IN his review of the new John Frankenheimer DVD box set, Dennis Lim repeats the urban legend that Frank Sinatra withdrew the film from release after Kennedy's assassination ["Recapping a Career Beyond 'Manchurian'," Jan. 20]. As the man responsible for the film's 1988 reissue (when I was at MGM/UA Classics), I must once more try to put this myth to rest.
By late 1963, the film had simply played out. The original deal was for 10 years, and it was, to put it charitably, not a very good one. When the time came to renew in 1972, Sinatra's attorneys opted to take the movie back and bury their "mistake" [of having accepted the original deal].
