the kids love him the rappers by one of my favorite girls they call him OG Original Gangster she gets [Applause] hungry loves the theater Frank Arch was unbelievably glamorous he's the most glamorous person he just is this this entity that defines what glamorous really is that's why anyone else he was the gangster he was the The Rock and roller he was the the the [Music] punk he sang heartbreak and you knew that heartbreak was for real will not dish the dirt Frank Sinatra was the essence of cool well he's one of the greatest singers that ever lived nobody will ever top him he'll always be there and then he begin to sing and it was magic time magic absolutely he was one of the very few singers who sang without a Mass defiant glamorous violent the man invented pop music he was the first pop Idol the first to trigger Mass hysteria these thousands of screaming girls the sound was awesome and frightening of and it was inh human almost the music is he was a rock and roller before rock and roll one night he got so piss we were staying up at a 12th floor of the fountain blue went out on the Terrace and we threw all the furniture on the beach at 12 midnight it was his world and we only lived in itde andek I [Music] toce he sham like no other star no one else had the same Mighty hold on the Public's imagination this was Frank anop everybody in the world knew him he was the American dream glamorous powerful rich and [Music] free this guy was an icon of American culture I he was you know you seduced women to his [Music] music but Frank Sinatra had another side too a side that for decades he tried to hide from the Press according to our research his career was partly made by the mafia in the middle of the picture is Frank Sinatra well it was obvious that's exactly what Sinatra wanted to be Sinatra wanted to be a gangster and that's the dark side the very dark side this is the story of a man of many contradictions take it easy an idealist who admired gangsters I think he was the publicity Department for the mob till now the full extent of Sinatra's mob ties has never been revealed it was our guy yeah it was our guy the mafia held Hollywood in its grip I think Frank realized power is it in Hollywood and in those days the mafia was powerful When anybody can get you killed they're powerful and they could get you killed that fast Sinatra seemed blind to their violence I was wondered if if Frank it it was as if he had two separate Hearts one to pump the warm blood and one to pump the cold blood no comment he was close to gangsters no comment they seek us out and uh uh to I'm not being frivolous about it but they're kind of Star Struck he was close to politicians too through Sinatra the mafia wanted a connection to Jack Kennedy and when he failed his mission you you know that was brutal in a hotel in Miami the mob sent him a warning by room service the severed head of an animal which is a mafia symbol for death the mafia connection began years earlier flanked by gangsters Sinatra slipped into Cuba he went to see a man believed to have committed 20 murders a well-mannered sadist lucky luchano was head of the American Mafia and Frank Sinatra was his friend he was not a victim of the mob uh he was a participant the mafia helped create Sinatra his career his fortune rose with that with that help the story of Sinatra and luchano began in a small town in Sicily Sinatra claimed that his family came from Sicily's barmy East Coast or from agento on the other side of the island it wasn't true in the hills of Northwest Sicily not 15 mil apart are three small towns koni made famous by The Godfather pritzy as in PR's honor and Lara fridi together they comprise the mafia's Heartland dirt poor Lara was known for only one thing being the birthplace of lucky [Music] luchiano as we now know Sinatra's family came from here too evidence we uncovered in the United States as well as in churches in Sicily and the work of a professional genealogist established that Sinatra's family came from the same small village in Sicily as lucky luchano lano's family and Sinatra's family lived on the same small street at the same time they were buried in the same churchyard they were baptized in the same church in the same font yet Sinatra always blurred his family's Origins almost certainly he did so deliberately to obscure the fact that his family had come from the same Village in Sicily as lucky luchano separately the Lanos and the sinatras arrived in America the Lanos made for Manhattan the sinatras for New Jersey across the Hudson River Hoboken wasn't exactly glamorous but nor was it the worst place to wind up in America immigrants fought for control of the peers where ships unloaded I actually heard about five guys getting killed in the town trying to take over the peers the Italians lived on one side of town the Irish on the other they dismissed the Italians as dirty and criminal wops and deos both sides had gangs but only the Italians had the mafia it malign star was Al Capone the mafia extorted robbed and murdered those who stood in its [Music] way prohibition was a godsent to organize crime Hoboken teamed with gangsters alcohol was smuggled into its Port Sinatra's father was a boxer who worked for the Bootleggers it was rough really rough we had everything there we had the bleers there we had the Waterfront tough guys his mother dolly was a midwife who dabbled in politics during prohibition they ran a bar born in this Lawless Town Sinatra grew up to respect power and the gangsters who wielded it it was just another form of power I think because they didn't play by the rules yeah and he didn't either they came from subjugated people from neighborhoods that were poor and had terrible times but those guys were heroic figures dolly was like a godmother to poor Italians a passionate Democrat she won favors for them from politicians at City Hall she did them quite a favors too you don't like the word abortionist abortion no no as Italian families saw it it was abortion as a social service saving them from disgrace because the father with the own the daughter he would chase her around out of the house he wouldn't have he wouldn't want have anything to daughter Dolly never let her son forget he was part of a poor Italian minority that's America it was for the poor for the guy that couldn't fetch for himself the worker at my side the little town or city where my people Liv and actually the sinatras were far from poor Frank was a lonely little boy alternately beaten and smothered with love and toys by his mother she earned a lot of money and she gave him everything she everything he later spoke of himself as a kind of deadend kid made good it wasn't quite true he even had his own account at a clothes store and charged everything as his mother paid for and he looked the best the teenage Sinatra wanted to be a singer how ambitious was he very very ambitious his first recording has Lain hidden for 50 years the record was in the drawer there in the drawer I'm here 30 years in that drawer an orchestra leader called Frank Maine let him sing on one of his records but it was never released didn't your husband ever think that this was something he could make a lot of money out of no my husband never thought of money that's why I'm po Sinatra's dream sha from across the Hudson River cuz he said to me one day we're going to go to New York at 17 his father threw him out he headed for the jazz clubs of [Music] man big Crosby is big guy in his mind and he said I want to do that Avenue does now but soon enough Sinatra was back on the wrong side of the Hudson he joined a group called The Hoboken four and went on [Music] tour they sang in different little taverns and