Mungar
Virginia Wood .... Audrey
Richard Deacon .... Arnie Sherwin
Frank Raiter .... Danny Yale
Peter Hock .... Frenchy
Alex Stevens .... Shev
Christine Todd .... Sandra Lomax
Mac Robbins .... Sidney the organizer
Tommy Uhlar .... The Kid, Tighe Santini
Rey Baumel .... Paco
Pauly Dash .... MaComb
Andrew Jarrell .... Pool Boy
Dan Blocker .... Waldo Gronsky
REVIEW: Sinatra's
second and final Tony Rome picture is a step down from the
first, with Sinatra seemingly less involved in the role, and the
R-rated elements increased. More of a whodunnit than the
first film, the caper involves Tony coming upon a murder
victim encased in cement while scuba diving. Hired by Gronsky
(in a marvellous performance by Dan Blocker) to find out if
the body is of his missing girlfriend, he discovers that the
girl was at a party earlier, and begins to interview different
party-goes, including hot socialite 'Kit Forest' (played by
the oh-so-lovely Raquel Welch), and her neighbor, former racketeer Al
Munger, who threatens Tony to stay away from Kit. Tony begins
to suspect that there's more to the murder than meets the eye,
especially when Gronsky reveals that he and Al's son have been skimming
money from Al's accounts. While the first Tony Rome picture
had a odd sense of fun to it, this film, perhaps due to the intricate,
winding plot, has less, and suffers because of it. Frank has always had
a gift for throw-away one-liners, always delivered with smirk or a
wink, but here, he just seems to throw them away, making Tony less of a
character this time around, and more of a cut-out. These
hard-edged detective films by Frank are not my favorite in his ouvre,
but for those who like bleak mystery/action flicks, you might want to
check this out.
Dirty
Dingus
Magee (1970)
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer;
Screenplay by Tom Waldman,
Frank Waldman, and Joseph Heller, based on "The Ballad Of
Dingus Magee" by David Markson;
Directed by Burt Kennedy,&
91
min.
Cast:
Frank Sinatra .... Dingus Billy Magee
George Kennedy .... Herkimer 'Hoke' Birdsill
Anne Jackson .... Belle Nops (mayor of Yerkey's Hole)
Lois Nettleton .... Prudence Frost (schoolteacher)
Jack Elam .... John Wesley Hardin
Michele Carey .... Anna Hot Water
John Dehner .... Brig. Gen. George
Henry Jones .... Rev. Green
Harry Carey Jr. .... Charles Stuart
Paul Fix .... Crazy Blanket (Anna's father)
Marya Christen .... China Poppy (Belle's maid)
Terry Wilson .... Sergeant
Willis Bouchey .... Ira Teasdale
Tom Fadden .... Trooper
REVIEW: Sinatra's last feature film for
a decade, Dirty
Dingus Magee was orignally planned to have a
nineteen-year-old actor in the title role, but was rewritten when the
55-year-old Sinatra took the part. So what does
Frank do is this picture? He plays a theiving, wenching,
ne'er-do-well charmer who has the power to awaken the feelings of a
sexually-repressed schoolmarm (Louis Nettleton), drive Indian
maidens wild with passion (Michele Carey) and start a war between the
army and some local indians! On the way he robs
'Hoke' Birdsill (played by the always-reliable George Kennedy), a
stagecoach (which leads to a series of comic
scenes where Frank repeately fails to break oven the coach's
strongbox), and riles the Mayor (played by Anne Jackson)
who's afraid that all these whoop-ups will harm her profitable
side-business of running the town brothel. Essentially, what
we have here is a ninety-minute film of what appears to be Frank
finally having a mid-life crisis. If you can sit through this
cheap excuse for loads of curse words and sexual innuendo, you
have more stamina than I do. The humor is scattershot and
broad, the acting is as subtle as an avalanche, and Sinatra is simply
too old to be playing this part. (Sorry, Frank).
Add to that the denigrating attitudes towards women, Native
Americans, and anyone else that's in this film's sights, and
you have a truly low point in the careers of Sinatra,
and writer Joseph Heller (who also penned Catch 22
- go figure!) VHS only.
