L'inconnu de Las Vegas

Ocean's 11 never tries to be brilliant and is only sometimes good. The thin plot is a set up for the "boys" to look sharp (and they sometimes do), sing songs (which they do well) and to show off 1960 Las Vegas (which by today's standards looks pretty shabby).

This is a second rate heist story with a few gangsters thrown in. But after all, we have Sinatra and company. You can see that the excellent film, The Rat Pack, was very right on. Sinatra is his arrogant self. Martin is relaxed, Lawford is suave and the singing by Sammy Davis Jr. is great.

Ocean's 11 is a snap shot of what was "cool" in the ultimate era of coolness. It's all here, the clubs, the Marilyn Monroe look a likes, the flashy clothes and lots of money. It's better than imitations such as Swingers since Ocean's 11 is the source. Of course it includes the legendary bad treatment of women and African Americans. The actresses are either add-ons or pathetic martyrs (Angie Dickinson). As for Sammy, he puts up with the garbage man part, a racial slur (all in good fun of course!) and the self centeredness of these guys. I just admire him because he had to do it, so he could perform.

Back to the "fun". The boys get to be clever, then there's a surprise ending and finally we see them shuffle hung over in front of a casino. Every few years I check out Ocean's 11 not just to watch this silly movie but also to see the rats (or brats?) and chuckle (and wince) at an amazing time in the USA, baby.

The picture talks about the biggest robbery of all . Spyros Acebos (Akim Tamiroff) pulls off a scheme introducing the plans for a new business venture : simultaneously burgle five casinos in Las Vegas as Sahara , Flamingo , Golden Nugget , Riveira and Desert Inn . He agrees with Danny Ocean (Frank Sinatra) backed by a motley and eclectic gang to execute it , formed by 11 pals ( Dean Martin, Peter Lawford, Sammy Davis, Richard Conte , Norman Fell, Richard Benedict..). The crew back in action , now veterans , after fighting in Second World War at 82nd Airbone division as paratroopers . We wouldn't call it a special group just Danny Ocean and his buddies , the night they blew up all the light , shutting off the electricity in Las Vegas . Millions dollars are taken from the casinos . But the elaborated plan itself goes wrong . They encounter complications when an investigator (Cesar Romero) discovers the tracks . This adaptation achieves one of the greatest entertainments of the history of motion pictures . We never met a band like Ocean's eleven .

From the beginning until the end the comedy and giggles along with moderated action are continuous . Besides , it has got an intelligent script and an extraordinary final surprise . Significant portions of the movie interactions between major characters were ad-libbed . The actors playing the leading roles all knew each other well and improvised dialogue as well as or better than the script . For comic relief in charge of the various relationships among several characters and their numerous jokes . Splendid songs by Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr and sensitive ending song by Frank Sinatra . Appears uncredited Shirley McLayne in an agreeable comic performance , Red Skelton and George Raft as invited actors . Superb and stunning musical score by Nelson Riddle (author of Batman TV music). Enjoyable and glossy cinematography by William H. Daniels (Greta Garbo's usual photographer). Director Lewis Milestone's masterpiece of the amusement and entertainment . The movie was remade by a funny and stylish remake with George Clooney and director Steven Soderbergh and several sequels . Rating : Good and nice . Worthwhile watching.

The exception of what rule? The Rule that says (at least as listed in most books) that the original (movie) is better than the remake. Well here comes this movie, to show you, that that isn't the case. A shame then, because the stellar cast (after all you get to see the Rat Pack at work here!) promises so much more, than you actually will get out of it!

Although it seems to be more the fault of the script than the cast, I can assure you that I did watch this movie before I watched the remake (which is crucial, to not be afflicted by the impact of the movie) and it just doesn't sustain the comparison with the remake! That's how I felt!

Not the best, But if your a devoted Rat Packer.........It's a fun time and great to see them all in the Vegas of past.. when Vegas WAS VEGAS!! It was still great to see the likes of Donald O'Connor and Red Skelton as the headliners and see the elegant lounges where thery would all perform,up close and personal not for 100-300 feet away. You could walk up to them after a performance and actually chat with them as they left the stage. Everyone was dressed in suits,tuxedos, and formal dresses, wearing furs and everyone smoking. If you remember the the days of no cell phones, using the operator to make long distance calls, no computers, walkmans, cassette and 8 tracks tapes, then this is one movie you should love.

I originally saw this movie with my folks as a baby boomer kid of eight. My parent who were in their late 30s seldom went to movies but went out of their way to see this one. This was a big deal at the time, everybody's favorite celebrities in Vegas, wow! This was at a time when few could afford to go there and it was considered a far away exotic world for adventurous or special folks. I remember we had only NBC and CBS black and white television for regular entertainment essentially from 7pm to 9pm for the real stuff. For us Vegas was a dream land. We didn't really know what it was all about. Frankie and Dino acted like it was their personal playground, knew the ropes, how cool.

From that time on my folks had it in their heads they someday would visit Vegas, when they had raised the kids and retired. And that's exactly what they did although it took another 20 years. Fank and Dino weren't there but they didn't seem to mind, they made it.