“Suddenly” doesn’t exactly make the Top10 Films of Frank Sinatra. Oddly enough, perhaps the most famous singer in the history of the world wasn’t even the star.
He was the villain.
Exactly a half-century and a year back, a production company motored into Newhall and Saugus and took over the sleepy little “Village” as the valley was also known as back then.
The hero of the film was the king of those grainy black-&-white “B” movies, Sterling Hayden (Pictured).
In “Suddenly,” it was an interesting juxtapositioning. Here you have Hayden as a communist sympathizer in real life and Frank Sinatra who, despite his lifelong flirtation with organized crime, was extremely patriotic.
Lewis Allen directed this 1954 film, made entirely in the SCV. The storyline is about how a team of hired killers tries to intercept the president of the United States as he steps off a train en route to his annual fishing vacation. The film’s name comes from the name of the little fictitious town, “Suddenly,” which appears in front of present-day 6th Street and Main Street, where Dr. Rocio Jones’ dental office sits. (Shameless plug: she took over for Dr. Jody Stowitts and is doing a fine job. If you need a great dentist, call 259-2150 and tell them John Boston sent you.)
Sinatra plays Johnny Baron, a hitman who gets the contract to 86 the commander-in-chief. Baron and his gang break into a quiet home where they hope to pick off the president in his small motorcade.
Baron and his thugs also end up kidnapping Sheriff Tod Shaw, played by Hayden.
No surprise, like many actors, “Hayden” wasn’t Sterling’s original name. His parents were George and Frances Walter. They named him Sterling Relyea Walter. After George died, he was adopted at the age of nine by James Hayden and renamed Sterling Walter Hayden.
At an early age, Hayden discovered the sea and almost stumbled into acting. The ever hungry show business machine touted him as “the Most Beautiful Man in the Movies” and “the Beautiful Blond Viking God.”
In real life, Sterling was an athletic adventurer who weighed over 200 pounds and stood 6-foot-5.
But he never made it to the “A” list of Hollywood.
There were two reasons.
First, Hayden never really liked acting. Second, he was briefly a communist — not a popular enrollment in America during the 1950s. To his death, he despised his decision to cooperate with the Committee on Un-American Activities. At the height of his career and after a bitter divorce, he essentially kidnapped his children and fled, on a sailboat to Tahiti. He would later write a best-selling and critically acclaimed book: “Voyage: A Novel of 1896.” Hayden would come back to film, primarily, he said, to make money to support his boating habit. He may be most memorable as General Jack D. Ripper in the classic nuclear war satire, “Dr. Strangelove.”
On the other hand, Sinatra was just coming off his return to stardom in his Oscar-winning film, “From Here to Eternity” when he visited the SCV to make “Suddenly.”
There were mixed feelings about the Libra Productions camping out here. Although the company took only two weeks to make the film, a lot of people complained about the delays of blocking off many streets and businesses.
On the other hand, the production crew dropped a lot of money in town, especially for location fees, catering and use of local extras.
There are a few good reasons to rent this film or buy it on DVD. First, it’s not too bad a movie. Granted. You have to take it with a grain of salt and enjoy it for its period, what with all the fast “Why I oughta”-type dialogue. But the main reason to see “Suddenly” is because there is no better record of what the Santa Clarita Valley looked like in the 1950s. If you’re an old-timer, you’ll howl at some of the old landmarks — like Spruce Street and the old Saugus train depot. You’ll also twist your neck a bit because you’ll see actors walk through the front door of a recognized house in Newhall and then look out a window and you’re suddenly four miles down the road overlooking a Saugus vista.
It’s also interesting seeing Sinatra playing both bad guy and second fiddle in this low-budget drama.
Interestingly, Sinatra and Hayden crossed paths — sort of — via famed author, Mario Puzo. In Puzo’s “The Godfather,” the author created a none-too-thinly-disguised character of Johnny Fontaine, a world-famous and talented crooner/movie star who is a carbon copy of the real Frank Sinatra. (And Hayden played the crooked cop in the same movie.) Reportedly, Sinatra threatened Puzo in a Hollywood restaurant for both the similarity and for “outing” his supposed La Cosa Nostra godfather in real life.
Of course, the diminutive Sinatra was famous for threatening people. There are stories he even offered to have Woody Allen’s legs broken after the comedian started dating his wife’s Korean adopted daughter, Soon Yi Previn. At the time, Allen was married to Mia Farrow — Sinatra’s ex-wife.
Another little tidbit about Frank?
He was the first actor to be offered the role of “Dirty Harry.” He turned it down, as did John Wayne and Paul Newman. Some up-&-coming Spaghetti Western star named Clint Eastwood would get the part.
Back to “Suddenly,” it never was a box office hit. It almost disappeared completely.
Sinatra was a close friend and supporter of John F. Kennedy. When the president was assassinated in 1963, Sinatra reportedly attempted to buy every print of the film and have them all destroyed.
The similarities to his role in “Suddenly” and the killing of JFK haunted him.
Several local SCV video outlets carry the CD of “Suddenly.” It can also be purchased for a pittance and many Internet video providers.
It’s a must for any local film buff.
John Boston, a.k.a The Time Ranger, has earned 119 major awards for writing stuff. Besides The Mighty West Ranch Beacon, his work appears in the prestigious thebostonreport.net just about every darn day. His commentaries represent his own opinions and not necessarily the views of any organization he may be affiliated with or those of the West Ranch Beacon. Read Boston’s daily blog, his Daily English Muffins, the Adventures of Job Hunter and more of John Boston’s award-winning commentary on thebostonreport.net.
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