A. The answer is no, according to Vic Damone in his book "Singing Was The Easy Part"?
In it Vic Damone talks about Frank Sinatra and the movie The Godfather.
According to Vic this is the now the legendary conversation with Frank Sinatra that led to Damone's refusal of the role of Johnny Fontaine in The Godfather.
He wrote: "Frank, you know this part. It's like your life story." "Yeah, yeah I know."
"What do you want me to do?"
"I don't know," he said. "It's up to you, pal. It could be good for your career, but it's a story about the mob and all that. You've got to make up your own mind. It's your career. I can't tell you what to do."
"So that didn't settle anything. In the back of my head I was still thinking. This is definitely the Sinatra story. Who's going to do that better than me? Besides which, the song Johnny Fontaine was supposed to sing at the wedding was I Have But One Heart, my song.
If I took the part I'd be singing my theme song in front of millions of people. On the other hand, the script made him out to be a kind of a weakling, a whiner. Of course, Sinatra had seen the script; there was no way he wasn't going to get hold of it. But he didn't say anything about the characterization to me, only that I had to make up my own mind. I can't imagine he cared much about the way the movie presented him. He was above that. But he was never, ever a whiner. So how could I do that?"
Damone turned it down.
"My excuse was that I wasn't able to cancel my bookings," he writes. "Afterward I got a call from one of the networks ... and they asked if Sinatra wanted me to decline it. I said no, it was my schedule. Of course, I would never ever discuss the fact that I had spoken to Frank at all."
Also Read http://www.examiner.com/frank-sinatra-in-national/the-godfather-and-from-here-to-eternity-true
To buy Vic's music or his book CLICK HERE
"The More I See You" by Vic Damone
No comments:
Post a Comment