Critic's Review
Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide
Nancy Sinatra's hourlong 1968 network television special Movin' With Nancy, here digitally remastered for DVD, was not the standard variety-hour special customary for stars of the time. There were no lip-synced or live songs on sound stages in front of audiences, and no spoken sketches. In essence, it's a collection of 15 music videos (though MTV was still many years away), in which Sinatra lip-synced to recordings in various colorful outdoor locations, broken up by a few indoor studio-shot scenarios. For those who value Sinatra's image, one could hardly imagine a better showcase (in color) for her gaudy, florid, and numerous period late-'60s clothing outfits, go-go boots, hairstyles, and eye make-ups. In truth, the sets and stagings can be corny. But there are some pretty cool songs here, like "Some Velvet Morning," in which Lee Hazlewood and Sinatra duet on beachside horses, and "Jackson," the sole other Hazlewood-Sinatra piece, in which they sass each other while walking down an empty southern California street. Other high points, visual and musical, include "Sugar Town" by a waterfall, "Who Will Buy?" in a deserted amusement park, and "Friday's Child" in an unclassifiably desolate field of what looks like disused factory equipment and structures. It also includes Rat Pack guest appearances by Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra (filmed recording in the studio), and Sammy Davis (who does one of network TV's first interracial kisses with Nancy in their "What'd I Say" routine); Frank Sinatra Jr. has a brief cameo. The DVD runs the program intact with the commercials from sponsor RC Cola, which are actually pretty entertaining, particularly the one featuring Dino, Desi & Billy playing at the Hollywood Bowl. The DVD extras include audio commentary from Nancy Sinatra and director Jack Haley Jr., which isn't all that exciting, but does have them talking about how various sets, clothing, and shots were chosen and filmed. It would have been good if Sinatra had talked more about the music in the commentary, and the commentary also makes some inflated claims about how pioneering the visuals on this special were, even if the program was well done by the standards of its genre. The only other DVD extras of note are a mere ten minutes of "behind-the-scenes footage," which are not outtakes but soundless clips of the sets and shots being designed and prepared. This too comes with commentary by Sinatra and Haley, though what they have to say about these scraps isn't too interesting.
