This month I had the pleasure of visiting Palm Springs, and of watching the recently released documentary on Frank Sinatra’s life in Palm Springs, and I must say that the film paints an accurate portrait of the beautiful desert oasis. One of the narrators of the film describes a Palm Springs neighborhood looking exactly the same as it did in the 1960’s, which I also found to be true as I explored some of the houses during my visit, and felt as if I had stepped out of a time machine into a crisp, clean desert paradise.
You get a real feel of the Palm Springs restaurants that Sinatra frequented in this film, as well as of the Racquet Club that served as a playground for the stars. Sinatra in Palm Springs also features a slew of interviews with some of the people that were close to him during his 50 years in Palm Springs, including his wife, Barbara Sinatra, Melvyn’s Restaurant owner Mel Haber, actor Tom Dreesen, Desert Sun reporter Bruce Fessier, singer Trini Lopez, Palm Springs socialite Nelda Linsk, and Michael Fletcher of the Lord Fletcher Inn restaurant. It also showcases classic movie clips that were filmed in Palm Springs.
Leo Zahn’s Sinatra in Palm Springs not only provides a close look at Sinatra’s life, including his marriages to Ava Gardner, Mia Farrow, and Barbara Marx, but the film also offers views of some of the incredible architecture and personality of Palm Springs. The film was released by Mirage Films, and premiered at Modernism Week Palm Springs last year; it is now available for streaming at the movie site and on Amazon.
