Aretha Franklin's 'Sparkle' soundtrack is a neglected classictoggle caption Express Newspapers/Hulton Archive/Getty ImagesThe 1976 movie Sparkle follows the troubles and triumphs of a trio of singers — based loosely on The Supremes — trying to make it in the soul-music world of the 1960s. Sparkle was the film debut of Irene Cara, who'd become a big star four years later in the movie Fame. The movie was only a modest success, and what now seems most impressive about Sparkle are Curtis Mayfield's songs, as sung by Aretha Franklin. This is what I mean about Sparkle being such an underrated achievement for both Franklin and Mayfield. But the collaboration between Franklin and Mayfield transcends the movie.