Synopsis

SYNOPSIS:

Films include Ocean's Eleven (1960), Sergeants 3 (1962), 4 For Texas (1963), and Robin and the Seven Hoods (1964).
Special features include Rat Pack playing cards, ten behind-the-scenes photo cards, eight Sergeant's 3 full-color lobby card reproductions; and a 24-page reproduction of the original 1960 Ocean’s Eleven press book.

Ocean’s ElevenForty years before George Clooney became Danny Ocean, Frank Sinatra was the suave criminal mastermind teaming up with a gang of pals to pull off a massive Las Vegas score. Their goal: to rob five casinos at once on a raucous New Year’s Eve. The picture that gave birth to the Rat Pack—Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop—is also a classic heist flick, a wisecracking caper with a twist ending.

Sergeants 3
First, the Rat Pack took on Vegas; two years later, they went back in time about 150 years and saddled up as cavalry officers out to quell a Native American uprising. A loose, jokey remake of Gunga Din, it found the gang’s loose-limbed camaraderie unaffected by the difference in clothes, rides and centuries. 4 For TexasThey hang out in casinos, the way they did in Ocean’s Eleven. They’re traipsing through the Wild West, just as they were in Sergeants 3.  Splitting the difference between the first two installments, the third entry in the Rat Pack filmography (though it’s minus Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop) finds Sinatra and Martin playing business rivals in 1870s Texas. Along the way, they battle a pair of formidable foes in Victor Buono and Charles Bronson, and woo a pair of lovely ladies in Anita Ekberg and Ursula Andress.

Robin and the 7 Hoods
Sammy’s back, Bing Crosby is tagging along, and the setting is Sinatra’s kind of town.  A twist on Robin Hood set in Depression-era Chicago, this one centers on dueling mob bosses, one of them (Sinatra, of course) stealing from the rich and giving to a poor orphanage. The Sammy Cahn/Jimmy Van Heusen songs, including “My Kind of Town,” make it the most musically satisfying of the Rat Pack movies.

Cast & Crew

Ocean’s Eleven
Directed by Lewis Milestone
Produced by Lewis Milestone
Written by Harry Brown, Charles Lederer
Cast: Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford
Cinematography: William H. Daniels
Editing: Philip W. Anderson
Music: Nelson Riddle
Released by Warner Bros.

Sergeants 3
Directed by John Sturges
Produced by Frank Sinatra, Howard W. Koch (executive producer)
Written by W. R. Burnett
Cast: Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford, Joey Bishop, Henry Silva, Ruta Lee
Cinematography: Winton C. Hoch
Editing: Ferris Webster
Music: Billy May
Released by United Artists

4 For Texas
Directed by Robert Aldrich
Produced by Robert Aldrich
Written by Teddi Sherman, Robert Aldrich
Cast: Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Anita Ekberg, Ursula Andress, Charles Bronson, The Three Stooges
Cinematography: Ernest Laszlo
Editing: Michael Luciano
Music: Nelson RiddleReleased by Warner Bros. Pictures

Robin and the 7 Hoods
Directed by Gordon Douglas
Produced by Frank Sinatra
Written by David R. Schwartz
Cast: Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Bing Crosby, Peter Falk, Edward G. Robinson
Cinematography: William H. Daniels
Editing: Sam O'Steen
Music: Nelson Riddle
Released by Warner Bros.

Description

Sinatra called them “pictures the people enjoy,” and part of the kick of the Rat Pack movies was seeing just how much the lead actors were sharing in that enjoyment. Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford, Joey Bishop, and Frank Sinatra—when they weren’t cutting up onstage, they were robbing casinos (Ocean’s Eleven) or running gambling dens (Robin and the 7 Hoods) in a series of loose, wisecracking salutes to fun and fellowship.