His Way_ The Unauthorized Biography of Frank Sinatra - Kitty Kelley [62]
Incensed, the rally’s Boston promoters, who had been forced to refund a full house and to pay the musicians, threatened to sue Frank for breaking his contract. They also threatened to take the issue to the musicians union and demand that the union take action against Sinatra.
To deflect the growing controversy, Evans announced that Frank would make a series of addresses to high schools in several large cities early the next year. He urged the students, most of whom were devoted fans, to remain in school and to continue their education. “Mr. Sinatra will go to Washington this week to discuss the tour with education officials,” he said. Although no one in Washington knew anything about Sinatra’s pending visit, the announcement elevated him in the eyes of the public as someone who would use his influence and power to fight juvenile delinquency.
While George Evans handled things on the East Coast, his partner, Jack Keller, had his hands full in California, where the singer had stamped his feet in January and demanded that his part of the Hit Parade be moved from the CBS studio, with three hundred fifty seats, to the Vine Street Playhouse, with fourteen hundred seats. The move would amplify the volume of screams and sighs considerably.
Frank had hurled this demand at CBS less than an hour before broadcast time. In vain, officials had tried to explain to him that such a move would require several hours to reassemble all the special equipment. Frank said to move it anyway or he would not make the broadcast.
At this point, the American Federation of Radio Artists entered the dispute. “Either you go on tonight or you’re through as far as AFRA’s jurisdiction is concerned,” he was told. Frank backed down.
To Jack Keller’s dismay, the incident had made front-page news the next day. Variety quoted an AFRA spokesman as saying, “The kid’s beginning to believe his own publicity, and that’s fatal.”
On his next trip to the West Coast, Frank alienated Hollywood with an ugly outburst during the filming of Anchors Aweigh. It was a characteristic explosion that would never have become a big story if a reporter had not been there to quote it.
“Pictures stink and most of the people in them do too,” Sinatra said. “Hollywood won’t believe I’m through, but they’ll find out I mean it. It’s a good thing not many of these jerks came up as rapidly as I did. If they had, you couldn’t get near them without running interference through three secretaries.”
Jack Keller exploded when he read that story. “Are you crazy? Are you nuts or something?”
At first, Frank denied saying anything, but Keller recognized the ring of truth in the quotes. He called everyone who had been on the set with Frank the preceding afternoon, and finally Frank admitted that he’d been hot and tired and might have said “something” to the United Press reporter who had been there interviewing Jose Iturbi. One of Frank’s aides, Al Levy, said, “It was the hottest day of the year. Naturally he was tired, but that crack was never intended for that fat fellow with the glasses [the UP reporter].”
Keller called the reporter and apologized, asking if he’d be willing to carry a statement by Sinatra as a follow-up to his original story. The reporter agreed and Frank’s statement, as written by Jack Keller, appeared as follows:
It’s easy for a guy to get hot under the collar, literally and figuratively, when he’s dressed in a hot suit of Navy blues and the temperature is a hundred and four degrees and he’s getting over a cold to boot.
I think I might have spoken too broadly about quitting pictures and about my feeling toward Hollywood.
I’m under a seven-year contract to