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Ocean's Eleven (1960 film)
Encyclopedia
Ocean's 11 is a 1960 heist film
directed by Lewis Milestone
and starring five Rat Pack
ers: Peter Lawford
, Frank Sinatra
, Dean Martin
, Sammy Davis, Jr.
, and Joey Bishop
.
Centered on a series of Las Vegas
casino
robberies, the film's other stars included Angie Dickinson
, Cesar Romero
, Richard Conte
, Akim Tamiroff
, Henry Silva, Ilka Chase
, Norman Fell
, Harry Wilson
, and Buddy Lester
, as well as cameo appearances by Shirley MacLaine
, Red Skelton
, and George Raft
.
A remake
, directed by Steven Soderbergh
, starring George Clooney
, Brad Pitt
, Matt Damon
, Andy García
and Julia Roberts
(among others) was released in 2001, followed by a pair of sequels.
82nd Airborne veterans are recruited by Danny Ocean (Sinatra
) and Jimmy Foster (Lawford
) to rob five different Las Vegas casinos (Sahara
, Riviera
, Desert Inn
, Sands
, and The Flamingo
) on a single night.
The gang plans the elaborate New Year's Eve heist with the precision of a military operation. Josh Howard (Davis) takes a job driving a garbage truck while others work to scope out the various casinos. Sam Harmon (Martin
) entertains in one of the hotel's lounges. Demolition charges are planted on an electrical transmission tower and the backup electrical systems are covertly rewired in each casino.
At exactly midnight, while everyone in every Vegas casino is singing "Auld Lang Syne
" the tower is blown up and Vegas goes dark. The backup electrical systems open the cashier cages instead of powering the emergency lights. The inside men sneak into the cashier cages and collect the money. They dump the bags of loot into hotel's garbage bins, go back inside and mingle with the crowds. As soon as the lights come back on, the thieves stroll out of the casinos. A garbage truck driven by Josh picks up the bags and passes through the police blockade. It appears to have gone off without a hitch.
Their ace electrician, Tony Bergdorf (Conte
), has a heart attack in the middle of the Las Vegas Strip
and drops dead. This raises the suspicions of police, who wonder if there is any connection.
Reformed gangster Duke Santos (Romero
) offers to recover the casino bosses' money for a price. He learns of Ocean being in town and his connection to Foster, who is the son of Duke's fiancee. Santos pieces together the puzzle by the time Bergdorf's body arrives at the mortuary.
Santos confronts the thieves, demanding half of their take. In desperation, the money is hidden in Bergdorf's coffin, with $10,000 set aside for the widow (Willes
). The group plans to take back the rest of the money, making no payoff to Santos, after the coffin is shipped to San Francisco.
This plan backfires when the funeral home talks Bergdorf's widow into having the funeral in Las Vegas, where the body is cremated – along with all the money.
in the lead. Sinatra became interested in the idea and a variety of different writers worked on the project. When Lawford first told Sinatra of the story, Sinatra joked "Forget the movie, let's pull the job!"
The opening animated title sequence was designed by Saul Bass
.
Heist film
A heist film is a film that has an intricate plot woven around a group of people trying to steal something. Versions with dominant or prominent comic elements are often called caper movies. They could be described as the analogues of caper stories in film history...
directed by Lewis Milestone
Lewis Milestone
Lewis Milestone was a Russian-American motion picture director. He is known for directing Two Arabian Knights and All Quiet on the Western Front , both of which received Academy Awards for Best Director...
and starring five Rat Pack
Rat Pack
The Rat Pack was a group of actors originally centered on Humphrey Bogart. In the mid-1960s it was the name used by the press and the general public to refer to a later variation of the group, after Bogart's death, that called itself "the summit" or "the clan," featuring Frank Sinatra, Dean...
ers: Peter Lawford
Peter Lawford
Peter Sydney Ernest Aylen , better known as Peter Lawford, was an English-American actor.He was a member of the "Rat Pack", and brother-in-law to US President John F. Kennedy, perhaps more noted in later years for his off-screen activities as a celebrity than for his acting...
, Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, Dean Martin
Dean Martin
Dean Martin was an American singer, film actor, television star and comedian. Martin's hit singles included "Memories Are Made of This", "That's Amore", "Everybody Loves Somebody", "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You", "Sway", "Volare" and "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?"...
