His Way_ The Unauthorized Biography of Frank Sinatra - Kitty Kelley [217]
Shecky Greene said that Frank was vehement on the subject of Reagan. “We were all at a house in Miami watching Joey Bishop’s show on television one night when Reagan came on to welcome Joey,” said the comedian. “Frank immediately got crazy and started screaming things and calling Reagan every name in the book. He hated the guy and cursed him out all night long.”
After the “Night of Stars” fund-raiser for Governor Brown at the Los Angeles Sports Arena, Frank produced another benefit for him in San Francisco. It featured Dean Martin, Ella Fitzgerald, Joey Bishop, Connie Francis, Trini Lopez, Dan Rowan and Dick Martin, the Four Step Brothers, and Nelson Riddle’s orchestra, and raised $175,000. Reagan tried to counter Sinatra’s swinging appeal with folksy Republicans like Irene Dunne, Roy Rogers, John Wayne, and Pat Boone, whom Frank ridiculed, saying, “If I had a son, I’d like him to be like Pat Boone—till he was three hours old.”
“Frank campaigned hard for me throughout the state,” said Governor Brown. “He raised a lot of money and staged both my inaugural galas.” He did not have the chance to stage a third gala because in 1966 Reagan defeated Brown by almost one million votes.
Before the election, Frank had instructed Mickey Rudin to call Brad Dexter in London to say that he was not returning and for Dexter to put all the footage together from The Naked Runner, bring it back to California, and finish the film there. Dexter refused, saying he had production commitments in England. Rudin insisted, but the producer ignored him. Determined to complete the picture, Dexter met with the director and started reshaping the script so they could finish without Frank.
“We’d steal takes from scenes that he’d already done before,” he said. “That’s how we got all our close-ups.”
Days later, as Dexter recalled, Rudin arrived in London to deliver Frank’s ultimatum in person.
“As Sinatra’s lawyer, I want to inform you that my client gave me instructions to give to you,” he said. “You are to wrap all the film and return to California to finish the picture. In other words, stop shooting now or get out.”
Dexter refused to do either, saying that he was going to deliver the picture to Jack Warner at Warner Bros, upon completion. “I’m not going to contribute to Frank’s delinquency, and if he won’t come back here and lend himself as an actor to this film, then we’ll do it without him. Now you go back and tell him that, Mickey, and stop bothering me.”
The lawyer returned to California while Dexter remained in London for two months finishing The Naked Runner.
“Upon completion, I returned to Los Angeles and drove to the Sinatra offices at Warner Bros., where Milt Krasney [Vice-President of Sinatra Enterprises] said, ‘Welcome back, Brad. I was instructed to inform you by Mr. Rudin that you are fired off the picture and that you are to pack your things and clear them out of the office and vacate the premises immediately.’ I told him that he couldn’t fire me and neither could Mickey Rudin. There’s only one man who owns this company, and if he wants to fire me, that’s fine, but he’s going to have to do it, I said. It was nine o’clock in the morning and I picked up the phone and asked for the tie line to Frank’s house in Palm Springs.
“George Jacobs answered and said Frank was asleep. I insisted that he be awakened. Minutes later, Frank came on the line and in a sleepy voice said, ‘How are you? How was the flight? You sure took your time in getting back here.’ I told him that the picture was finished for him to look at, but that I’d just been informed