Ocean's Eleven

Plot synopsis

These old army buddies get together, see, and Danny Ocean, played by Francis Albert, is the leader of the gang. The plan is to knock off all the gambling joints in Vegas on New Year's Eve.

Danny
Josh
Sam
Beatrice

Richard Conte plays hard-luck electrician Tony Bergdorf. Just out of San Quentin, he has his doubts (122K WAV) about Danny Ocean's scheme.

But some bad news on the health front (68K WAV) convinces Tony that this is his best (and last) shot at providing for his boy Timmy's military school education.

A stunning Angie Dickinson plays Beatrice Ocean, Danny's wife. The Ocean marriage is, in the parlance of the day, on the rocks. When Danny's best chum Sam Harmon, played by Dino, asks what went wrong, Bea sums it up succinctly (41K WAV), and goes on to explain that the Ocean household falls somewhat short of a home (27K WAV) and that Danny -- whose middle name is danger (126K WAV) -- has her longing for a more stable life (36K WAV).

Although he still loves Bea deeply, Danny, of course, wants to proceed with his boldest gamble ever. He points out that the skills he and his pals picked up in the 82nd Airborne should still be worth something (41K WAV) in a peacetime economy, and he choreographs the New Year's Eve heist with the greatest precision. As for danger, Danny's reasoning (50K WAV) is characteristically blunt.

Cocktails are imbibed and cigarettes smoked with an air of great panache by Frankie, Dino and the rest of the eleven ... Peter Lawford, Henry Silva, Norman Fell and Joey Bishop (as a retired boxer!) among others.

Sammy Davis Jr. plays Josh, winner of the DSM with the 82nd Airborne, but a garbageman in his post-war life. His dreams of playing big-league ball shot down by the color of his skin and his visual handicap (36K WAV), Josh makes do driving a truck and singing to entertain his garbage pals in dumps on the outskirts of Vegas.

Cesar Romero, while not one of the eleven, lends his formidable presence to the proceedings as Jock Santos, a gangster-gone-straight -- engaged to become the sixth husband (126K WAV) of Peter Lawford's dizzy, but very rich, mother -- who sniffs out the boys' scheme and does his best to separate them from the loot.

The twists and turns of the plot are many. Danny tries to make nice with Bea by promising a dirty weekend away after the big score. Bea is flabbergasted (104K WAV) but Danny doesn't see anything amiss (32K WAV) in his suggestion.

OK -- So Danny's sexual politics are a little unenlightened, but he's trying. Here he waxes humanitarian (108K WAV) when discussing a proposal for the kind of contribution he'd like to make to world peace.

Would it surprise you to learn things don't go quite right, or that Tony Bergdorf is the one things go wrong for most(99K WAV)? But hey, I'm not here to give the story away completely.

• Cast and credits, courtesy of the Internet Movie Database.
  
  
• Martin Scorsese put Ocean's Eleven on a double-bill with his Goodfellas for a Director's Choice series at the Walter Reade Theater a couple years back, citing it as a major influence on his own work.
  
  
• Nick Tosches' article on Dean Martin.
  
  
• Sinatra fans should check out his fan club's home page, by all means, but come back after you do.
  
  
  
  
• Be sure to visit the Rat Pack Page.