His Way_ The Unauthorized Biography of Frank Sinatra - Kitty Kelley [156]
Frank was not simply the leader of the Rat Pack. He had also assumed the position of il padrone in Hollywood, where he was approached by Twentieth Century Fox executives to be master of ceremonies at the luncheon on September 19, 1959, honoring Soviet Premier Nikita Sergeivich Khrushchev and his wife, Nina. This unprecedented visit to America by the Soviet head of state brought out more than four hundred of Hollywood’s most glamorous stars, including Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor and Eddie Fisher, Cary Grant, Bob Hope, Richard Burton, Rita Hayworth, Gregory Peck, June Allyson, and David Niven. Militant anti-Communists like Adolph Menjou and Ronald Reagan refused to participate, but the most important movie executives in the industry were on hand to pay their respects, to eat squab, drink California wine, and listen to Khrushchev and Spyros P. Skouros, president of Twentieth Century Fox, debate the respective merits of communism and capitalism. To the chagrin of everyone but the visiting Russians, Khrushchev appeared to win the argument, leading one man to observe, “A twentieth-century fox visits Twentieth Century Fox!”
Shortly after he arrived in California, Khrushchev was informed that he could not visit Disneyland because the Los Angeles Police Force could not ensure his safety. He was furious, and his famous temper that had driven him to bang on the table with his shoe at the United Nations now erupted at the luncheon. “What is it?” he asked his assembled guests. “Why am I not allowed to go? Do you have rocket-launching pads there? I do not know. Is there an epidemic of cholera there or something? Or have gangsters taken hold of the place that can destroy me? That is the situation I am in—your guest. For me the situation is inconceivable. I cannot find words to explain this to my people.”
Immediately, Frank turned to Mrs. Khrushchev and said that he would take her to Disneyland himself, giving her a personally guided tour. The sweet-faced, gray-haired woman broke into a big smile and sent a note to her husband sitting at another table, but a security officer returned to tell her that such a tour would be impossible. “I tried, honey,” said Frank, patting her hand.
After lunch, the Khrushchevs were shown a lively sequence from Can-Can, the movie being filmed at Twentieth that starred Frank with Shirley MacLaine, Maurice Chevalier, Louis Jourdan, and Juliet Prowse. With the help of an interpreter, Frank explained the proceedings. Grinning, he said that the first number would be a song by Louis Jourdan and Maurice Chevalier. “It’s called ‘Live and Let Live,’ and I think it’s a marvelous idea,” he said. “The movie is about a bunch of pretty girls and the fellows who like pretty girls.”
Khrushchev smiled and applauded loudly after Frank’s remarks.
“Later in the picture, we go into a saloon. A saloon is a place where you go to drink,” said Frank with a straight face. At this, Khrushchev laughed loudly. For the next few minutes, the Twentieth Century Fox sound stage was like the Copa Room of The Sands in Las Vegas as Frank sang “C’est Magnifique.” After his song, he turned the show over to the dancing girls, saying they were all his nieces. Khrushchev smiled as Shirley MacLaine and Juliet Prowse pranced onto the stage with shrill cries, kicking their legs and whirling their skirts. But when they flounced their backsides to the audience in a traditional can-can number, the Soviet premier was frowning. He pronounced the dance and the dancers “immoral,” saying: “A person’s face is more beautiful than his backside.”
Frank was on his best behavior for the Soviet visit, and as Mrs. Khrushchev’s luncheon partner, he demonstrated great charm and gallantry, looking intently at the pictures she showed him of her grandchildren and telling her about his own children.
On the subject of his children, Frank dropped his ring-a-ding-ding act to become a soft and doting father who was far too indulgent