, Sammy Davis, Jr.
Sammy Davis, Jr.
Samuel George "Sammy" Davis Jr. was an American entertainer and was also known for his impersonations of actors and other celebrities....
, and Joey Bishop
Joey Bishop
Joey Bishop was an American entertainer who was perhaps best known for being a member of the "Rat Pack" with Frank Sinatra, Peter Lawford, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Dean Martin...
.
Centered on a series of Las Vegas
Las Vegas Strip
The Las Vegas Strip is an approximately stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard in Clark County, Nevada; adjacent to, but outside the city limits of Las Vegas proper. The Strip lies within the unincorporated townships of Paradise and Winchester...
casino
Casino
In modern English, a casino is a facility which houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. Casinos are most commonly built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships or other tourist attractions...
robberies, the film's other stars included Angie Dickinson
Angie Dickinson
Angie Dickinson is an American actress. She has appeared in more than fifty films, including Rio Bravo, Ocean's Eleven, Dressed to Kill and Pay It Forward, and starred on television as Sergeant Suzanne "Pepper" Anderson on the 1970s crime series Police Woman.-Early life:Dickinson, the second of...
, Cesar Romero
Cesar Romero
Cesar Julio Romero, Jr. was an American film and television actor who was active in film, radio, and television for almost sixty years...
, Richard Conte
Richard Conte
Richard Conte was an American actor. He appeared in numerous films from the 1940s through 1970s, including I'll Cry Tomorrow and The Godfather.-Life and career:...
, Akim Tamiroff
Akim Tamiroff
Akim Mikhailovich Tamiroff was an Armenian actor. He won the first Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor.Tamiroff was born in Tiflis, Russian Empire , of Armenian ethnicity. He trained at the Moscow Art Theatre drama school. He arrived in the U.S. in 1923 on a tour with a troupe of actors...
, Henry Silva, Ilka Chase
Ilka Chase
Ilka Chase was an American actress and novelist.Born in New York City and educated at convent and boarding schools in the United States, England, and France, she was the only child of Edna Woolman Chase, the editor in chief of Vogue magazine, and her first husband, Francis Dane Chase.Chase made...
, Norman Fell
Norman Fell
Norman Fell , born Norman Noah Feld, was an American actor of film and television, most famous for his role as landlord Mr. Roper on the sitcom Three's Company and its spin-off, The Ropers.-Early life:...
, Harry Wilson
Harry Wilson (actor)
Harry Wilson was an English character actor who appeared in over 200 films from 1928 to 1965.His distinctive facial features often led to him being cast as various henchmen, thugs, convicts and brawlers...
, and Buddy Lester
Buddy Lester
Buddy Lester was a veteran actor of dozens of character roles of film and television, who regularly appeared in Jerry Lewis features, including The Patsy, The Ladies Man, The Nutty Professor, Three on a Couch, Smorgasbord, Hardly Working" and The Big Mouth.Lester also portrayed Vince Massler, one...
, as well as cameo appearances by Shirley MacLaine
Shirley MacLaine
Shirley MacLaine is an American film and theater actress, singer, dancer, activist and author, well-known for her beliefs in new age spirituality and reincarnation. She has written a large number of autobiographical works, many dealing with her spiritual beliefs as well as her Hollywood career...
, Red Skelton
Red Skelton
Richard Bernard "Red" Skelton was an American comedian who is best known as a top radio and television star from 1937 to 1971. Skelton's show business career began in his teens as a circus clown and went on to vaudeville, Broadway, films, radio, TV, night clubs and casinos, all while pursuing...
, and George Raft
George Raft
George Raft was an American film actor and dancer identified with portrayals of gangsters in crime melodramas of the 1930s and 1940s...
.
A remake
Ocean's Eleven (2001 film)
Ocean's Eleven is a 2001 American comedy-crime caper and remake of the 1960 Rat Pack caper film of the same name. The 2001 film was directed by Steven Soderbergh and features an ensemble cast including George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, Andy García, and Julia Roberts. The film was...
, directed by Steven Soderbergh
Steven Soderbergh
Steven Andrew Soderbergh is an American film producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, editor, and an Academy Award-winning film director. He is best known for directing commercial Hollywood films like Erin Brockovich, Traffic, and the remake of Ocean's Eleven, but he has also directed smaller less...
