Assault on a Queen

Frank Sinatra just got tired of challenges in his movie parts during the mid sixties and this film is the perfect example of same. Sinatra is doing a pale imitation of Humphrey Bogart's character in To Have And Have Not and he's even got a drunken companion in Errol John, just like Bogey had Walter Brennan. In walks Lauren Bacall in the form of Virna Lisi into Sinatra's life. Only problem is she's already spoken for by Tony Franciosa.

Tony, Virna, and former U-Boat captain Alf Kjellin are hunting for sunken treasure and hire Sinatra as a diver. When he spots a sunken U-Boat the plans change. Oh, boy we're going to become pirates instead and we're going to rob the Queen Mary. Along the way the gang picks up Richard Conte who became a Sinatra hanger-on in the last years of his career. He's a mechanic who fixes up the boat, barely.

Well these geniuses with thousands of miles of open sea to do their crime, decide to rob the Queen in U.S. waters where the Coast Guard is operating. What happens to this bunch and their budding careers as pirates is the rest of the movie.

Sinatra just sails through this part on his hipster reputation and Virna Lisi is decorative. The acting honors go to Tony Franciosa who actually tries to do some serious acting in his part as charming sleazeball Victor Rossiter.

The script is by Rod Serling who should have stuck to the surreal world of The Twilight Zone. And Duke Ellington contributed an original jazz score. Around that time Sinatra and Ellington did an album together called Francis A. meets Edward K. Now that was good collaboration.

Old Blue Eyes should have stuck to the charter boat and diving in this film.

The former Navy military and friends Mark Brittain (Frank Sinatra) and Linc Langley (Errol John) are hired by the treasure hunters Vic Rossiter (Anthony Franciosa), Rosa Lucchesi (Virna Lisi) and Eric Lauffnauer (Alf Kjellin) to dive seeking a sank boat with a treasure. Mark finds a World War II German submarine instead and they decide to recover the submarine to heist the Queen Mary. The mechanic Tony Moreno (Richard Conte) joins the team and they use the submarine that is partially sailing to lure the Captain of the Queen Mary to steal the safe. Will their plan work?

"Assault on a Queen" is an adventure with a silly premise. The idea of recovering a submarine after twenty years sank in sea waters is stupid and practically impossible. Sailing an old submarine with a small unexperienced crew is also terrible. Last but not the least, the lack of chemistry between Frank Sinatra and Virna Lisi destroys any chance of a successful romantic pair. My vote is four.

Title (Brazil): "Assalto a um Transatlântico" ("Assault on a Transatlantic")

This movie is the perfect entertainment for everyone who likes either ships, U-Boats and/or Frank Sinatra... Although the main story is nothing but a fantasy plot, the movie works out pretty well. Mainly because of Franky's outstanding performance and some interesting dialogue. Don't miss the 'crushing' climax...

Assault on a Queen offers an intriguing, albeit far-fetched, caper on the high seas. To say "far-fetched" is a bit of an understatement really. Clearly all of the scenes underwater were shot in a pool (you can clearly see the sides of the pool). In addition, the scenes towards the end of the film are almost laughable. Still, since this film was not filmed with our modern technology, its understandable that some of these features are not up to snuff. However, there are far too many holes in the plot to make up for the lack of sophisticated filming. From the timetables used by the crew to the strategies to the final scene everything is just too hard to believe. The acting does not enhance the film either, making each character a bit predictable and wooden.

Pros: Incredibly interesting narrative idea. Cons: Tired acting, unbelievable plot and low quality stunts. 5/10.

This 'start studded' seawater heist is a clapped together Paramount pantomime with terrible studio scenes apparently pretending to be inside a submarine and some deck bound extra shots on the real Queen Mary. the last 40 minutes of the film are just stupefying with the sort of Navy surplus store fittings not seen on screen since THE QUEEN OF OUTER SPACE tried to fool us with hardware store bunks and pipes. Frank Sinatra gives his usual one note acting performance, and the hilarious scenes where their toy submarine apparently gets stuck under the Queen Mary allows the sedated viewer to see the bottom of the swimming pool in which they are filmed. One scene at the end where the Coast Guard ship is supposed to ram the submarine is, incredulously, filmed in the studio using a screen of the ship bow, a bucket of water flung across the set and then the cardboard conning tower is pushed over. Virna Lisi is hilarious as she totters about the submarine, gasping and hold in on for dear life. If you had paid for a ticket to this in any year you'd want a refund or a good look at Ms Lisi's treasure chest at least.