Frank Sinatra is a peculiar figure in American pop culture -- part pop idol and part gangster. His "Danny Ocean" (the titular hero of Oceans 11) is the essence of what it was to be cool in the years just after World War II, a suave and confident man who "grokked" the world in all its complexity and move to make his piece of it a little shinier. I'm struck by the "11" too. Dean Martin is the eptiome of cool self control, Joey Bishop is a sad clown of negativity, Peter Lawford is suave but suspected of being feckless, Sammy Davis is the black man movie goers forgot was black, and Angie Dickinson is what sexy girls were supposed to want to be. The others fill out various stereotypes, even the luckless Richard Conte whose death is advertised from the very beginning. I watched this show recently and was struck at how Cesar Romero dominated the flick, an actor who I pretty much only know through the Joker lens.
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