they'd find a place and they'd work a couple of days the man who could make his dreams come true lived in the perfumed Splendor of the borf towers in Manhattan Lucky luchano from the same town in Sicily as the sinatras now headed the American Mafia he controlled the clubs where the stars sang doly Sinatra did all she could for her son she'd grown up with gangsters later she came to know a mafioso called Jimmy blue eyes aloe who' known Sinatra since he was a kid this is uh my a uncle on the left with uh Dolly and Marty Sinatra were they close to each other oh yes Alo in turn was close to Lucky Lano he said he was a very nice guy very nice guy according to luchano his associates told him that Frank Sinatra was a rising star they see those Rising Stars they bet them like stars pianist Chico schimon has disclosed for the first time that the mob gave Sinatra a secret audition it was organized by cronies of Lucky luchano met luch we lunch together but this particular he came to know luchano and was trusted to say nothing about the powerful men who would attend and next to me there lucky my rather likey the details he says were in the hands of luchiano murderous liutenant Frank Costello there was uh somebody that was beinging a young boy that uh had a good voice and uh that uh he he he had some friends coming over to listen to this boy sing the friends were other Mobsters so I played for him and he sung Sinatra he says was confident the Mobsters were impressed it wasn't uh P sang a beautiful song night and day not a joural I think of you day and night night and day why schimon has chosen not to tell his story before never I'll talk never no never my m the mob sour anatra as a potential earner their business is money it is not personalities it's not Awards it is money if he wanted to work in the clubs he had to work for organized crime because they own every Club New York Florida they owned them all and they owned the record companies they made the records they owned the Juke boxes they told the this jocky what song to play in the radio he had no choice no none at all a US Bureau of Narcotics document later called Sinatra a front for the big mob lano's henchman Frank Costello had helped discover him did Frank know Frank Costello yes very well pretty powerful people mhm very powerful When anybody can get you killed they're powerful and they could get you killed that fast Sinatra was trapped in a relationship with the most powerful mafoo of them all Lucky luchano but you know what you're getting into life if somebody tells you there's a trap over here and a trap over there you try to walk in the middle so he knew what he was signing up to he knew what he was doing at all times BR way mazdan the kaleidoscopic pattern of thousands of Sinatra it seemed didn't want to escape the mob could give him what he wanted he admired that dark Mystique restaurants clubs theat he never stop wanting what's next until I hear you at the can't have it all and he wanted it all Saturday night is the lon night of the week Trumpeter Harry James hired him for a national tour did you feel excited to oh absolutely I didn't know what the Rush was but I could feel it you know Sinatra's new wife Nancy came along and made the sandwiches in my arms soon he joined band leader Tommy dorsy in 1942 he opened Solo in Time Square New York these thousands of screaming girls the the vibrations in the air the the sound was awesome and frightening this was how it began for Frank Sinatra a man who was to become a legend in his time really to me terrifying because it was inhuman almost it was you know out of the range of anything I'd ever heard before iar when I look at you and I never saw anybody reach and hold an audience the way Frank [Music] did Magic Exempted from military service in World War II because of a punctured eardrum Sinatra fought his war from Hollywood by the end of the war he was a screen Idol this is Success people warning him personally sexually he'd brings starlets to his apartment High over Los Angeles we went inside the lights were soft and it was beautifully decorated it was really elegant Frank was very much into elegance and curtains were open and the whole city it was a beautiful clear night the whole city was just twinkling like a little Jewel box it was so beautiful dreaming of a song to be there with Frank sonat I'm 18 years old he's the king of of the world just about and I'm with him and there it is Hollywood beckoning when our powerful powerful magic his wife Nancy was expected to stay home and bear children when you have the access to beautiful women they couldn't resist them she knew that he sang Love Songs of love lost as if he'd lived them himself the Charisma was incredible he would walk out onto the stage and without opening his mouth to sing one note the audience was in his hand [Music] immediately I'm sure every woman thought he was singing to them including me I thought sure that song was for me every woman felt that of Parise off stage he could be equally tender very very romantic and I'm sure any woman who was ever involved with him would tell you this tender sweet he did make you feel as if you were the only one in the world my Stardust Mel the memory of love refra but the great romantic had a violent temper a drummer who displeased him was beaten in the street by two men from Hoboken the power the power because of this his friends that would help him you know more powerful friends came to Sinatra's Aid later when he wanted to wriggle out of a contract with band leader Tommy dorsy dorsy complained that two armed men had come to see him so they said well I tell you it's it's it cost a little problem because we really need him and I know you wouldn't want to be dead and not have a contract so why don't we just now make a good deal did they show their weapons yes they did yes they all have to do is put their coat back and and there's there's the butt of the gun EAS so dorsy was afraid oh yeah I you know he said there was nothing in the world I was going to do then keep my regards to Martha that's how Frank's career zoomed Robin Hood one of the gunmen was a mafia pal of Frank Sinatra and a powerful associate of lucky luchano IO himself was now in jail his power undiminished his word law after the war he was deported to Italy Italian police escorted him to the small Sicilian town where he was born the same town that also spawn the sinatras Lara Fredy a year later Sinatra was staying with gangsters Joe Charles and Rocco Fetti at their mansion in Miami Roco Fetti and Charles fet were the first cousins Al Capone they were probably the second heaviest people in crime in Chicago they had something to celebrate somehow luchano had slipped out of Italy he was in Cuba just 90 M away in those days poor Cuba was a Haven for gangsters from the Island's corrupt politicians the mafia was by control of gambling brothels even abortion clinics every appetite that couldn't be legally satisfied in the United States brothers sold their sisters in doorways while the mafia made a fortune ban from the US this was lano's island of Dreams in 1947 a PanAm Clipper flew Frank Sinatra to Havana he carried a briefcase alleged to contain $2 million $16 million today why was he carrying it who was he carrying it for well he arrived off the plane in the company of two of the fishe brothers and we do know that Mafia people were bringing vast sums in cash to luchano in Cuba the allegation was first made by a journalist called Lee Mortimer I was accused of bringing to Florida with me a small atache case which in fact held sketching pads crayons and such and Mr Lee Mortimer who was probably one of the most vicious men in the media in the world