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After we saw the original Ocean’s Eleven, my husband asked me which I liked better—the original, the remake, or the sequel. All I could say was “Apples and oranges.”
This 1960 Rat Pack movie really has very little in common with the 2001 remake (and even less in common with the 2004 sequel, Ocean’s Twelve). Both are about eleven guys (led by a guy named Danny Ocean) trying to pull off a big casino heist in Vegas, but that’s where it ends. In the original, the Eleven are a bunch of military buddies—not a bunch of professionals—who decide to use their military training to pull off a “fool-proof” robbery of five casinos in Las Vegas just after midnight on New Year’s Day. At the suggestion of idea man Spyros Acebos (Akim Tamiroff), playboy and prankster Ocean (Frank Sinatra) gathers the boys together, and they all hit Vegas to put the plan into action.
The original Ocean’s Eleven is definitely not filmmaking at its finest. The story is often painfully slow—especially in the beginning, when viewers get background information on all of the characters without really knowing what’s going on. The heist itself isn’t exactly carefully thought through, and the “plan” is never really explained—personally, I still don’t get how they were able to have two “inside guys” in each casino, plus Josh (Sammy Davis, Jr.) driving the getaway vehicle, plus Tony (Richard Conte) rigging the electrical work…with only eleven guys. And with all the characters running around, it’s hard to keep track of them all.
On the other hand, Ocean’s Eleven is fun. It shows Vegas in its true glory days—the Rat Pack days—when Sin City was overflowing with class. When men wore their best suits and women wore gowns. It’s a campy movie, but it’s swingin’, baby. Fans of the Rat Pack (especially Dean Martin, who steals the show) will love it just because.
If you’re expecting a slick action flick with cool gadgets and a big Hollywood ending like 2001’s Ocean Eleven, you’ll be disappointed. But Ocean’s Eleven is definitely worth seeing—for the music, the neon, and the Rat Pack cast.
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