Ocean's Eleven

A heist film set in Las Vegas. Danny Ocean gathers friends from an old airborne unit. All of them worked together in the war and all of them have had trouble settling since. The plan is large: empty the vaults of five casinos at the same time on New Year's Eve. The method is military. They will cut the city's power, blow the vault doors and finish in the dark. The preparation sections proceed by dividing the work according to each man's old job. The air of the film matters more than the plan. The cast is made of the best known entertainers of the period and most scenes show the manner of a group of friends among themselves: jokes, songs, bars. Ocean has a personal line as well: his estranged wife is in the city and he does not want to let go of her entirely. The robbery is in the last third and is well built. What comes after it is one of the best known closes in the genre; the narrative turns not on the plan but on the one thing outside it. Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford and Angie Dickinson are in the cast. Lewis Milestone directed. The film was remade in 2001; the two versions are quite different. An enjoyable production for anyone who likes the Las Vegas of the 1960s and easygoing heist films. For a viewer expecting pace, it takes its time getting to the robbery.