, starring George Clooney
George Clooney
George Timothy Clooney is an American actor, film director, producer, and screenwriter. For his work as an actor, he has received two Golden Globe Awards and an Academy Award...
, Brad Pitt
Brad Pitt
William Bradley "Brad" Pitt is an American actor and film producer. Pitt has received two Academy Award nominations and four Golden Globe Award nominations, winning one...
, Matt Damon
Matt Damon
Matthew Paige "Matt" Damon is an American actor, screenwriter, and philanthropist whose career was launched following the success of the film Good Will Hunting , from a screenplay he co-wrote with friend Ben Affleck...
, Andy García
Andy García
Andrés Arturo García Menéndez , professionally known as Andy García, is a Cuban American actor. He became known in the late 1980s and 1990s, having appeared in several successful Hollywood films, including The Godfather: Part III, The Untouchables, Internal Affairs and When a Man Loves a Woman...
and Julia Roberts
Julia Roberts
Julia Fiona Roberts is an American actress. She became a Hollywood star after headlining the romantic comedy Pretty Woman , which grossed $464 million worldwide...
(among others) was released in 2001, followed by a pair of sequels.
Plot
A gang of World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
82nd Airborne veterans are recruited by Danny Ocean (Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
) and Jimmy Foster (Lawford
Peter Lawford
Peter Sydney Ernest Aylen , better known as Peter Lawford, was an English-American actor.He was a member of the "Rat Pack", and brother-in-law to US President John F. Kennedy, perhaps more noted in later years for his off-screen activities as a celebrity than for his acting...
) to rob five different Las Vegas casinos (Sahara
Sahara (hotel and casino)
The Sahara Hotel and Casino is a closed hotel casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Winchester, Nevada. It was in operation for 59 years from 1952 to 2011. The hotel had 1,720 guestrooms and suites with a casino covering more than , and sits on including the empty adjoining land. The hotel is...
, Riviera
Riviera (hotel and casino)
The Riviera is a hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Winchester, Nevada. The hotel has over 2,100 rooms, many located in a 23-story tower. The casino has of gaming space.-History:...
, Desert Inn
Desert Inn
The Desert Inn was a Paradise, Nevada, hotel/casino that operated from April 24, 1950, to August 28, 2000. Designed by noted New York architect Jac Lessman, it was the fifth resort to open on the Las Vegas Strip. The property included an 18-hole golf course. Locals nicknamed the resort "The D.I."...
, Sands
Sands Hotel
The Sands Hotel was a historic Las Vegas Strip hotel/casino that operated from December 15, 1952 to June 30, 1996. Designed by architect Wayne McAllister, the Sands was the seventh resort that opened on the Strip....
, and The Flamingo
Flamingo Las Vegas
The Flamingo Las Vegas is a hotel casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada and is owned and operated by Caesars Entertainment Corp.. The property offers a casino along with 3,626 hotel rooms...
) on a single night.
Dean Martin
Dean Martin was an American singer, film actor, television star and comedian. Martin's hit singles included "Memories Are Made of This", "That's Amore", "Everybody Loves Somebody", "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You", "Sway", "Volare" and "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?"...
) entertains in one of the hotel's lounges. Demolition charges are planted on an electrical transmission tower and the backup electrical systems are covertly rewired in each casino.
At exactly midnight, while everyone in every Vegas casino is singing "Auld Lang Syne
Auld Lang Syne
"Auld Lang Syne" is a Scots poem written by Robert Burns in 1788 and set to the tune of a traditional folk song . It is well known in many countries, especially in the English-speaking world; its traditional use being to celebrate the start of the New Year at the stroke of midnight...
" the tower is blown up and Vegas goes dark. The backup electrical systems open the cashier cages instead of powering the emergency lights. The inside men sneak into the cashier cages and collect the money. They dump the bags of loot into hotel's garbage bins, go back inside and mingle with the crowds. As soon as the lights come back on, the thieves stroll out of the casinos. A garbage truck driven by Josh picks up the bags and passes through the police blockade. It appears to have gone off without a hitch.
