Les 3 sergents

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.

I never miss Gunga Din when it is on TV. It is a great story. When I was young, the Rat Pack remake was my favorite film, period. That this classic is not available in DVD or Video isn't fair. I want to show young kids this movie. I want to show ME this movie. Can't something be done?

This movie has had trouble being massed reproduced in this country, thus a VHS copy is something of a rare collectible. In the style of the pre 1970 western, this is pretty typical fare, stereotypical handling of Native Americans, 2 dimensional characterization, and lots of shooting. However, aside from that, the plot develops at a nice pace, although the plot (a very rough adaptation of Gunga Dinh) runs thin at times but overall does manage to hold one's interest. Fans of the Rat Pack will note that this may be their weakest movie together, but the boys are all there and working together, so how bad can this movie really be?

Ever since my childhood, the Rat Pack films have been staples on Italian TV – but, curiously enough, not this one!; still, as often happens, its long absence doesn’t necessarily make it a lost gem and, actually, it can now be seen as the least of them! In any case, a legitimate DVD edition of it has just been released in time for the 10th anniversary of Frank Sinatra’s passing – though I had to make do myself with a barely adequate VHS-to-DVD dub for this viewing…but which, surprisingly ran for 117 minutes when the film’s official length is given as 112!

Anyway, personally produced by Sinatra, this emerges as the third version of a Rudyard Kipling story: a sort of GUNGA DIN (1939) parody in Western garb – except that the original already contained strong doses of humor! Old hand W.R. Burnett wrote the script and the necessity here to follow a proper plot renders this less freewheeling than other Rat Peck outings; however, this then results in jarring bouts of violence played alongside revue-style comic sketches! The film’s major set-piece is an extended shootout between the boys and some renegade Indians in a ghost town which culminates in an outburst of fireworks and the shooting of dynamite a' la RIO BRAVO (1959); by the way, Sinatra and Dean Martin had already proved themselves in the genre – most notably with JOHNNY CONCHO (1956) and RIO BRAVO itself respectively (Martin actually became a staple of the gun-and-saddle tradition between 1956 and 1973).

With this in mind, the repartee among the stars is par for the course: Martin has the old Cary Grant role, Peter Lawford fills in for Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Sammy Davis Jr., naturally, is Din; as for Joey Bishop’s character, he usually finds himself the brunt of the boys’ jokes. Sinatra himself seems constrained by the martinet role played in GUNGA DIN by Victor McLaglen but, typically, Dino and Davis have fun with their roles. Michael Pate and Henry Silva (as father and son) feature as the rebelling Indians; incidentally, Sinatra and Silva’s next confrontation – later that year in THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE – proved far more memorable. It’s also worth pointing out that three of Bing Crosby’s sons appear here as bumbling privates.

Director Sturges was himself a Western expert and had already collaborated with Sinatra on the war adventure NEVER SO FEW (1959); he also did a number of Cavalry vs. Indians-type efforts such as ESCAPE FROM FORT BRAVO (1953) and THE HALLELUJAH TRAIL (1965; which was also largely played for laughs).

P.S. Shortly after this film’s release, Sinatra fell out badly with Lawford (even throwing him down a flight of stairs!) after President Kennedy – who was Lawford’s brother-in-law – choose to stay over at Bing Crosby’s house rather than his (due to recent allegations of Sinatra’s connection with the Mafia being uncovered) and which explains Lawford’s disappearance from subsequent Rat Pack efforts…

"Sergeants 3" was released in the time when the Rat Pack of Hollywood, Sinatra, Martin, Lawford, Davis, Bishop, etc. were in style. This may not have been one of their strongest movie efforts, but the fans of those stars and the viewing public could enjoy the tale, if it could be found, or copies made.

While serving as a retelling of the Gunga Din story, set in the Old West, the boys do put some honest effort in having Sinatra, Martin, and Lawford attempt to put down an Indian uprising, led by Henry Silva. Sammy Davis adds a delightful role as the lad that gets caught up in the action, while Joey Bishop plays an upright member of the cavalry that just can't accept the violations of rules committed by the Sergeants 3.

Would be good to see, just one more time.