The Frank Sinatra Controversy
Frank Sinatra was originally cast to play Billy Bigelow. He even pre-recorded the songs he was to sing in the film. But when he arrived on the set, Sinatra discovered that he had to shoot the scenes two times: one for regular Cinemascope and the other for CinemaScope 55. Sinatra, who never liked to do two takes of a scene, walked away from the set and said: "You’re not getting two Sinatras for the price of one". Ironically, just after he left, the producers found a way to film the scene once on 55mm, then transfer it onto 35mm; thus, the film did not have to be shot twice. But on February 14, 1958, Shirley Jones guested on the Frank Sinatra Show and was able to perform "If I Loved You" with him. This performance gives a taste of what could have been if Sinatra had not quit the film, and can be seen on the DVD Sinatra – The Classic Duets. The songs that Sinatra recorded for the original soundtrack were never released to the general public due to contractual issues. "Soliloquy", the song that the character Billy Bigelow sings when he learns that his wife is expecting a child, was one of Sinatra's favorites. He recorded it in the 1940s for Columbia, tried it at Capitol in the 1950s, and recorded it again in the 1960s for Reprise.
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Holly: No!
Sebastian: Oh, a girl may say no, but the woman in her means yes.”
—Fredric M. Frank (1911–1977)
“And now the end is near
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“And therefore, as when there is a controversy in an account, the parties must by their own accord, set up for right Reason, the Reason of some Arbitrator, or Judge, to whose sentence, they will both stand, or their controversy must either come to blows, or be undecided, for want of a right Reason constituted by Nature; so is it also in all debates of what kind soever.”
—Thomas Hobbes (1579–1688)