While Peter Lawford and Frank Sinatra had a rocky end to their friendship, they did make some great movies together while it endured. I’m going to be exploring their relationship and the movies they made together during that time.
If you decide to purchase any of these great movies through one of the links below, I may earn a commission as an Amazon Affiliate.
Peter met Frank when they filmed It Happened in Brooklyn in 1947. This is a fun movie about a man {Sinatra} who was recently discharged from the army. He goes home where he meets a girl and helps an Englishman {Lawford} experience Brooklyn. Together, they help a talented kid get a music scholarship.
The Rat Pack wasn’t formed until later, but Frank invited Peter to join and got him a role in the movie Never So Few in 1959. Sammy Davis Jr. is mysteriously absent from this one. He and Frank were fighting at the time. During a radio interview, Sammy claimed that he was the better singer, so Frank had him dropped from the cast. They must have made up because Sammy is back in once they hit Ocean’s 11.
Peter and Frank also appeared together in Ocean’s 11 in 1960 and Sergeants 3 in 1962, shown here also with Dean Martin.
Politics and a Falling Out
Peter Lawford was JFK’s brother-in-law from 1954 through 1966. He, along with the rest of the Pack, helped to campaign for him during the election. Frank called him “Brother-in-Lawford” during this time.
JFK was to visit Frank during a West Coast trip in 1962. He even built a special helipad for the President to use, but at the urging of JFK’s brother Robert, JFK stayed with Bing Crosby instead. Robert was concerned about Frank’s rumored ties to the mob. Frank was furious at the last minute change, destroyed the helipad and ended his friendship with Peter, who he felt had failed to speak up on his behalf. Peter was not as lucky as Sammy and the two never made up.
Robin and the Seven Hoods
Their falling out affected the movie, Robin and the Seven Hoods. Frank instead cast Bing Crosby to play Alan A. Dale and only spoke to Peter once after the President incident. He asked for his help to connect with Robert, who was then the attorney general, when Frank’s son was kidnapped.
I wonder how this scene would have changed. It had been a while since Peter really sang in a movie, so I’m not sure how well this would have fit. It does really well with Bing:
While their relationship lasted, Peter and Frank made some fun movies. My favorites are It Happened in Brooklyn and Ocean’s 11. It seems interesting to me that Frank replaced Peter with Bing since that was who JFK ended up staying with. Frank probably overreacted over the whole thing, but Robin and the Seven Hoods would have been a lot different with Peter and I’m not sure that would have been a good thing. I really like Bing in this role, but I’m sure Peter would have added his own flare. It would have just been a different movie.
Links will be added as posts go up, so check back for more!
[mc4wp_form id=”583″]