said that I went to Cuba with $2 million in an natache case and what I said was if you can fit it in the case I'll give you the $2 million his explanations didn't stand up Sinatra became along along the way quite a good painter but his wife Nancy said that he took up art only somewhat after the expedition to Cuba us agents believe luchano needed vast sums of money to develop new casinos and Drug routs in this hotel luchano had called a mafia Summit it had to be you a hotel employee remembers luchano and Sinatra swimming together evidently on the best of terms found Lano lavishly entertains Sinatra and Powerful mobsters Cuba truly was a gangster's paradise they were Beyond US law whined and DED by luchano Sinatra claimed he didn't quite know who he was any report I fraize with goons and racketeers is a vicious lie he said that isn't quite how it seemed to the hotel's head waiter J Sinatra said it wasn't true but it was true I know because I serve them officially luchano stayed in room 724 actually it was occupied by bodyguards luchano was so afraid of assassination that he had his own private lift to the second floor where he stayed next to Sinatra here in this room during the mafia reunion was Frank Sinatra Frank sinra Sinatra shared a small living area with luchano and the mob's Financial brain mayor Lansky lucky luano was in that room alone and here in 213 was mayor lanscape the room faced North the US bar to luchiano was just a across the water you know nothing more than what you told the boy I never gave Mr Luciano anything I shook hands with him in a dining room in a hotel in in Havana Frank Sinatra Frank Sinatra luy luchano and Maya Lansky the three of them together the majority of times when I served them there were just those three when I'd go in and they'd be talking together they'd change the subject they thought I spoke good English and was going to listen to what they were talking about so they changed the subject they'd say practically nothing they waited for me to serve breakfast and I'd leave immediately I get no kick from CH how much Sinatra knew we don't know alol we do know that on Lana's agenda was what to do about a mobster called Ben Bugsy seagull who'd stepped out of line he' apparently bungled the opening of a major casino in Las Vegas and was also allegedly embezzling money from his fellow Mobsters including Sinatra's friends the fetes well you don't get away with that in the mob seagull had built the Flamingo Casino in Las Vegas with mob money some of which had disappeared so the word went out kill him that's correct the the word was that seagull had stolen Sinatra knew seagull fairly well and what happened next would reveal a curious side to Sinatra's [Music] nature a woman called Virginia Hill lived with seagull in Beverly Hills Virginia Hill was the the Sassi uh actress in quotes uh who was basically the bed partner of of many many Mafia Dons in those days the mafia believed she was making regular money runs to Switzerland depositing their cash in a secret bank account one day seagull went to the barber then took a walk with another mobster Alan Smiley and they went back to Ben's house you know to read the paper you know probably look at the results of the track or whatever and they were sitting on the sofa in the living room I know from the way that world works that he would have gotten warnings he would have gotten back Channel warnings to be very very careful because uh people are very upset what seagull didn't know was that waiting outside was an assassin sent by one account by Sinatra's friend Charles vet all of a sudden around 10:00 just the whole window just [Music] shattered someone uh came up to some lattice work outside propped up a carbine and blew his head off blew one of his eyes all the way across the room lights out for Ben what were his injuries what had happen to him what his injuries were un undescribable I mean he was just shattered his whole face everything was just it's horrible horrible I think it was 16 16 Bullocks went through them smashed them all up on some bizarre IM impulse sinatro insisted on taking his then girlfriend to toast seagull's memory and we went to the house and sat in the house and it was Eerie was really it was such an aura of violence when you walked in that was still kind of hanging in the air they sat on the bloody sofa on which seagull died drinking champagne seems a rather gruesome thing to do to go and sit in the room where the murdered I've thought about that yeah I don't think that was part of it although you never know Frank was many layers of a person and maybe that was part of it maybe there was a ghoulish kind of attraction to his valet Sinatra seemed indifferent to Mafia violence they were always fighting these bodies but but Sinatra was around all the these people and all this stuff didn't it bother him not on think he didn't pay attention he used to think it was all make believe you know liver lips Louis Angie they are of course you think about it if you knew people and then they got killed and all these people died in different times and different ways but it didn't seem to upset him unduly no not at all Frank Sinatra has amazed the entertainment world with his dramatic Powers I think he was a gangster at heart he wasn't a gangster in fact in my opinion he was just a gangster at [Music] heart ever in the years that followed his relationship with luchano survived checking into a hotel in Rome Sinatra's valet was shocked to see luchano sitting Motionless In the Shadows luano Rose and kissed Sinatra for a moment he wondered if it was the kiss of death he that hell what's he doing here he waiting for him to come he knew he was coming to town so lucky was sitting up there waiting for just to say hello boy scared the [ __ ] out of him and everybody else didn't My Funny Valentine sweet comic valent until the day luchano died Sinatra it seemed would continue to take huge risks for him reports came into the FBI for years after the cuber episode that Sinatra was carrying money to luchano in in Italy as he supposedly had uh to Cuba unable the Mob Could Make an Entertainer yet you're my but the stench of organized crime could also help break him Sinatra was dead wrong if he thought that his cavorting with lucky luchano in Cuba was going to escape public notice he was on a downward spiral that would almost finish him William Rand Hurst was the only man ever able to indulge paper magnet William Randolph Hurst liked neither Sinatra's mob connections nor his politics fighting giant of Journalism with all his vast Hurst was a virent anti-communist Sinatra a well-known liberal what's he got small PX or something we don't like his short film the house I live in preached racial and religious Harmony now hold on God created everybody he didn't create one people better than another to the H papers Sinatra was hypocrite they derided the news that he was to play a priest in his next movie he was just trying to clean up his image as the Thug's Chum they said Sinatra beat up a Hurst columnist in a nightclub Hollywood Studios were losing patience Sinatra's films were beginning to flop double Dynamite lost a fortune imagine Frank Sinatra a show business paper asked is Sinatra finished I've come to take you away with me to carry you over the Border or some place where we can be together we've Dilly DED long enough pennies in a stream falling leaves a syamore his wife Nancy remembered him going off alone to Palm Springs for days on end solitary and silent I see finger away their 10th wedding anniversary was just a month away when Sinatra began the pursuit of a woman who had destroy it all she was Bold and Beautiful desired by every man who