Synopsis
Eighteen duets, many never seen since their original broadcast. Here is Sinatra along withsuch luminaries as Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee, Louis Armstrong, Ethel Merman, Bing Crosby,Dean Martin, Elvis Presley, and so on, and so on. In between each song are laudatory commentsby Sinatra’s children Nancy, Tina and Frank Jr.
Audio
The sound is mono, which is to be expected: these are recordings from the late 50’s-early60’s. Don’t expect miracles here — t…e age and condition of the source materials must be borne inmind. Still, the sound is quite clean and sounds pretty good once allowances are made. There is aminimal amount of static.
Video
Even moreso than with the sound, the picture is variable, and again, this is due to the sourcematerial, rather than to the transfer. Many of these performances would have been recorded onmedia far more perishable than film. At any rate, the picture quality on some is quite strong, andon others there is a lot of grain and print damage of one form or another. All the duets arewatchable, just don’t expect pristine images.
Special Features
The extras allow you to take apart the 63 minute feature: you can watch it without the intros,or you can watch the individual introductions (most are just seconds long). A trivia track is moreinformative, with subtitles indicating when each performance was first broadcast, who wrote thesong and when, and so forth. There is also an original TV promo, and the Dinah Shore medley incolour. The menu is basic.
Closing Thoughts
Don’t approach this expecting pristine pictures and gorgeous sound. Think of the disc insteadas a historical document, and you’ll get a lot more enjoyment out of it.
Special Features List
- Introductions
- Duets Only Viewing Option
- Trivia Track
- Original TV Network Promo
- Dinah Shore Medley in Colour