Contract On Cherry
Street (TV) (1977)
Artanis
Productions/Columbia Pictures Television;
Screenplay by Edward Anhalt,
based on the novel by Philip Rosenberg;
Directed by William A Graham,
145 min.
Cast:
Frank Sinatra .... Dep. Insp. Frank Hovannes, Organized Crime
Unit (OCU)
Martin Balsam .... Capt. Ernie Weinberg, OCU
Jay Black .... Tommy Sindardos, Greek Highjacker
Verna Bloom .... Emily Hovannes
Joe De Santis .... Vincenzo Seruto, Crime Lord
Martin Gabel .... Baruch 'Bob' Waldman, Crime Boss
Harry Guardino .... Ron Polito, OCU
James Luisi .... Al Palmini/Arnold Palmer
Michael Nouri .... Lou Savage, OCU
Marco St. John .... Eddie Manzaro, Crime Boss/Son of
Salvatore Manzaro
Henry Silva .... Roberto Obregon, OCU
Richard Ward .... Jack Kittens, Police informant who works
for Waldman
Addison Powell .... Bob Halloran, Head Of OCU
Steve Inwood .... Fran Marks, Junkie Stoolie
Johnny Barnes .... Otis Washington, Manzaro's Enforcer
REVIEW: After a seven year
break from acting, Sinatra, then
62 years old, chose to play the part of Deputy Inspector Frank Hovannes
in a television movie - his first ever - and had his
company team with Columbia Television to produce it. Contract
On Cherry Street (also known as Stakeout On
Cherry Street), is similar to other cop
shows that were popular during the 70's, such as Kojak,
and the film Serpico, which dealt with
policemen who are apart from the mainstream, often breaking the rules
to take matters into their own hands. Frank's character
is shattered when his best friend and partner is
brutally murdered by members of New York's mafia. Frustrated
by what he perceives as the slow wheels of justice, Frank forms a
shadow task force that takes on the mob by planning a
calculated 'hit' on known mobster in the hopes of starting a
gang war and wiping out the major crime factions (led by
Martin Gabel, Joe De Santis, and Marco St. John). Members of
this fringe team include Harry Guardino as the bitter, enraged
vengeance-seeker, Michael Nouri as the new kid on the force who's not
sure what he's getting into, and Henry Silva as the voice of conscience
and reason. Even for 1977, this film reeks with violence,
with Frank casually brutalizing suspects, and pushing the envelope of
television standards. The script, which ping-pongs
between portraying the mob in true The
Godfather fashion, and showing the police force as generally
ineffectual, is OK for it's purpose, but doesn't dig beneath the
surface of the characters, as each one sticks with the stock options
they're written with. Occasionally shown on cable
TV, you'll want to keep your eyes peeled for this rarity. UPDATE: Sony has made this available on a manufactured on demand DVD.
The First Deadly
Sin (1980)
Artanis
Productions/Cinema VII;
Screenplay
by Mann Ruben, based on the novel by Lawrence Sanders;
Directed by
Brian G. Hutton,
112 min.
Cast:
Frank Sinatra ....
Edward Delaney
Faye Dunaway .... Barbara Delaney
David Dukes .... Daniel Blank
George Coe .... Dr. Bernardi
Brenda Vaccaro .... Monica Gilbert
Martin Gabel .... Christopher Langley
Anthony Zerbe .... Captain Broughton
James Whitmore .... Dr. Sanford Ferguson
Joe Spinell .... Charles Lipsky
Anna Navarro .... Sunny Jordeen
Jeffrey DeMunn .... Sergeant Fernandez Correlli
John Devaney .... John Rogers
Robert Weil .... Sol Appel
Hugh Hurd .... Ben Johnson
Jon DeVries .... Calvin Samtell
REVIEW: Sinatra's final
dramatic film, made 39 years after Las
Vegas Nights, is a fine, character driven thriller which
pits policeman Edward Delaney against a cunning psychopath who's main
modus operandi is murdering people with an icepick. Against this
horrific tableau Delaney also struggles against the deteriorating
condition of his dying wife, played with all-too-brief screen time by
the wonderful Faye Dunaway. The film unwinds slowly, with Delaney
having to piece together the clues his quarry leaves for him, and
having to try and convince his superiors that the killer will strike
again, while at the same time loathe to leave his wife's hospital
bedside; in the original novel, the characters are fleshed out much
more, with Barbara Delaney becoming Edward's sounding board, confidant,
and only friend, but in the film, these intimate moments are pared back
to the bare minimum, which is a shame, since their dramatic weight is
what gives the film its heart. Frank especially is in fine form here,
with his scenes a triumph of barely-contained grief. The scene where he
verbally tears into his wife's physician (George Coe), is a brilliant
piece of acting, where Frank allows his character's flood of emotions
burst thorugh. David Dukes is also suitably chilling as the deranged
killer whose horrific motives are revealed at the very end, and James
Whitmore is good as the ascerbic coroner who backs Sinatra's beliefs
about a serial killer. Unfortunately, the film settles for shock value
over compelling drama, and the film as a whole suffers for it. But
still, this film is historically interesting as Sinatra's last leading
role in a feature film.