Their ace electrician, Tony Bergdorf (Conte
Richard Conte
Richard Conte was an American actor. He appeared in numerous films from the 1940s through 1970s, including I'll Cry Tomorrow and The Godfather.-Life and career:...
), has a heart attack in the middle of the Las Vegas Strip
Las Vegas Strip
The Las Vegas Strip is an approximately stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard in Clark County, Nevada; adjacent to, but outside the city limits of Las Vegas proper. The Strip lies within the unincorporated townships of Paradise and Winchester...
and drops dead. This raises the suspicions of police, who wonder if there is any connection.
Reformed gangster Duke Santos (Romero
Cesar Romero
Cesar Julio Romero, Jr. was an American film and television actor who was active in film, radio, and television for almost sixty years...
) offers to recover the casino bosses' money for a price. He learns of Ocean being in town and his connection to Foster, who is the son of Duke's fiancee. Santos pieces together the puzzle by the time Bergdorf's body arrives at the mortuary.
Santos confronts the thieves, demanding half of their take. In desperation, the money is hidden in Bergdorf's coffin, with $10,000 set aside for the widow (Willes
Jean Willes
Jean Willes was an American film actress. She appeared in approximately 65 films between 1934 and 1972.-Career:...
). The group plans to take back the rest of the money, making no payoff to Santos, after the coffin is shipped to San Francisco.
This plan backfires when the funeral home talks Bergdorf's widow into having the funeral in Las Vegas, where the body is cremated – along with all the money.
Production
Peter Lawford was first told of the basic story of the film by director Gilbert Kay who had heard the idea from a gas station attendant. Lawford eventually bought the rights in 1958 imagining William HoldenWilliam Holden
William Holden was an American actor. Holden won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1954 and the Emmy Award for Best Actor in 1974...
in the lead. Sinatra became interested in the idea and a variety of different writers worked on the project. When Lawford first told Sinatra of the story, Sinatra joked "Forget the movie, let's pull the job!"
The opening animated title sequence was designed by Saul Bass
Saul Bass
Saul Bass was a Jewish-American graphic designer and filmmaker, best known for his design of motion picture title sequences....
.
Ocean's 11
- Frank SinatraFrank SinatraFrancis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
as Danny OceanDanny OceanDaniel "Danny" Ocean is a fictional character in the original Ocean's 11, its 2001 remake and the two films that followed the remake . The character was portrayed by Frank Sinatra in the original film, and by George Clooney in the remake trilogy... - Dean MartinDean MartinDean Martin was an American singer, film actor, television star and comedian. Martin's hit singles included "Memories Are Made of This", "That's Amore", "Everybody Loves Somebody", "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You", "Sway", "Volare" and "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?"...
as Sam Harmon - Sammy Davis, Jr.Sammy Davis, Jr.Samuel George "Sammy" Davis Jr. was an American entertainer and was also known for his impersonations of actors and other celebrities....
as Josh Howard - Peter LawfordPeter LawfordPeter Sydney Ernest Aylen , better known as Peter Lawford, was an English-American actor.He was a member of the "Rat Pack", and brother-in-law to US President John F. Kennedy, perhaps more noted in later years for his off-screen activities as a celebrity than for his acting...
as Jimmy Foster - Richard ConteRichard ConteRichard Conte was an American actor. He appeared in numerous films from the 1940s through 1970s, including I'll Cry Tomorrow and The Godfather.-Life and career:...
as Tony Bergdorf - Joey BishopJoey BishopJoey Bishop was an American entertainer who was perhaps best known for being a member of the "Rat Pack" with Frank Sinatra, Peter Lawford, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Dean Martin...
as Mushy O'Connors - Henry Silva as Roger Corneal
- Buddy LesterBuddy LesterBuddy Lester was a veteran actor of dozens of character roles of film and television, who regularly appeared in Jerry Lewis features, including The Patsy, The Ladies Man, The Nutty Professor, Three on a Couch, Smorgasbord, Hardly Working" and The Big Mouth.Lester also portrayed Vince Massler, one...
as Vince Massler - Richard BenedictRichard BenedictRichard "Pepe" Benedict was an Italian-born television and film actor and director.He appeared in dozens of television programs and movies from the 1940s to the 1960s, most notably Ace in the Hole , directed by Billy Wilder...
