Los tres sargentos

Why oh why can I not get a copy of this film? I can remember seeing it at the cinema many years ago. As has previously been stated, not one of the Rat Pack's best, but a very entertaining film. I can still recall many of the scenes, especially when Peter Lawford was climbing on the roof to put dynamite down a chimney and the scene when Sammy Davis Jr was buried up to his neck in the sand. As with all the Rat Pack movies, the humour is always bubbling, just beneath the surface. I would love to have my own VHS copy. Please, please does anyone know if there is one available anywhere?

If you are reading this you probably know how much fun this Rat Pack

film is to watch. You probably also have not seen it in years thanks to United Artists who own the rights. I don't think it will be made available for sale anytime soon. This is one of my favorites from this genre of film making. The reason is that I love the Rat Pack , western movies and comedies. But I think you have to be a big fan of the Rat Pack to have much interest in the film. This is why I don't think we will see it released for sale to the public. There are some folks selling copies of VHS & DVD (taped from reel). I would use caution when buying because I have spent money on some pretty bad versions over the years.

Sergeants 3 is the second and last true rat pack film because it is the only other one with all the rat packers in the cast besides Ocean's 11. I guess that's just how it is for us purists.

Anyway Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Peter Lawford are three U.S. cavalry sergeants in the days of the old west and I have to say they would have been right at home with Forrest Tucker and Larry Storch at Fort Courage. They're good fighting men, but can't quite deal with the discipline the army imposes.

They make the acquaintance of Sammy Davis, Jr. who is a newly freed slave out in the west who'd like to join the cavalry.

If this all starts to sound familiar it should because it's the plot for the RKO classic Gunga Din. And it's the reason this film hasn't been seen for years and is not out on VHS or DVD. I was fortunate to see it in the theaters way back in the day.

It's got quite a few laughs in it, the majority of them as I remember gathered by Dean Martin. He's got the part Cary Grant played in Gunga Din. Dino's persona exactly fits the role he has. Talk about undisciplined, he was lucky he had a career in the military.

The film is also memorable for the presence of three of Bing Crosby's sons by his first marriage. I have absolutely no doubt that they got cast in the film as a favor by old blue eyes to the old groaner. Philip, Dennis, and Lindsay Crosby had a quartet act with older brother Gary and they had a celebrated breakup with him. Now they were trying to get going as a trio and not having any more success.

This was also Peter Lawford's last film with the pack. Sinatra broke off relations with him completely after that famous incident when President Kennedy refused to stay at his place while in Los Angeles and opted for Bing Crosby's estate. Frank took it out on Lawford who really had nothing to do with that at all. It marked the beginning of Sinatra's rightward march into the Republican party.

Sergeants 3 is funny, not a great film by any means, but all the cast did far worse stuff. But it curiously enough marks the high point of the fabled rat pack. After this film, a whole lot of events happened including a presidential assassination and things were never the same.

Diverting Western satire in which several nutty characters attempt to stop an Indian rebellion . The ¨Rat Pack¨ is the Wildest Characters in All the West . Amusing take off on cavalry-and Indian movies in which a rambunctious temperance Sergeant called Mike Merry (Frank Sinatra) along with his cronies decide to stop Indians revolts . As Mike (Frank Sinatra) , Chip (Dean Martin) , and Larry (Peter Lawford) are three likable , brawling U. S. Cavalry sergeants stationed in Indian Territory in 1870 . Meantime , a telegraph office being attacked by Indians led by Chief Mountain Hawk (Henry Silva) , then chaos and wreak havoc ensue . One night the three partners befriend a trumpet-playing former slave , Jonah Williams, who dreams of someday becoming a trooper soldier . A tribe of fanatical Indians begin terrorizing the area, and the obstinate , lusty Chip decides to try the capture of their chief.

Demystified as well as amiable Western was one of a group of diverse characters changed the concept of this particular genre each bent on disproving a popular myth , yet tinged with humor , spoof and combining with anti-heroes , crazy Indians and many other things . W.R. Burnett's screenplay besides having more than its fair scraps of funny lines , throws up rich characters . Entertaining and funny Western but too dependant on the charisma of main players . This wacky Western is packed with mayhem , lots of silly laughters and great entertainment and fun . The picture is basically a remake of Gunga Din set in the American "Wild West" ; after filming was completed, the producers discovered they needed to secure the rights to the original story. They were forced to pay a large fee to the copyright owners before the film could be released . This is an amusing Western with some Hollywood major stars reunited by Frank ¨Robbo¨ Sinatra , incarnating a first Sergeant and his friends . It's a ¨Rat Pack¨ version of Old West with Frank Sinatra and his boys as good Sergeants in their last outing . This movie was well featured for three swaggering Sergeants as Sinatra , Dean Martin , Peter Lawford along with the soldier Sammy Davis Jr . This is a typical Rat Pack vehicle such as ¨ Ocean's eleven(1960) ¨, ¨ Four for Texas (63)¨ and finally ¨Cannoball run II (1984)¨ with the sympathetic trio Frank Sinatra-Sammy Davis Jr-Dean Martin .

The motion picture was professionally by John Sturges , though no originality . This is one of various and inferior works of his long career as filmmaker , shooting splendid westerns . ¨Three Sergeants¨ is very funny though lumbering flick . Sturges began his directing career at Columbia Pictures, where from 1946-49 he he worked on "12-day wonders" ("B" pictures shot on a 12-day schedule). From there he moved on to MGM where he filmed more "B" pictures, albeit on a larger budget . He established an independent production company in 1959, releasing through United Artists. From 1960-67 he worked under contract for United Artists. His first major hit was the western Dog Day at Black Rock (1955) , which he shot in just three weeks, wrapping up virtually every scene in a single take . He specialized in robust action pictures, particularly westerns. He excelled at bringing to life tautly written stories about tough characters facing difficult circumstances . Throughout his career he regularly alternated hits with misses . He has also been criticized for his lack of stylistic trademarks , though his best films remain exciting to watch . Sturges was expert on all kind of genres , but especially warlike such as : ¨Great Escape¨, ¨Ice Station Zebra¨ and ¨Eagle has landed¨ and Western such as ¨Last train of Gun Hill¨, ¨Magnificent Seven¨, ¨Backlash¨, ¨Hallelujah trail¨ , ¨Law and Jake Webb¨, ¨Joe Kidd¨ and Chino¨, among others . This acceptable Western parody will appeal to Frank Sinatra , Dean Martin and Sammi Davis Jr fans .

This insipid rip-off of Gunga Din by Frank Sinatra and his rat pack is a crass lazy made remake set in the American West that remains inferior in every way to the original. A follow up to Ocean's 11, these swinging cats trade in their civvies for calvary blue and continue their nightclub routine, looking very much out of place.

More or less a carbon copy of the classic, the boys get to act like overgrown kids but without the panache or comic stylings of Grant and company. The humor is forced, the action slapstick and in spite of having John Sturges in the director's chair mostly a sloppy burlesque of adventure story telling. Seargeants Three deserves court-marshalling.