met her this one risk disaster Hollywood star AA Gardner was as profane and hard drinking as Sinatra and this one killed to Wi their relationship would emotionally destroy him Pandora destroyed all who loved her until she met the Flying Dutchman good gorgeous she was something else I loved her she was very decent but she could swear like a sailor she talk this like some guy in the Navy the first date was not supicious because she said he had a gun and he love to um shoot at things you know near Palm Springs he fired a revolver out of the car window he said it was target practice and that kind of frightened her a little bit she understood his insecurities which made him often very arrogant and um and difficult he was so much in love with her you wouldn't believe [Music] it because she was loved by everybody she wanted everything just like him he met so to speak his waterl he was jealous over aa's popularity her star was Rising his falling they could have a fight over a cup of coffee get up in the morning and have a cup of coffee and you know and they F the doors are slamming and the fight's on and he would get on his tiator body a Garder she called me a hulum called me a a hulum and she called me a as said well and he must have loved it you know he sang to half empty houses I used to watch him I'm not ashamed to say it I used to cry because I to hear him man and see some people walking out would kill me Willow we for me he was tormented by aa's infidelity he had lost it fear nerves and he had to he stopped rehearsing he had no will few besides Mafia control clubs would employ him he couldn't get a job to save his life and they were there for him and he was loyal to them and didn't ask questions about what they did even the mafia boss of New Jersey Willie Moretti tells Sinatra to go back to his wife gone my L he found AA from a hotel in New York to say goodbye she say goodbye where are you going she said where I'm going you can't come so she got alarmed then she heard a pistol shot loud this is in the hotel room say 4:30 a.m. me then they walk in and there he is in bed snoozing peacefully they found out the next day he fired a shot into the mattress on Valentine's Day his wife Nancy announced their marriage was [Music] over afraid of Scandal MGM wanted Gardner and Sinatra to marry [Music] fast Sinatra's Mafia pal Willie Moretti was no longer in a position to restrain him they flew South on honeymoon they forgot their luggage Sinatra was sliding into an abyss making a record so bad that AA cringed she would say rainy let's go upstairs and play the records and pretend we like them I believe I believe I believe he thought that we really liked it and she was just trying to boost his ego you know she would do things like that I believe I believe a Columbia Records executive called him a hasb you manag the AA went to Kenya to shoot a film called Mambo Mambo the new word in Motion Picture entertainment Sinatra went with her Unforgettable you literally bought him his ticket yeah Africa known for centuries as the white man's graveyard he was completely broke they padlocked his Palm Springs house his office his everything he lost everything I warn you I'm looking I'm searching I really am it was the worst time of all look with you for of a Rouse and jealousy she said oh I know he'll come back up I know I have to get free of him but I know he'll come back up I can't do it while he's down and had she left him he would have been totally finished in 1952 AA flew to London to abort his [Music] baby he went off alone to a beach hotel on the Indian Ocean where he was seen picking out a tune on a piano by the Sea unshaven lost during that time everything was hard for him so it was just out of one hard ship into another nobody knew what was in his mind whether this time he really might walk off into the waves he's had everything all this money all this power and now it's gone that's right there was an old ballad sinatr light where will you sleep when the night time comes what do you do when your heart's in pain where will you run he says [Music] M luckily Sinatra did still have somewhere to run to the men who'd helped him he says he says his arms and says he says the mafia's man in Hollywood was the Suave Johnny relli he was uh powerful and enigmatic um sweet gentle um but he could switch like [Music] that Columbia Pictures turn sonra down for a part in an Epic movie they were planning about World War II he knew that that part would make him so it seems relli took decisive action Frank convinced John then this would revive his career which would be good for Chicago and the mob and everything else the mafia wielded power in Hollywood they held film unions in their grip relli asked for a meeting with Harry con the head of Colombia pictures and he just uh told Harry Coen you don't have a choice Frank's going in the picture and that's it and that's the way it worked out and relli told you this himself yes he did before his death Fred man the film's director told me the story wasn't true but he may not have known con's Widow confirmed it other evidence too supports the story that relli told K was afraid of him oh yeah afraid of joh afraid of his power to shut everything down easy he could have done it very easily the film was called From Here to Eternity Sinatra played the part of magio a scrappy little man with a chip on his shoulder who's the broad it's my [Music] sister what he desperately wanted now was an Oscar nobody's going to do nothing and he just said he was going to go and say a prayer just before the Oscars are started was he a religious man no not at all I think he went to church twice the whole time I was with him at Hollywood's Pantages Theater it's the motion picture industry's night of nights he'd been resurrected by the mafia name is Frank Sinatra Frank Sinatra wins another of the eight Oscars captured by the film as he is named the top male supporting player it was so Overjoyed it was frighting he got tears in his eyes when he went up to get I'm I'm terribly pleased and if I start thanking everybody I'll do a one reeler up here so better not amongst those he didn't thank was Johnny relli that night he wandered alone through Beverly Hills clutching his Oscar and that's when I think Frank realized power is it in Hollywood it doesn't matter money it's [Music] power he was happy Rich again powerful again and crazy again the mob made him again yes yes always he went from the very bottom to the top back to the top the mafia even offered him shares in a new casino in Las Vegas it had to be you Sinatra's old Mafia pal Frank Costello was involved I wanded around and finally found alone the mob had stuck by him now he was very viable so this wasn't an of kindness giving Paul Frank a chance it was a way to enhance their asset their investment that's another way of saying okay now we owe you a little bit more than you owe us my friend you owe was big reports reaching federal agencies said that Mobsters were the owners of Sinatra so he could draw people into the casinos not only that but he also could do favors for the M when they open a place in Chicago who's going to open the opening night Frank [Music] cantra the old magic returned the voice was back he was uh fantastic a different human being a different body a different personality when somebody loves you it's no good unless he loves you there was nothing phony in Frank's delivery he sang heartbreak and you knew that heartbreak was for real phrasing impeccable intonation impeccable that was his position in life using a song telling the story taller the tallest tree is you listened he there was a reason for what he was saying and then he' be to sing and it was