It's been a decade since Frank Sinatra left the board without a chairman. The Pack's head Rat, the voice that defined popular music in the 20th century and a performer who established himself as both an exceptional actor and master musician, Sinatra died 10 years ago Wednesday.

Although he has been gone since 1998 and was mostly out of the public eye for at least as many years before he died, Sinatra remains an iconic entertainment figure. To commemorate the man, the impact he still has on popular culture and the stellar songs and films he left for fans over the course of about 60 years in the business, I'd like to offer five of my favorite films featuring the man oft-referred to as Ol' Blue Eyes:

ON THE TOWN (1949): A quietly revolutionary film, On the Town is a simple enough story, even by musical terms. Three sailors, played by Gene Kelly, Jules Munshin and Sinatra, hit the Big Apple looking for laughs and love. What makes the movie so important is that it was the first big Hollywood musical to take the action off the soundstage and put it onto the street; in this case, New York.

FROM HERE TO ETERNITY (1953): Eternity is a landmark film that features Sinatra as an Army private stationed in Hawaii and bristling under the discipline of a cruel stockade sergeant. The role went a long way toward proving Sinatra's worth as a dramatic actor. The best supporting actor Oscar he won for the part didn't hurt, either.

THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN ARM (1955): This was one of the first films to deal frankly with drug addiction and stars Sinatra as Frankie Machine, a strung-out addict struggling not only with addiction but also the pressure of marriage and debts owed to the wrong people. A powerful film that fought to find an audience and now ranks as a highlight for Sinatra and its director, Otto Preminger.

THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE (1962): One of the great paranoid thrillers features Sinatra in the role of a brainwashed soldier who comes to terms with the damage done to his psyche and the threat posed by a comrade-in-arms. A brilliant, and sharply savage film that still feels very contemporary.

VON RYAN'S EXPRESS (1965): This war film dares to cast its star as a not-particularly-likeable antihero. Sinatra is an American pilot in World War II. Shot down, captured and placed as the ranking officer in a camp full of mostly British prisoners, he masterminds a big break that involves the hijacking of a transport train. A great film that deals with some of the moral dilemmas of war.

Reach Steven Uhles at (706) 823-3626 or steven.uhles@augustachronicle.com.