• I don’t think Soderbergh’s remake from 2001 is close to his best work but it’s still slightly superior to the original Ocean’s 11 here
  • Apparently they shot this film during the day as the Rat Pat and cast performed, separately I believe, at night
  • Love the Saul Bass opening Vegas lights inspired titles
  • 1960 Las Vegas looks as big and glitzy as Green Bay, Wisconsin in 1995
  • The actors are almost all good- but they’re breezing thru performances here and that’s description- not evaluation- it’s not a bad thing- the film thrives on mood and the jocularity of it all—scotch and pool tables—bad prank phone calls and we’re 50 minutes in before they talk about the caper
  • The whistle from the trademark song from Sammy Davis Jr is great
  • I’m a sucker for Sinatra’s scene with Angie Dickinson and, after their fight, he tells the elevator kid “take me to where they serve the drinks”
  • There are flaws- Milestone (well past his prime) is moving so fast Conte mispronounces “abacus” and they keep going
  • Akim Tamiroff so unbelievable annoying in this film. It’s a flaw
  • The film, the suits, the sweaters (it’s Xmas during the movie) are all great fashion—CQ marked it as an influential film
  • Sloppy screenplay at times—they are going to give 10k to Conte’s wife and kid after he dies?
  • I’m also a sucker for Dino singing and playing “Ain’t love a kick in the head”
  • The Shirley MacLaine drunk bit/scene/cameo is fantastic—“they said it as a lady’s drink… lady horse”
  • The New Year’s countdown montage with the colored balloons is inspired
  • Given the genre and mood- the lukewarm weird ending as they walk down the strip is a bit of a headscratcher
  • Recommend but not near the top 10 of 1960