Robin and the 7 Hoods

I was expecting less, as I once saw this referred to somewhere as a "self-indulgent" effort from The Chairman of the Board. I found it, au contraire, to be a solidly entertaining, well-made comedic effort with high production values, beautifully shot (the film really needs letterbox to show it off; catch it on American Movie Classics). Good work from all the leads, Peter Falk in particular, as well as the many familiar charcter actors. It is interesting how Frank's outfit never seems to quite fit into the 1928 setting - he always seems ready to step off the screen into 1964 Las Vegas. The nostagically vaudevillian number "Style", sung by Frank, Dean, and Bing, is worth the whole movie. Well worth a see.

Robin and the 7 Hoods (1964)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

The Rat Pack take on gangsters in the 1920's Chicago in this spoof of the genre, which is also mixed with the Robin Hood story. After the top gangster is killed at his birthday party, Guy Gisborne (Peter Falk) takes over the mob with the help of a corrupt cop but this doesn't sit well with Robbo (Frank Sinatra). Instead of joining up with the other mobs, Robbo decides to team up with some buddies (Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Bing Crosby) and take the city over with charity work. This movie starts off very well but slowly runs out of gas and in the end it becomes a rather drag, which is a shame since the movie started off so well. I think the biggest problem is the running time, which just keeps the moving going and going when it should have probably ran only 90 or 100 minutes. The first half of the film is extremely fast, loose and fun and it offers up plenty of nice laughs including a hilarious cameo by Edward G. Robinson. Sinatra, rumored to have had mob connections, fits his role extremely well and delivers a fine performance of "My Kind of Town". Sammy Davis, Jr. is also very good in the film and gives one of the highlights in his performance of "Bang, Bang" and he also does a great impression of James Cagney. Martin is also very funny as is Crosby but Falk really steals the show as the rival gangster. For the most part the music is good, although I think the song "Mr. Booze" runs too long and really brings the film to a standstill. The history behind the making of this film is rather interesting since Kennedy was assassinated during production and Sinatra's own son was kidnapped and held for ransom, which also had the filmmakers cut a kidnapping scene from the film. There's a joke early in the film about the Lincoln assassination and I'm shocked this was left in the film after what happened to Kennedy. At any point, this is a fairly entertaining comedy that has a lot going for it but an editor really would have helped things.

Take the Rat Pack (an expression Sinatra hated, by the way), add some great songs, a decent story, AND Bing Crosby, and what do you get?

Well, less than you might expect-I've rated this a "7", because despite the above, Sinatra much of the time looks like he'd rather be someplace else, and Peter Falk's performance is cliche'-ridden.

The reason to see this one is Bing Crosby. He has several great songs, delivered in his inimitable style, such as "Mr. Booze". And his comedy bits, especially as a preacher to a Salvation Army-like meeting, are hilarious.

After an emotional rendition of 'For He's a Jolly Good Fellow' number one gangster, Big Jim, is shot dead at his own birthday party, and Guy Gisborne (Peter Falk) takes over the mob…

Robbo (Frank Sinatra), a rival gangster, warns Gisborne to stay out of the North Side… John (Dean Martin), a minor hood from Indiana, joins Robbo's gang just before Robbo and Gisborne destroy each other's nightclubs… Robbo rebuilds, outfitting his new gambling hall so that it becomes a new little modern casino at the touch of a button…

Marian (Barbara Rush), Big Jim's daughter, gives Robbo $50 grand to kill her father's murderers, but he orders Will (Sammy Davis, Jr.), his aide, to donate the money to an orphanage… Allan A. Dale (Bing Crosby), who runs the institution, crowns Robbo as a modern-day Robin Hood…

The action takes place in the gangland Chicago of 1928 instead of Sherwood Forest… Amusing ideas abounded… The best being a brief appearance by Edward G. Robinson as the chief hood who is shot by the mob just few seconds in the film…

Don't miss the formidable dance number "Style" performed and sung by Sinatra, Martin, and Crosby

Of all the five films they did together, the legendary Rat Pack never had a better cinematic vehicle for their talents than right here! You get the feeling, right from the start, that Frankie, Dino, Sammy, Bing, and Peter Falk weren't really acting. They were cutting loose, having a ball, and loving every minute of it. And you will, too! Not only are there the great Cahn - Van Heusen songs, including the Oscar-nominated "My Kind of Town," but there's the legendary William Daniels' excellent color photography, and Don Feld's period costumes. And, in addition to the aforementioned Rats, the performances of Barbara Rush as Marian (The script implies that her maidenly status was long since spoken for!), the underrated Robert Foulk as the corrupt Sheriff Glick, the always-funny Victor Buono as his even more nefarious Deputy, Alvin Potts, and the always funny veterans Hank Henry, Richard Bakalyan, and Phil Arnold as various lovable lowlifes.

A couple of sad footnotes connected with this film, though: The funeral scene for Edward G. Robinson's character was filmed in an actual cemetery. While there, Sinatra, whose tumultuous relations with the Kennedys were well known, came across an actual gravestone for a "John F. Kennedy, 1800 - 1878." They joked about it the rest of the day, and drew a lot of disapproving looks, until someone turned on a car radio on the afternoon of November 22, 1963! Another scene, which was never used in the finished film, was a kidnapping scene, filmed the same day as Frank Jr. was kidnapped. For a film to be entertaining and funny under these circumstances is nothing short of amazing, but "Robin and the Seven Hoods" manages to be, in the last of the Rat Pack films, and the best one of all of them!