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Monday, April 17 | 3 Films

The Rat Pack were the coolest cats of mid-Century pop culture. A collective spearheaded by Frank Sinatra and consisting of Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop as members, this powerhouse group of entertainers were carefree and at ease with their talents and celebrity. The members dominated the nightclub scene, popular movies and variety shows. About the group’s appeal journalist Ronald Brownstein wrote, “The Rat Pack embodied Hollywood’s… deepest unspoken appeal—that as its final reward, fame offered a life without rules, without the constraints of fidelity, monogamy, sobriety and the dreary obligation to show up at a job every morning.”

The group began with Humphrey Bogart who enjoyed entertaining with his industry friends. His wife, actress Lauren Bacall, was known to give the group its famous moniker “The Rat Pack.”

After Bogart’s death, Frank Sinatra began his own group of hangers on whom he called the Clan, a name he preferred over “Rat Pack.” Sinatra, Martin and Davis Jr. developed a nightclub act performing in Las Vegas casinos in the 1950s. As fellow entertainers Joey Bishop and Peter Lawford joined them on stage, the group developed a shtick in which their standard musical numbers would be interrupted with verbal jabs and improvisation. This mix of sophistication and chaos excited casino audiences and made the Rat Pack the most sought after show. As their shtick grew in popularity it cemented the group as some of the biggest pop culture icons of their era.

Over the span of four years the Rat Pack made four movies: Ocean’s 11 (1960), Sergeants 3 (1962), 4 for Texas (1963) and Robin and the 7 Hoods (1964). While Sergeants 3 was an independent production, the other three were in partnership with Warner Bros. and that collaboration was largely due to Frank Sinatra’s relationship with studio head Jack Warner.

The first of the Rat Pack movies at Warner Bros. began when Peter Lawford presented Frank Sinatra with a movie idea. According to Harlow Robinson, author of the book “Lewis Milestone: Life and Films”, “Ocean’s 11 originated in a story told by a gas station attendant to a Hollywood assistant director, who told it to Peter Lawford… the attendant had served in the U.S. Army in Germany during WWII. His outfit managed to dismantle some valuable radio equipment and smuggle it piece by piece out of the country.” The story evolved into a comedic caper in which a group of former WWII commandos join forces to simultaneously rob five Las Vegas casinos. Sinatra was elated with the idea, especially since it offered plenty of roles for his comrades. It didn’t hurt that his production company Dorchester Productions already owed one film to Warner Bros. Sinatra and Lawford pitched the idea to Jack Warner who agreed to the project.

Not only is Ocean’s 11 a time capsule of the glamour and kitsch of mid-Century Las Vegas, it’s also the most Rat Pack of the Rat Pack movies as it showcases their talents and style all while in familiar territory. All of the principal members of the Rat Pack had roles in the movie as did auxiliary members Angie Dickinson, Shirley MacLaine and Henry Silva.

Lewis Milestone was assigned to direct the picture. It was an unlikely project for Milestone, however, his career suffered due to mostly being blacklisted in the industry for having suspected communist ties. Milestone worked closely with the writing team to transform the script into something that would appease both Sinatra and Warner. Much of the dialogue in the film was improvised, effectively capturing what made the Rat Pack’s natural appeal. During production, the principal members of the Rat Pack would film by day and perform at the Sands casino by night. Their real names can be spotted on the marquee, most notably in the film’s famous ending shot.

Ocean’s 11 premiered in the summer of 1960 and was a box office hit. Jack Warner immediately set his sights on a partnership with Sinatra who had proved to be a bankable star. According to James Kaplan, author of the book ”Sinatra: The Chairman”, “Jack Warner was willing to do almost anything to sign Frank Sinatra…” and Warner entered into lengthy negotiations with Sinatra’s manager Mickey Rudin. A multi-part arrangement was made. First Warner Bros. Records would purchase Sinatra’s Reprise Records for $1.5 million with Sinatra maintaining 33% percent share and the ownership of his own masters. Secondly, Sinatra would become an executive assistant at Warner Bros. and part of his duties included consulting on future theatrical and television productions. A bungalow called Sinatra Enterprises was built on the studio lot, giving Sinatra’s new business ventures a home base. The cherry on top came when Jack Warner agreed to a two-picture deal with Sinatra. 

