Ocean's Eleven (1960)

Sorry, this movie sucks

Good , But It Is Overrated By Some

Fantastic!

Best movie ever!

If you've already seen the remake, you'll probably fall asleep while watching the original 1960 Ocean's 11. Gone are the quick cuts, dizzying camera angles, and snappy incidental music. I didn't like the remake, despite the extras. The egos radiating off the screen were just too much for me. It was practically grotesque, how everyone seemed to say, "Look at me! I'm remaking Ocean's 11!" And considering the amount of ego present in the original, for the remake to top it is quite remarkable.The first fifty-five minutes of the film is one gigantic set-up. All the characters are introduced and developed, and it's made abundantly clear that everyone is waiting around for a big plan to be revealed. Frank Sinatra has trouble with his wife, Angie Dickinson, and his mistress, Patrice Wymore, Peter Lawford has to adjust to his new step-father Cesar Romero, Richard Conte has just gotten out of jail and wants to reconnect with his young son; the list continues. If the first half was merely character development, it wouldn't have been so boring, but the endless, "When are we going to talk about that thing?" got very old very fast. After fifty-five minutes, we learn that the big plan is to rob five Las Vegas casinos in one night.This is a Rat Pack classic, with the gang in their natural Las Vegas habitat. Shirley MacLaine makes a silly cameo, and it feels like she just happened to be in the neighborhood and wanted to hang out with the guys. If you want to sit through a slightly boring heist movie, go ahead. But I prefer a little more excitement out of my Frank Sinatra movies, like The Man with the Golden Arm or Suddenly.

I guess I should confess at the beginning that I'm an avid Dean Martin fan. But even having said that, this is hardly my favorite Dean Martin film. Oh yes, it's a clever little movie, but to me, the problem with the film is one major flaw -- we're supposed to root for thieves. There are no good guys in this film. They're all crooks. They blow the power going into Las Vegas, depriving everyday people of electricity, some in hospitals, some on oxygen machines, whatever. Yet, again, we are expected to root for them. Sorry, but for me, that's a bit of a problem. If there is one character that you can have a little empathy for, it's Richard Conte's character.Of course, the film also seems very dated today. Not because it's the Rat Pack...they seem almost timeless. But this is the Las Vegas of yesteryear.. Which is okay. It's just dated.And I also dislike the premise of this film -- we're swingers...aren't we just the coolest thing ever? Now I know you're thinking that hey, that guy just doesn't like the Rat Pack. Actually, that's not true. "sergeants 3" is pretty decent. "4 For Texas" is okay. I very much like "Robin & The Seven Hoods".Another problem is that for much of the film, it drags., particularly in the middle of the film.And my final complaint is that much of the film moves kind of slow with too much talk and little action.As to the cast, pretty good. Frank Sinatra is fine here as Danny Ocean, but this is about as far away from his best performances as can be; and I do think that Sinatra was a darned good actor. Dean Martin plays Dean Martin, which is pleasant enough. Sammy Davis, Jr. certainly does better here than he did in "Robin & The Seven Hoods" (where he was little more than a supporting actor); but of course, the Black guy drives the garbage trucks and picks up the stash at the dump). Peter Lawford was quite good as the spoiled rich boy. Richard Conte has the more serious role of a loser who is preparing to die and wants to leave his little boy enough money to go to college. Joey Bishop is interesting in that he plays against character -- a very self-assured cog in the machine. Angie Dickinson is here as the somewhat love interest for Frank Sinatra; not a very impressive role, but she does fine. I always enjoy seeing Cesar Romero. Akim Tamiroff is somewhat interesting as the financial backer of the effort.So, what's interesting about the film? Well, Dino singing the once banned "Ain't That A Kick In The Head". A funny cameo by Red Skelton trying to gamble. And an even funnier cameo of a drunk Shirley MacLaine flirting with Dino. It's also interesting to see a cameo by George Raft.It's a pretty average film that is less than its reputation. But it's worth watching...once...or more if you're a fan of any members of the Rat Pack.Simply because it's a Dean Martin film I recently purchased the Blu-Ray version. It's a very nice transfer.

Of Interest only as an Artifact, its Artificiality is Acute and its Antiquity is Apparent. It Epitomizes the Plastic and Forced Cool of the Participants and what Passed for Breezy, Aloof, Non-Conformity. Truth is, All of this Non-Conformity was nothing but Packaged Personalities Manufactured for Easy Consumption by Pseudo-Anti-Conformists.It Doesn't Age Well, it Doesn't Wear Well, and its Facade gets more Glaring with each Passing Year. It is a Perfect Personification of the Stale and Inhibited Demeanor of its Time that was about to Change in a Few Years as all of the Make-Up and Stiffness was Posed to Give Way to a more Honest and Freewheeling Culture. This kind of Stuff just Had to Go. It's Expiration Date had Arrived.The Movie is Excruciatingly Dull, Not Funny, and Barely Entertaining except for a Chance to See Big-Name Stars On the Screen in Portrait.Nothing comes off as Easy-Going, Natural, or Ad-Lib as it is often Sighted. In Fact, just the Opposite. Everything looks Scripted, Staged, and Performed, no matter how many Cigarettes or Drinks are Passed Around.Cesar Romero and Richard Conte (non Rat-Packers) are the only ones with any Apparent Dignity. The Songs are a Waste, with Sammy's "EE-OH Eleven" Embarrassing and Dino's "Ain't that a Kick in the Head", much Better On Record. Sinatra doesn't even Bother with a Tune and Wears some of the Ugliest Sweaters Imaginable.Overall, only for Die-Hard Rat-Pack Fans and to See what passed for Highly Stylized Fluff in 1960 and a Last Gasp for this Type of "Cool", that would Soon be Laid to Rest and then just to be Sure it was Dead, Cremated.