magic time deeper than the deep blue sea is that's how deep it goes if it's real some thought the magic came from AA when needs you it's no good unless he needs you all the way finally inevitably he lost her and most of his love songs were dedicated like to a he sang songs that were touching was almost like singing directly to her ainain what was his name for AA uh Angel because my angel eyes but she was the one who was in the dreams all the time Day Dreams night dreams angel in one of their more bitter encounters she asked him to pay back some money he had her he went to the bank and got it all out in $1 bills she said the son of a [ __ ] had all that money in bills and said here's your [ __ ] money and threw it on the floor his home had become a shrine to AA misspent Angel Eyes he'd weep in front of her pictures or shoot at them with an air gun hookers and starlets trooped in and out make him forget I suppose cuz he was a very lonely man by himself he wouldn't say very much when he was alone he'd either read or stare at the television but Sinatra had a new infatuation Sam Gian Carana one of the darkest stars of the underworld Crime Boss of Chicago Gian car's power extended from Cuba to Vegas to Hollywood earlier lucky luchano had assigned him to look after Sinatra Gian car was brought in really quite early on to deal with heavy things important things to do with Sinatra's career CH kind of took over see one thing about these people that if they own businesses and they pass on the business stays with the people that take it over next that's the way it works I've got you film star Yu Bruner and his son would later go on holiday with Sinatra and J Conor he looked like a cantaloupe that had gone bad and kind of collapsed on itself there was nothing pretty about Sam Jan I've got you this was Frank Sinatra's New Pal Sam was you know I mean he'd kill you I mean he torture you cut you open cut your throat beat the [ __ ] out of you until you wish you were dead perfect gentl Frank loved them but he was also a torturer cut people in [Music] half I don't know what went in Frank's mind but I know he loved the guy Jan Carana came to the set of some came running with Sinatra Shirley mlan and Dean Martin you miss best pal one night after filming the 24-year-old mlan playfully pulled a water pistol on JM carner he reached for his gun and just at that moment Dean and Frank walked in the kitchen and saw me pulling a toy pistol on Sam Gian Kan and Gian Ka pulling a 308 on me they laughed they went down on their knees they you know how they used to laugh like they had a terrible hernia they really meant it though and they say she's okay Sam she's just a kid she's all right come [Music] fly Sinatra and giano were exhilarated by each other's power maybe Gian cono loved Sinatra's celebrity and Sinatra loved Gian koo's reputation fly down to Peru these were people who didn't follow the rules they made their own rules in time they'd open a casino together the c a lodge on the Rocky Heights over Lake Taho up here it's another another world was like next to God just beautiful RI God in this case was samjan Sinatra's secret investor petrified I he'd fly up on Sinatra's plane we always had him on the Manifest as Dr Sam money he was very cold the last stage of the journey was by helicopter ganca would always look Immaculate but nobody would talk about it they feared him why did they fear Him they knew he was a a close friend of Franks and they knew Frank didn't want anybody to know he was there this was Frank's [Music] Place Gian Carana was banned from Nevada casinos the ca had a huge Advantage it was on the state line between California and Nevada the chalets were in California the casino in Nevada half the swimming pool was in in California half the swimming pool was in the you got to watch where swim if you're a mobster if you were a mobster a secret tunnel LED from sonat Chalet to the casino Jim carer would sneak across in regard to associations between performers and nefarious characters it's not true that actors seek them out they have sought out actors for years I never had a business dealing with anybody except leg legitimate people according to his Pilot Sinatra's plane would fly bags of cash out of the ca they be counting money in Stacks not bills they were counting Stacks after Fidel Castro seized power in Cuba the mafia and its casinos had been Ed then The Temper of the throng changed and an ugly mob ranged the streets its prime targets the symbols of the overthrown regime gam the new Havana was Las Vegas and Frank sin arel thank you was it star of stars he was a king to somebody like me much very time close up he was mesmerizing sinat standing a foot away from me they put the light on and he'll turn to the guy and say let's go to work she gets hungry for dinner at 8 loves the theater doesn't come late never and this guy who's just created a silence walks through the audience and they are going wow he is here it is him it's magic doesn't like crap games with the Barons and ears will not go to Harlem dressed up in man and pears she won't dish the dirt with the rest of those girls that's why this chick is a tra now at the height of his power he was drawing thousands of punters into mob run casinos to lose their money to the mafia he helped to bring glamour to some things that really are not all that glamorous Sinatra was an integral character in bringing people out to Las Vegas at a time when most of them would not have gone had they known that Killers owned a piece of the operation but they'd go to see Frank Sinatra get too hry I think he was the publicity department for the M theater Sinatra may have been one of the richest most powerful entertainers in the world but he still took orders from the Mafia the it is to separate the Sucker from the green there's no feelings here there's no character here there's no love for anything but money with FR when a gambler had a big win the mob ordered Sinatra onto the casino floor a certain person in New York called Sinatra and told them to get up out of bed get your [ __ ] tupe on get down there and do your [ __ ] job his job in this case was to keep the winner playing until he lost Frank went in sat down and over the next few hours we got all our money back and by the way the guy loved it just to sit and play bakarat with son hates California sonra was King Lord of his Universe his word was law his mood swings spectacular totally strange person he was jackn Hy he was a controller and he made sure everybody knew he could be incredibly generous other times he humiliated waiters or creers he would proceed to insult you in the most abase terms and scream at you yell at you throw cards in your face and you just had to stand there and take it bodyguards protected him you got a many a fight you know arguments did people get hurt sometimes badly hurt yes show girls were invited to Long dinners in a restaurant run by Tony Montana when he gets juice or whatever his attitude was or whoever bit him wrong or said something him wrong he he jump all over him he call him a you pig and these girls they knew better they're dancers they they're show girls if they didn't if they said anything out of line they wouldn't be working you can't interfere you can't tell them Mr Sinatra would you behave Mr Sinatra would you you can't do that because there was always this threat that his actions were covered by those above us they call me in the MOB the booze brought out these dragons and these dragons tend to show me that he was probably afraid of something and that's why he would act aggressively to face off everything to make sure that he was still in power and in control and that it wasn't going