Sinatra 'Almost Got Caught Carrying $3.5m Mafia Cash'

The Telegraph (UK) ^ | 5-5-2005 | Catherine Elsworth

[sinkspur]

I remember Joey Bishop but I didn't have any strong feelings about him.

I remember Bishop in a couple of movies, and vaguely remember he appeared on a few TV shows, but never really got him as a comedian or anything else.

I never paid much attention to Frank Sinatra when I was young, but, man oh man, I love his singing now. We listen to him and Tony Bennett all the time.

[Muleteam1]

I can't recall any of those movies at the moment, but I would guess you are right.

Muleteam1

[Skooz]

I plugged in a Sinatra CD during a road trip in January. I had never really listened to him before. I haven't listened to much else since.

I've become a fan.

Just bought another CD on Saturday (Great Performances 1953 - 1960). Good stuff.

[durasell]

Wasn't it:

Emilio Estevez, Anthony Michael Hall, Rob Lowe, Andrew McCarthy, Demi Moore, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald and Ally Sheedy

[Skooz]

I never paid much attention to Frank Sinatra when I was young, but, man oh man, I love his singing now.

Ditto. Big time.

[RJL]

Lewis said that Sinatra was going through customs with a briefcase containing "three and a half million in fifties" and that customs officials opened the case.

While I don't doubt that Frank was mobbed up, $3.5 million is 70,000 $50 bills. It must have been quite a "briefcase".

[Reaganwuzthebest]

If you get a chance to see "The Man with the Golden Arm" if you haven't yet that was excellent. "Suddenly" was pretty good too.

[sharktrager]

The Rat Pack actually was much larger. It was originally Bogart and his crew and just kind of morphed over the years.

That said, Lewis and Martin weren't exactly close after their team broke up.

[timydnuc]

Frank was always a hero of mine. It is no wonder that he had mob connections, look where he came from. He had a drive and he believed in the American dream. By the sheer force of his will and his talent he made it to the top. I loved the "Rat Pack" as well. Dean was another one of my favorites. The man invented "cool".

[Swordmaker]

3.5 Million? In a briefcase?

"A million dollars in new 100 dollar bills has a volume of 643 cubic inches." - US Mint

So 3.5 million dollars would be ~2251 cubic inches.

The average brief case is 3"x18"x12" = 648 cubic inches... just big enough for $1 million. This "brief" case would have to be 10.5 inches thick!

If the cash was unmarked, random serialized, used bills like those prefered in organized crime transfers, the volume increases by 50% ... giving a brief case of 22" thick. If it were $20 bills (also the prefered denomination) the brief case is now the size of a couple of steamer trunks.

Now, if he had said "bearer bonds" then I might believe this story.

[scott says]

I'm 40, not an old guy or anything and Sinatra blows me away. I grew up listening to him and when I started collecting music he was one of my favorites.I highly recommend the 16 cd set 'Concepts", which covers all his Capitol concept LPS-classics! If that is too much for you, the MUST HAVE cds are Songs For Swingin Lovers,A Swingin Affair,Sinatras Swingin Session...Do yourself a favor and get these cds you will really enjoy them!

[Swordmaker]

Oops, I missed the "in fifities" in the article... multiply my figures by 2.

[Swordmaker]

of course, "fifities" might be a lot smaller than "fifties." That is if you can get Fifi to remove them... which might be fun.

[Muleteam1]

I used to play guitar a bit but it seems that as I have gotten older I have sort of drifted away from music, even listening to it. I think the last album I listened to was Tish Hinojosa while driving from New Mexico to Texas.

We should all turn off the talk shows and news and listen to music. It would make us all feel better. Dancing to music even helps more as I seem to recall. :)

Muleteam1

[Captainpaintball]

he was a draft dodger to boot.

Wrong. His punctured eardrum prevented him from serving. But he did do his part by starring in a US Army produced movie "The House I Live In," which earned him an Academy Award.

[blam]

[IndyTiger]

Brings to mind the "reunion" staged at the MDA telethon in '76, I think, that Sinatra set up to get Martin and Lewis back on stage together.

[Muleteam1]

I don't recall those movie titles but then I grew up in the late 1950s and 60s where we had one television channel. That was about 1960 I think when my dad brought a TV home. That single channel went off the air at around 9:00 pm.

Someone just mentioned Bogart in regard to the Rat Pack. I really like most of his movies. I just watched Casa Blanca this past rainy weekend.

Muleteam1

[ikka]

Two I recommend:

"Sinatra Reprise - The Very Good Years"

Capitol Collectors Series Frank Sinatra

Both excellent. The phrasing is great.

[Mr. Jeeves]

According to Vanity Fair, the authors do not claim that Lewis witnessed the customs incident but related the account "as a fact of which he had knowledge".

So the magazine says that the authors say that Lewis said that somebody else said that Frank did this? ;)

Frank is the greatest. I think you've got to be a little older to appreciate him, but once you discover his music you can listen to him all day.