Cannonball
Run II (1984)
Arcafin
B.V/Golden Harvest Company
Ltd./Warner Brothers;
Screenplay by
Harvey Miller, Hal Needham, Albert S. Ruddy and Brock Yates;
Directed
by Hal Needham,
96 min.
Cast: Burt Reynolds ....
J.J. McClure
Dom DeLuise .... Victor Prinzim/Captain Chaos/Don Canneloni
Dean Martin .... Jamie Blake
Sammy Davis Jr. .... Morris Fenderbaum
Jamie Farr .... The Sheik
Telly Savalas .... Hymie Kaplan
Marilu Henner .... Betty
Shirley MacLaine .... Veronica
Susan Anton .... Jill, Lamborghini Babe
Catherine Bach .... Marcie, Lamborghini Babe
Foster Brooks .... Fisherman
Sid Caesar .... Fisherman
Jackie Chan .... Jackie Chan, Mitsubishi Engineer
Tim Conway .... CHP Officer
Tony Danza .... Terry
Jack Elam .... Doctor Nikolas Van Helsing
Michael V. Gazzo .... Sonny
Richard Kiel .... Arnold, Mitsubishi Driver
Don Knotts .... CHP Officer
Ricardo Montalban .... King
Jim Nabors .... Pvt. Homer Lyle
Louis Nye .... Fisherman
Molly Picon .... Mrs. Goldfarb
Charles Nelson Reilly .... Don Don Canneloni
Alex Rocco .... Tony
Henry Silva .... Slim
Frank Sinatra .... Frank Sinatra
Joe Theismann .... Mack
Mel Tillis .... Mel
Shawn Weatherly .... Blake's Girl in Bed
Abe Vigoda .... Caesar
Dale Ishimoto .... Japanese Businessman
Arte Johnson .... Pilot
Chris Lemmon .... Young CHP Officer
George Lindsey .... Uncle Cal
Doug McClure .... The Slapper
Jilly Rizzo .... Jilly
Dub Taylor .... Sheriff
REVIEW: Frank's final
on-screen appearance is nothing more
than another face in the flood of high-profile cameos which are the
only reason for this film to exist. How the first film in the Cannonball
series succeeded and spawned numerous sequels (and spurred the creation
of other brainless car chase shows like The Dukes Of Hazzard)
is one of the great mysteries of the Twentieth Century. In that sense,
this film hearkens back to other Frank films like Till The
Clouds Roll By, which was nothing more than an excuse to
parade name stars on the silver screen. But back then there was real
talent to be shown - this film has such 'stars' as Arte Johnson,
Charles Nelson Reilly, Jamie Farr, and Dom Deluise. What made so many
members of the Rat Pack agree to appear in the otherwise wasted excuse
for film? Who knows, but Frank appears as himself for the first time
since the previously mentioned 1946 film, and everyone appears to be
having a grand time, at the expense of the audience. In that sense,
this may be the ultimate Rat Pack film - a lot of friends getting
together to have some drinks and act silly in front of a crowd. Of
course, out of sheer curiousity, how can you pass up a chance to see
the Rat Pack together in the same film for the very last time? Or to
marvel at how far the mighty have fallen. Not the film I would have
chosen to be Frank's last, but it's what it is, and revels in its own
stupidity, which I suppose is a kind of charm.