away [Music] Sinatra and his Rat Pack had the world at their feet for a brief Shining Moment they glistened like a mirage in the Nevada desert they were what every American male aspired to be effortlessly cool you're sitting there partying and carrying on with the coolest guys in the world you know that every day everybody was looking up to and talking about the Press called it the Rat Pack Summit by day they filmed Oceans 11 about a casino heist in Las Vegas by night they played at the Sands where the mafia and Sinatra were investors so this was really the absolute peak of Frank's power absolutely have begged for more every night was a party could have spread my wing you're talking about human beings who have an electricity and a Charisma to that's visible done before I'll never know what made it so [Applause] exciting women adored them they laid down in front of them there was a shower of Hotel Keys what they threw the oh yes absolutely panties too could have done staff were under mob orders not to spill the beans on their famous guests kept your mouth shut whatever you saw absolutely and what would you see I don't think they held back anything I could have done they were uh four or five in bed all the time so if somebody wanted a fantasy to come true you could make it come true we specialize in it the saer at the Sands was a magnet for hook because and they had tables set up and if you're at the big game they had a couple of girls circulating underneath the table to satisfy you sexually while you were playing cards but the life at Frank Sinatra was about to change profoundly in 1960 the man who would be president arrived in Las Vegas Jack Kennedy joined Sinatra at the sanss Sinatra andk yeah sure and that's how Frank would impress them he wanted to come for what Vegas was known for which is women partying and a good time he knows that if he's with Frank you just have to ask if Frank ask you get it he would come out to the hotel and he was safe here you mean he could get away with anything anything nobody would ever tell [Music] never but Sinatra would live to regret his relationship with JFK it would lead to humiliation even a threat to his life but there was no hint of that in the head days of 1960 Kennedy needed star endorsement and he got it from The Rat Pack how to come off like a charm same here fantastic I'm not a fairy boat I'm very it was one stop shopping Peter Lawford was his brother-in-law what happens when they speak and Sammy Davis was black I knew this color would come in handy one day he could help Kennedy prove his racial bonafides how do you get the stuff off for what I usually Davis remarked my role was let Sammy take care of all the ethnic people and Frank Sinatra he had something even better a connection to the mafia his friend and Cara Kennedy's father believed could help deliver votes in the upcoming election earlier the kennedies had sent an emissary to see Gangster Jimmy Alo looking for a way to get to Gian Carana because they knew that Chicago was going to be crucial in the election you mean he wanted somebody to make a connection with Sam Jan Carana in Chicago mhm and uh so my uncle said no I don't get involved in politics so who became the connection well I only know what I hear evidently Sinatra became the connection Jack Kennedy had visited Sinatra in Palm Springs so had his father Joe he wanted his son to be the president of the United States and there was nothing he wouldn't do to make this happen he had a message for Sam Mo JM Con Chicago Chicago the messenger would be Frank [Music] Sinatra in the tough Chicago Wards they influenced Joe wanted the mafia to turn out votes for his son so uh Sinatra approached Mo I call him Mo and uh told him what they would do for us if his son got in office which is big in return Gian Conor expected he'd get a easy ride from the White House so you figure we got a president in our pocket we got it made at the time the time of my life and what did Jan car think he could get out of this new relationship that he saw developing a great great contact with the president of United States via Frank sonra of course as Jan fundly imagined it would be spring time for Mobsters that's [Music] Illinois Sinatra rounded up celebrities to attend Kennedy's nomination in Los Angeles Frank genuinely thought this guy will become an intelligent great man for our country but the New Frontier of which I speak is not a set of promises it is a set of challenges I was stood next to Dean Martin when he told Frank they're going to [ __ ] you the kennedies yeah he said Frank you don't know what the [ __ ] you're doing but Sinatra h Kennedy would sweep away Injustice which he'd seen at firsthand in the recent past black entertainers in Las Vegas hadn't been allowed to stay in the hotels where they performed some of the very famous African-American stars like Sammy Davis when they started out they had to live in a trailer behind the hotel I mean it was horrible they would be called and told one to come on stage and after the stage back to the trailer I mean like little piglets and little animals to gamble they'd had to go to a black cassino Frank was the first one to make Sammy Davis Jr register in the hotel and they did it he started that he would he say I would burn the hotel down if you don't hire strangely Sinatra was guilty of racist outbursts he's a very complex individual race is almost up there with him the same man who might call a guy you know a black [ __ ] will travel cross country to do a benefit for a black school but his faith in Jack Kennedy was simple and sincere that he would change America as election day dawned Jan Cara sent out his Mafia soldiers to Rouse votes for Kennedy so we went out we hustle all these people to do it and tell them what what could be done and what would be done if Kennedy got into office and they all went out and voted they put the man in the white house that's what they thought well they did if they couldn't get Illinois he would have never won Kennedy scraped in by one1 of 1% Frank kept waiting for Nixon to concede and he called the hotel and said tell the son of a bit to concede Mr Kennedy senator Kennedy will be the next president of the United States Victory Gian con believed belonged to him he turned out thousands of votes many of them he bought Jan cono was in a position to think and believe and accurately believe that but for the work that he had done but for the money he had put in the election Richard Nixon would have been president Sinatra set about organizing the inaugural Gala your just too marvelous too marvelous for words I like a glor he wanted to be ambassador to Italy he had the Taste of Italy in his mouth he wanted be Ambassador why I don't know stars and gangsters alike celebrated Kennedy's Victory I said we got it made now that's what all of us C sitting in a bar and we're all laughing we got it made now Jan con likewise looked forward to Favors from the kennedies not only had he help put them in office he was part of a madap c plot to kill Fidel Castro he and Sinatra hung out at a hotel in Miami where Gian met spies and Cuban Exiles to plan Castro's murder if they succeeded the mob might get back its Cuban casinos the very last thing they expected was this I think I think that in the field of organized crime I think it's in a very serious situation that's facing the country at the present time Bobby Kennedy's appointment as attorney general was bad news for Gian Cara and the Sinatra Bobby declared war on organized crime instead of getting the Free Ride he expected Gian Carana would soon be put under round thee clock surveillance he felt he'd been double crossed no comment he tried to reason with