Assault on a Queen (1966)

Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Remember how exciting The African Queen was, when Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn, a very unlikely pair, unite to attack a German boat during WWI? Well, if you liked that movie, watch it again. Assault on a Queen is nothing like it, even though the plot involves an unlikely group uniting to "assault" a boat in an old WW2 German submarine they've adopted.The band of misfits includes the slick thief Anthony Franciosa, his bombshell lover Virna Lisi, the reluctant Errol John, a tired Frank Sinatra, Richard Conte, and Alf Kjellin. With Tony and Frankie, there's more than just a tug-of-war for Virni's, well, let's be nice and say her heart; they also frequently argue about who's really in charge of the mission. Tony's pretty clearly drawn out to be the bad guy, since he racially bates Errol John, pimps out his girlfriend to mess with Frankie's head, and plans the heist.I've seen a lot of heist movies, but this one just doesn't cut the mustard. Maybe it was the timing, or maybe the characters were too one-dimensional, but Assault on a Queen isn't very thrilling.

As a lifelong Sinatra fan I long ago learned to distinguish between fan as in admirer and fan as in fanatic and there are plenty of the latter who would find something praise-worthy in this pedestrian heist movie which definitely belongs in the same category as Four For Texas, The Kissing Bandit, Double Dynamite etc. The premise is simple not to say simple minded. Sinatra and Errol John are partners in a boat they charter by the day, much like Jack Lemmon and Robert Mitchum in Fire Down Below. Short of cash they agree to dive in search of sunken treasure on behalf of Tony Franciosa and Virna Lisi. Whilst diving Sinatra stumbles on a U-boat on the ocean floor and unbelievable as it sounds the group decide to raise it to the surface, refurbish it and rob the Queen Mary. It ends in tears. Nuff said.

I rated this movie as a 10, not so much because it was one of his best, but it's surely much better than some of his other much less popular movies that have transferred to DVD.I am dumbfounded why this hasn't been re-released on DVD. Admittedly, its a little dated, lacking in many of the photographic tricks available in that time, but it is a good story, has a relatively good cast, and also has a fine score by Duke Ellington.Over the years, I've written may times to the Sinatra family, and what I believe to be the copyright holders, but I've never received a reply (not that I expected to anyway). My fear that many popular films with A-List stars like this one, will be lost to obscurity.In my opinion (for what its worth), there is a lot of dud movies being released on DVD these days, and it makes no sense why some of these lost gems are being bypassed.

Although some of the underwater scenes in this film were pretty good, I am afraid I found the film a frightful bore. The only thing that raised me from my torpor was a glaring error.Anthony Franciosa is supposed to be impersonating a British naval officer. He is told to pronounce lieutenant "leftenant" the British way and not "lootenant" the American way. But Anthony Franciosa let's a "lootenant" slip out, and nearly ruins the whole operation, getting away with it by claiming a Canadian connection. Only one problem: in the Royal Navy it is correct to leave the f sound out, so, by saying "lootenant", Anthony Franciosa was doing nothing wrong. This is just careless by Rod Serling the scriptwriter, and, as another commenter said, Rod Serling should have stuck to The Twilight Zone. And I'm not impressed with Mr Franciosa's research for his part either.