to where they serve the drinks
Sinatra month on TCM continues. Last night they got to the Rat Pack movies. Didn't record Ocean's 11 cos I've seen it many times already but we'd left the DVR paused on the station so I was able to watch almost the whole thing, even tho I think it had ended in real time by the time I got back from Dain's. I was struck this time by what an insufferable bastard Peter Lawford is to Cesar Romero. It's no wonder Romero delights in taking him and the rest of the crew down at the end. And I'm always entertained by the fact that Ocean and co. are ex 82nd Airborne.
Tonight I watched Sergeants 3 which was the immediate follow-up to Ocean's 11. Sinatra, Martin and Lawford are the titular sergeants. Joey Bishop's also on board as a "company man" sergeant that the big 3 don't much like. They all get sent on a mission to hostile Indian territory. Did I mention it's a western? And Sammy shows up as a freed slave with a mule who starts following them around after they get him out of trouble by starting an enormous saloon brawl. It's not much of a part for Sam and it makes me appreciate the audacity of Blazing Saddles a bit more. The only other Ocean's 11 cast member back for this one is Henry Silva as a crazy violent warrior. The renegades are all supposed to be ghost dancers. I'm sure they have about as much cultural veracity as the Kali death cultists in ...Temple of Dumb. Actually, this movie's got a lot of Indiana Jones in it. Right down to a scene where Sinatra gets dragged behind a runaway buckboard and has to pull himself along the ground under the carriage to get back inside. I wonder if Speilberg had seen Sergeants 3 or was that just a typical scene in pulpy action movies.
To sum up: an enjoyable, if formulaic western, livened up with some Rat Pack comedy bits. The elements aren't as well pulled together as in the Indiana Jones movies but it's still an okay flick.