I love time capsule movies. Something that takes you back to an actual place and time, that is shot on location, not a studio…so you actual feel your you are experiencing a certain time and place, with authentic clothing, hair styles and hearing the colloquialisms used at the time. "Oceans 11" does 2 things well. It takes you back in time to Las Vegas, 1960, that has little resemblance to today's Vegas of monumental skyscraper resorts, owned by multi-national corporations. 1960 Vegas was only about a decade after Bugsy Siegel had his vision of turning the Flamingo Hotel and consequently the LV strip into a vacation mecca for adults to drink, dine, catch top entertainment and above all legally gamble, in comparatively plush surroundings.O-11 also lets you in for a look at the dichotomy of Frank Sinatra's Rat Pack in 1960, when Sinatra was the king of cool and entertainment and the Pack, the Clan, whatever you want to call them, were at their pinnacle and Vegas was their playground, courtesy of the mob, who knew Frank, Dino and Sammy would bring in the high rollers. Less than a decade earlier Sinatra looked like he was washed up. He was having trouble with his voice, MGM dropped him and he had abandoned his wife and 3 kids for Ava Gardner. Sinatra's voice came back and he made some critically acclaimed albums, plus a number of excellent movie roles, displaying his versatility in musicals, comedy and drama. Dean Martin had gotten tired of being Jerry Lewis' straight man and had made a successful transition to a solo act, as had Sammy Davis who had left the Will Mastin Trio earlier in the decade. Peter Lawford had been a contract player at MGM, usually getting a lead in their college musicals. He was dumped by MGM in the early 50's and probably headed to career oblivion until he married into the Kennedy family in 1954. He was no pal of Sinatra's, having been one of Ava Gardner's many lovers. But "brother-in-Lawford" would allow Frank an access to hang out with JFK, who was about to go out on the biggest stage of all in 1960. Which in turn made Lawford a member in highest standing at the time and he may actually have the largest part in O-11.Sinatra is Danny Ocean, who was a Sergeant in the 82nd Airborne. As for the rest of his background, we know he likes to gamble and he likes danger, as we are reminded by Angie Dickinson, playing his estranged wife Bea, "There's only one thing you love, Danny: that's danger. Cliffhanging. You could never love a woman like you love danger." O-11 is loaded with plenty of terrible dialogue, similar to this. Lawford is playing a spoiled rich kid, who was an officer in their unit, although he is clearly subservient to Sinatra's Ocean. Dino is a Vegas lounge singer (he knocks out a great version of "Ain't That Kick In the Head") and Sammy is the world's most talented garbage man. As for the rest of the 11, with the exception of Richard Conte, playing an ex-con who just found out he's terminal with lung cancer ("look Doc, give it to me straight-is it the big casino?") their roles aren't really too important. Although Buddy Lester, playing Vince who is now an MC at a strip club does have an entertaining bit. After we see a rather fleshy stripper named Lolita dancing with a boa constrictor, Vince introduces his wife, another dancer named Honeyface. After Frank and Lawford let Vince in on their plan for the heist, he expresses some concern about the feasibility of it. "Think of me dead." To which Sinatra actually replies -"Oh stop talking like a kid." Indeed, even when Dino expresses concern about how sensible it would be to rob casinos run by the mob (in an era when pit bosses would routinely have card counters hands broken) this is ridiculed by Lawford, "some guys grow old without turning chicken." Of course, eventually everyone is all in on the heist. They pull it off without anyone getting hurt, except for Conte who falls over dead on the strip from a heart attack. And after Frank and Lawford witness this, Frank gives some orders to Lawford, telling him to do this, etc. Peter turns to Dino and says in another bit of unintended bad dialogue "He's taking it very hard." O-11 also has a good bit by Cesar Romero, as Duke Santos, a reformed mobster who is squiring Lawford's rich divorced mother. Duke gets hired by the casinos to recover their stolen loot. There are also cameos by George Raft (who was a close friend of Siegel) Red Skelton (playing a himself] and Shirley McClaine has a cute bit with Dino as a drunk on the town on NY Eve. As for the Rat Pack, who were also doing their act at night while filming in the daytime, they have one thoroughly unfunny scene standing around a pool table that sounds like a routine from their act. Made a famous photo though. In any case, if you can tolerate the silly dialogue, it is fun to revisit the Rat Pack at their peak an era when tobacco was considered a vegetable and a cocktail went with anything at any time.