as Curly Steffans - Norman FellNorman FellNorman Fell , born Norman Noah Feld, was an American actor of film and television, most famous for his role as landlord Mr. Roper on the sitcom Three's Company and its spin-off, The Ropers.-Early life:...
as Peter Rheimer - Clem Harvey as Louis Jackson
Others
- Angie DickinsonAngie DickinsonAngie Dickinson is an American actress. She has appeared in more than fifty films, including Rio Bravo, Ocean's Eleven, Dressed to Kill and Pay It Forward, and starred on television as Sergeant Suzanne "Pepper" Anderson on the 1970s crime series Police Woman.-Early life:Dickinson, the second of...
as Beatrice Ocean - Cesar RomeroCesar RomeroCesar Julio Romero, Jr. was an American film and television actor who was active in film, radio, and television for almost sixty years...
as Duke Santos - Patrice WymorePatrice WymorePatrice Wymore is an American television, film, and stage actress of the 1950s and 1960s.-Early life and stage career:...
as Adele Elkstrom - Akim TamiroffAkim TamiroffAkim Mikhailovich Tamiroff was an Armenian actor. He won the first Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor.Tamiroff was born in Tiflis, Russian Empire , of Armenian ethnicity. He trained at the Moscow Art Theatre drama school. He arrived in the U.S. in 1923 on a tour with a troupe of actors...
as Spyros Acebos - Ilka ChaseIlka ChaseIlka Chase was an American actress and novelist.Born in New York City and educated at convent and boarding schools in the United States, England, and France, she was the only child of Edna Woolman Chase, the editor in chief of Vogue magazine, and her first husband, Francis Dane Chase.Chase made...
as Mrs. Restes - Jean WillesJean WillesJean Willes was an American film actress. She appeared in approximately 65 films between 1934 and 1972.-Career:...
as Gracie Bergdorf - Hank HenryHank HenryHank Henry was an American film and television actor.Henry was born Henry Rosenthal in New York City; the son of Anna , and Franklin Rosenthal...
as Mr. Kelly - Lew GalloLew GalloLew Gallo was an American character actor and producer from Mount Kisco, New York, best known for his role as Maj. Joseph Cobb on the 1960s ABC World War II series Twelve O'Clock High. He also made appearances on other series including Rawhide, Dr. Kildare, The F.B.I., Gunsmoke, The Twilight...
as Jealous Young Man - Robert Foulk as Sheriff Wimmer
Cameos
- Shirley MaclaineShirley MacLaineShirley MacLaine is an American film and theater actress, singer, dancer, activist and author, well-known for her beliefs in new age spirituality and reincarnation. She has written a large number of autobiographical works, many dealing with her spiritual beliefs as well as her Hollywood career...
as Tipsy Woman - George RaftGeorge RaftGeorge Raft was an American film actor and dancer identified with portrayals of gangsters in crime melodramas of the 1930s and 1940s...
as Jack Strager (Casino Owner) - Red SkeltonRed SkeltonRichard Bernard "Red" Skelton was an American comedian who is best known as a top radio and television star from 1937 to 1971. Skelton's show business career began in his teens as a circus clown and went on to vaudeville, Broadway, films, radio, TV, night clubs and casinos, all while pursuing...
as Himself - Richard BooneRichard BooneRichard Allen Boone was an American actor who starred in over 50 films and was notable for his roles in Westerns and for starring in the TV series Have Gun – Will Travel.-Early life:...
as The Minister (Voice)
Blu-ray release
Ocean's 11 was released on blu-ray on November 9, 2010 in a "50'th Anniversary Edition". Bonus features include- Special commentary by Frank Sinatra, Jr.Frank Sinatra, Jr.Franklin Wayne Sinatra , professionally known as Frank Sinatra, Jr., is an American singer, songwriter and conductor....
and Angie Dickinson. - "Vegas Map" - Mini-documentaries of the five casinos involved in the movie.
- Tonight Show clip of Angie Dickinson with Frank Sinatra as host from November 4, 1977.
- "Tropicana Museum Vignette"
- Hidden easter egg is accessed from the "Vegas Map" menu by pressing 'down' and clicking on the dice that appear.
External links
- TCM notes http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title.jsp?stid=18360&category=Notes