the FBI no com what we have a me on this uh uh get in contact with Sinatra let him talk to Kennedy we ought to be able to work this out none of that worked in the warm glow of Victory Sinatra had invited the president to visit his Palm Springs home he'd spent a fortune transforming it into a western White House and he had the pool moved over to in front of the big house the tennis cours were open every everything was the helicopter Port was built in New York everything was prepared for we had enough Maids for each house and then he they didn't show up they went over to Ben Crosby's Place Peter Lawford the president's brother-in-law arrived at the house and he said Frank JFK can't make it Frank just grabbed him pulled him by the neck threw him down the stairs he never spoke to laford again after that he said threw all of his clothes out in the street I threw all his golf club everything out in the middle of the street his ties to the mafia had been an asset to the Kennedy's campaign now he represented danger can be kicked out like that was a tragedy hounded by the law Gian Carana had blamed his middleman Frank Sinatra FBI bugs overheard Gian Carana say I might have known this guy would [ __ ] me in the m 's eyes he promised much and delivered nothing and when he failed his mission he you know that was brutal film director Mel shavelson went to see Sinatra at a hotel in Miami and there four or five very doubtful characters sitting around the room and they stared us and I said what do you want I said well we want to see Frank we're going to talk to him about a movie they said you sure we said yeah he invited us they said no you're not cuz he will not talk to anybody Sinatra was locked in his bedroom the men were bodyguards they' ordered from room service shavelson discovered what had been sent up and there was a tray on which there was a silver torine with a top on it and this is what came up from the kitchen and you lifted the top of the torine and it was a shaved head of a lamb which is a mafia symbol for death hey that's life that's what all the people say you riding high in April shot down in certainly Gian carner's patience with Sinatra was wearing thin he was about to lose in the Cala Lodge investigators came to the Cala looking for Mobsters Sinatra founded the head of the Nevada Gaming Control Board Ed Olson pretty much making it clear than that he was bigger than the state of Nevada and didn't have to follow our our rules at the board's office listening in to the call Farmer couldn't believe what he heard Sinatra said if olssen continued to pursue the investigation that uh uh Sinatra threatened a Big Fat Surprise a Big Fat Surprise a big fat surprise he didn't think Sinatra meant the surprise would be in court no I don't think so some other kind of surprise what other kind of surprise do you have in mind I'm asking you no I just think of the Fat Surprise as a threat of some kind of physical violence something like that that's the only kind of Fat Surprise I'm thinking of the board charged him with threatening a state official knowing the writing was on the wall Sinatra threw in his Nevada gambling licenses I think he knew we had the goods on him I think we had him luckily for him the scrutiny would go no higher he was too embarrassing to the kennedies I have 30,000 Associates 11 at Bobby Kennedy's justice department a young attorney had tried unsuccessfully to open an investigation of Frank Sinatra did you feel you were being blocked uh well certainly I was not uh being authorized to proceed as I thought we should and where do you think the block was who was stopping you ultimately it had to be the Attorney General Bobby Kennedy yes Bobby had been critical to his brother's election if we had opened an investigation on Sinatra it would have been politically devastating to uh to JFK I would I would suppose Sinatra had escaped investigation by the justice department and the wroth of samjan Carana but the days were growing cold for the king of Las Vegas but three quick shots shattered This Day November 22nd 1963 in Dallas the man he' most admired had been assassinated the president's car is now going me the kennedies didn't invite him to the funeral he'd already been too much of an embarrassment Peter Lawford said scared I was a little bit nervous two weeks later his son Frankie was briefly snatched by kidnappers even Las Vegas Sinatra's own place was changing the old mob run casinos would soon be out Corporate America in I put theat of my life reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes began a buying spree besides the Desert Inn Hughes has purchased the Sans Hotel the huge New Frontier Hotel he wanted to make sure that he was the biggest of all he did not want anyone to compare in size to him a he didn't pay much attention to what what was happening in in the world of entertainment so he didn't particularly care if Frankin Sinatra stay or went he could not have cared less Hughes decreed there should be no more credit for entertainers at the Sands here he is in his place that he helped build and this hermit is telling him he can't get credit you know what it is not to give credit to Frank Sinatra this is nuts drunk Sinatra drove a golf Co C threw a window at the Sands then later attacked its vice president Carl Cohen emptied the table out him Carl got up and punched his teeth out they were all over the floor of the uh and that was the last time we ever were at the Sands we went from there right to Caesar's Palace he'd gone too far to the Mob he was a runaway train got the message to him tell that guy out there to behave himself if he didn't behave himself what was going to happen him somebody El somebody will make sure he'll behave himself and Howling up the strip was a new threat to Sinatra's career the' 60s it wasn't just rock and roll it was Vietnam D what he couldn't understand was that an a whole new generation of people loved that music that it spoke to us Sinatra did not speak to the Vietnam generation just too smart you know too well-dressed that was so hip prior to the Vietnam generation in his uncreased tuxedo Sinatra had seemed Mr Cool Vietnam changed all that you knew that the stake had been driven into the heart of all of that uh Vegas thing pandemonium soon after arriving in America The Beatles had the top five singles first of all we're bringing out the Stamp Out Detroit campaign you know the Beatles were nothing compared to his popularity and then suddenly that's it they take the rug out from under you who is Frank Sinatra well let me tell you who Frank Sinatra is I hope the Beatles in 20 years his marriage to actress Mia Farrow did nothing to roll back time she was 21 well Mia was out in the coast and I had to come out anyway he kept saying he was going to Mar so he got his secretary to get a ring for her to me she was like just another kid Dean Martin said he had whiskey older than she was it was a little bit like what AA said I always knew you'd fall in love with a 12-year-old boy the marriage didn't last she took the hippie Trail to India he came to terms with being a middle-aged man with arthritic fingers he wanted respect from the whole world which he had a man full of anger much anger Sinatra gave Millions to charity he talked of retiring Paul Anor wrote the lyrics to a song that became his Anthem and now the end is near so I face final C the first time he told me he was going to retire you know where he was getting tired of it the press and the government and the mafia stuff that started to really I think annoy him I've lived a life that's full blue eyes it was the Cry of a man who stood no criticism but asked no praise you know is this dual guy there's