THE
GIRL WHO WAITS AND PRAYS
Modern Magazine
June 06, 1968
When a beautiful young woman sets her hopes on capturing the heart of one of America's most wanted men- a man like Frank Sinatra – she suffers unquestionable agonies when the romance falls through.
The romance didn't start out intentionally. In fact, it was all very innocent. Frank, Mia and Lee were supposed to star in The Detective . Mia's constant colds had held up production of her latest movie, Rosemary's Baby, and she was unable to keep her commitments with Frank's picture. Mia was kicked out of the movie. Lee, who had no such problems, stayed in. So did Frank.
Just about that time Frank and Mia broke up. Lee, who's marriage to producer-director Bill Colleran was already on the rocks, was fully able to sympathize with a lonely Frank. To overcome her own sense of loss, she put everything she had into the movie-and that meant putting everything she had into the several love scenes she did with Frank. In one scene, she had to be what the studio called, "ostensibly nude."
Movie scenes are rarely filmed the first time around. They have to be rehearsed and rehearsed until the actors are sometimes sick of the scene. Love scenes are no exception. But instead of becoming sick of the scenes, Lee and Frank grew more intrigued with them and put more and more feeling into them.
When a long day's shooting was over, who could blame them if they shared a cup of coffee or a cocktail? Who could blame them for crying on each other's shoulders about marriages that had gone wrong. Little by little an innocent working relationship between an actor and an actress turned into something much more explosive.
Lee held high hopes of becoming the next Mrs. Sinatra. Whether Frank knew of her hopes is not known. But Lee's hopes were dashed when Frank and Mia got together again, with Mia vowing to give up her career and her trip to India. But Mia broke her vow. She went to India. Rumor had it that she and Frankie had broken up days before her departure; Lee's decision to divorce, however, seemed definite. What will happen now, between Lee and Frankie? Insiders claim Lee will wait and pray that she'll be the next Mrs. S.
