This caper comedy, perhaps the most uncharacteristic film of director Lewis Milestone's career, stars Frank Sinatra as Danny Ocean. He pulls together a collection of ten old war buddies to pull a heist of five casinos on the same night. Not surprisingly, the characters happen to be members of the fabled Rat Pack: Sam Harmon (Dean Martin), Josh Howard (Sammy Davis Jr.) Mushy O'Connors (Joey Bishop) and Jimmy Foster (Peter Lawford). Everything goes right until, of course, something goes wrong.
Frank Sinatra stars as Danny Ocean in this crime comedy about a former paratrooper, who talks ten other ex-members of the 82nd Airborne into a plan to take five of the biggest casinos in Las Vegas for a few million dollars on New Year's Eve. Of course among the group are the legendary members of the Rat Pack: Sam Harmon (Dean Martin), Jimmy Foster (Peter Lawford), Josh Howard (Sammy Davis Jr.), and Mushy O'Connors (Joey Bishop). Danny, whose marriage to Bea (Angie Dickinson) is on thin ice, feels the skills he acquired in the service will prove more profitable in the criminal world. Not all the prospective thieves are self serving; the injured Tony Bergdorf (Richard Conte) needs the money for his son's education. But most of the men, like Josh, who won the Distinguished Service Medal and now drives a garbage truck, feel they deserved better from their country. It appears that Danny has drawn up the perfect heist--assuming they can steer clear of Duke Santos (Cesar Romero), an ex-con (and Jimmy's prospective father-in-law) who's caught wind of their scheme.
The film was released on August 10, 1960.
DVD Features:
Region 1
Snap Case
Single Side - Dual Layer
Anamorphic Widescreen - 2.35
Letterbox - 2.35
Audio:
Dolby Digital 1.0 - English
Additional Release Material:
Trailers: 2 Original Theatrical Trailers
Featurette: Documentary Segments
Bonus Footage: Frank Sinatra Live at the Sands
Audio Commentary:
1. Angie Dickinson - Star
2. Frank Sinatra, Jr. - Son of Star
Interactive Features:
Las Vegas Map
Text/Photo Galleries:
Sinatra Family Archive Photos
Director of Photography
William Daniels: Famous Cinematographer
Art Director
Nicolai Remisoff: Art Director
Review 1:
"...The first full-fledged [Rat] Pack movie....The lounge lingo is funny, and some wild swings connect..."
Source: Entertainment Weekly
pp.89-90 12/18/1998