a side of him that's a very gentle caring man did it you know he had a heart I know a lot of people that he helped many entertainers that he bail up like with Sammy Davis all when Samy lost his eye and Frank was the first one there anything he could do put him in the hospital take care of him you know I it up SP it out the celebrities who packed the LA Music Center in June 1971 couldn't quite believe Frank senatra was retiring the right smack dab in the middle of the picture is Frank Sinatra any more than they could believe he was still entangled with the mafia is this individual here the heav an embarrassing picture surfaced showing an aging sinatro with leading Mafia figures now immediately to the left of of Martian is Carlo gambin the picture had been taken at a theater in Upstate New York uh and was at that time probably the most powerful momster in the country a m associate in Palm Springs had been overheard on the phone ordering Sinatra to sing that Frank I don't give a [ __ ] what you got to do you be there did sonra have any excuse for how this picture had been taken I mean the only explanation I was aware of was that he said that he was backstage lots of people were coming back to have their photographs taken with him and all of a sudden all of these guys came walking into his room put their arms around him and POS I wouldn't know their reputation I'm not about to ask for a sputum test M because it would embarrass everybody and they all just happen to be the leading Mobsters in the United States just happened to be there and happened to be the leading Mobsters in the United States correct one by one his friends in the mob had died or lost their power to protect him at his home in Chicago samji and KH had been cooking sausages by some accounts for a trusted friend summoned to appear before the church committee Chicago gangsters Sam G and Kana claimed poor health a series of a few days later he'd been due to testify in Washington at hearings into the CIA plots to kill Fidel Castro has beened to present himself in Washington on June 24th his trust in his friend was misplaced [Music] one bullet found its way into Gianna's head six into his chin a warning of what happens to people who talk a year later Johnny relli the man who allegedly got Sinatra his part and From Here to Eternity was found chopped up in an oil drum floating off [Music] Miami Sinatra built a mount in Retreat above Palm Springs guards lined the perimeter I try to think that love's not [Music] around but it's uncomfortably [Music] near he' married a former show girl called Barbara Marain to the last he tried to persuade Ava Gardner to come back to him my angel eyes ain't here so she said she felt that Barbara would be the best thing for Frank in his old age uhhuh and she told him said Barbara stay with him says you know I won't Ronald Reagan interrupted his presidential campaign to attend the wedding humiliated by the Democrats Sinatra had swung his political support behind the Republican right 3 weeks after Reagan's inauguration he again got a Gambling License in Nevada they slobbered all over him when he came in let me Begin by saying that I never invited Mr Gian Connor to let Cal nea I never hosted for him and I never saw him at Cal Nea well it's a lie we knew that was a a lie of course he hosted Gian we had him dead to rights on that I I Mr board approved his license I felt they caved in it was a betrayal it was a betrayal of the people that stayed at Nevada Ronald Reagan it emerged had said he was an honorable person completely honest told me that political power if you have enough political power or or though you can get it done I don't allege any payoffs there I think you're talking about pure political power reaching right to the White House Barbara had wanted him to go back to work and work he did giving nearly a thousand concerts between 1977 and 1990 but the nights were growing cold for the rat Packers Sammy Davis died Dean Martin too Sinatra's mother had been killed when her chartered jet hit a mountain above Palm Springs the devastation was Unreal when she passed away I mean I've seen men break down but I've never seen men like in a coma almost coma to he must know something but he don't say nothing Sinatra continued touring like an old man in a hurry possessed of the same drive that marked him out in his youth he did some performances that were absolutely incredible like suddenly 40 years had disappeared he was pretty old and he would have lapses of memory for example you felt that he was pushing himself oh I think he was making a valant effort yes nobody else was pushing him no no but did he know he was losing it I think so I think so I could see him thinking you know he could read his mind almost that last performance that he ever did in Fukuoka Japan we got on the bus after the last performance and generally the orchestra gets on the bus to go back to the hotel and there's all kinds of chatter there was silence and some of the guys were in tears because we knew this was it we were all sad we left the next day to come back to the States Frank Sinatra retreated to a beach house in Malibu overlooking the Pacific Ocean I remember thinking as he went up to his bedroom I followed him up the the stairs and there's this little twin bed and a panel across from that a Spartan room he spent his days talking reminiscing the word that started coming out from friends and people that were there and those of us that chose not to be around near the end because it was just too tough to see was that he was in pain you know he couldn't walk and he couldn't get up and you know was very verbal as to not at someone Point wanting to live and you don't want to see a a special human being like that suffer it was a perfect ending the way he wanted it he could have lived he didn't want it anymore he lived a thousand times he wanted out some of those who loved him best weren't invited to his funeral but I think about him quite often I go to the house and I look around and and then I talk about him and it helps me get along I think it keeps me peaceful unlike The Splendid Graves that marked the lives of the Mafia bosses he saw admired the greatest pop singer who ever lived had a small Stone set in the ground Francis Alberts AR belov It On It Was Written The Best Is Yet To Come Las Vegas paid him its own tribute briefly they lowered the lights on the Strip for him for about 20 minutes and that was the end of it and after that it's back in Action The Beat Goes On what still makes sonra cool to a new generation is partly his perceived closeness to the mafia it gives him a kind of edge a dark glammer the underworld is an evil operation but you know it plays in America I mean it does real well in Hollywood he made the unacceptable acceptable he absolutely made the unacceptable acceptable the unanswerable question how much did this infinitely talented man really need the mafia I've LED I've laughed and cried he thought he needed him I've had my he wanted to have that power behind him he wanted to have that strength behind him for whatever reason he had that insecurity and then he had this you know of course this incredible talent and this ability to touch the human emotion think did all and the memory of What Sinatra had been oh well there you are you see nobody could ever forget that nobody had ever done that before there had not been anybody like him before there has not been anybody like him since and I don't think there ever will be it was unique one and only for what is a man what has he got if not himself then he has not to say the things he truly feels and not the words of one who kns the I took the blow and did it my way my [Music] way