Unfortunately this happened around the same time the Rat Pack hit a snag. After their second movie Sergeants 3 hit theaters, the group splintered when two key figures, Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop, fell out of favor with “Chairman” Sinatra. Bishop’s demands proved to be too much for Sinatra and the two parted ways. The biggest fallout was with Lawford whose brother-in-law, President John F. Kennedy, snubbed Sinatra’s invite to his home. JFK had heeded his brother Robert F. Kennedy’s warning about Sinatra’s ties to the mob and how that association would look poorly on the president. Sinatra felt that Lawford was in part responsible and never spoke to him again. As a result of these fallouts, both Bishop’s and Lawford’s parts were either written out or replaced by other actors in the next two pictures.

4 for Texas is a Western spoof starring just two members of the Rat Pack, Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. It doesn’t stray too far from the first two movies in terms of style and theme. 4 for Texas offers cheeky humor, gambling and beautiful women, much like Ocean’s 11, and it also offers the same dose of action and banter in a story set in the American frontier of the 1870s, with music like in Sergeants 3. In 4 for Texas, Sinatra and Martin play businessmen who must work together to protect a windfall of cash from scheming bandits. The cast includes a motley crew of talent including Charles Bronson, the Three Stooges and two of the most glamorous European actresses of that era, Anita Ekberg and Ursula Andress. Italian actresses Gina Lollobrigida and Sophia Loren were both approached with the project but ultimately turned down the roles.

The movie was a collaborative project between director Robert Aldrich, Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin and their individual production companies and with financing and distribution from Warner Bros. A reference to Sinatra, Aldrich and Martin is referenced in a painted sign spotted in the movie that reads SAM Company. 4 for Texas suffered from a constantly changing script and Aldrich’s frustrations with Sinatra’s lack of enthusiasm for the project. The film did not fare as well as the previous two but that didn’t stop the wheels from moving forward.

Still chasing the success of Ocean’s 11, Jack Warner agreed to another Rat Pack movie with Robin and the 7 Hoods, a parody of Michael Curtiz’s classic swashbuckler The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) starring Errol Flynn. Set in Chicago during the roaring twenties, Robin and the 7 Hoods is just as much an homage to the classic gangster movies as it is a musical. Edward G. Robinson, in an uncredited role, plays a mob boss in scenes that spoof his breakout performance in the pre-Code gangster movie Little Caesar (1931). Another inspiration for the film comes by way of the musical Guys and Dolls (1955) which also starred Frank Sinatra.

According to TCM host Robert Osborne, Bing Crosby “had basically retired from movies and did this movie as a lark”, stepping in for Peter Lawford. Peter Falk, before he fully came to fame with his hit TV show “Columbo”, replaced Joey Bishop in the role of police lieutenant Guy Gisborne. Out of all the Rat Pack movies, Robin and the 7 Hoods takes the most advantage of the Rat Pack’s singing talents with various musical numbers. Notable songs include “Bang! Bang!” by Sammy Davis, Jr. and “Any Man Who Loves His Mother” by Dean Martin. “My Kind of Town” by Sinatra became an unofficial anthem for the city of Chicago and a standard for Sinatra.  “My Kind of Town” earned songwriters Jimmy Van Heusen and Sammy Cahn an Academy Award nomination for Best Song. Long-time Sinatra collaborator Nelson Riddle received a nomination for Best Score.

Robin and the 7 Hoods released in June of 1964 and even with extensive test screenings in over thirty key markets, the movie did not achieve the success Jack Warner had hoped it would. This did not stop Warner from continuing his work with Sinatra and years later the two remained friends.

While 4 for Texas and Robin and the 7 Hoods are mostly forgotten today, Ocean’s 11’s legacy continues with various remakes including the successful trilogy by Steven Soderbergh Ocean’s Eleven (2001), Ocean’s Twelve (2004) and Ocean's Thirteen (2007) and Gary Ross’s all-female remake Ocean’s Eight (2018).