Robin and the 7 Hoods (1964)

☆ ☆ ½

Robin and the 7 Hoods (1964) – G. Douglas

Perhaps, once upon a time, there was an audience for the Rat Pack pictures (starring Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis, Jr., and here with Peter Falk as their nemesis and Bing Crosby as a fellow traveller).  I thought it would be interesting for kitsch-value – but alas, not true.  Instead, the film is rather plodding, hoping to skate along on its stars’ charisma (certainly not their acting) and therefore coming across as not much more than a rehashed 1940s gangster pic with a bunch of “dad jokes” and some rather weird musical numbers.  The only hit tune is “Chicago, My Kind of Town”—but Sinatra’s listless delivery doesn’t really rouse the troops.  Crosby is given little to work with, though makes the best of his (comic?) part, whereas Martin is so laid back he doesn’t really seem to care if he’s in the picture or not.  I was hoping for better when the curtain opened on “Big Jim” (classic gangster Edward G. Robinson) – but he is soon shot dead, leaving room for gang war between Falk and Sinatra, with Big Jim’s daughter, played by Barbara Rush, doing her best to manipulate all of the men into letting her run the town.  Sinatra and his gang decide to give the money meant to bribe them over to charity – hence the title and Robin Hood analogy (Sinatra’s character is “Robbo”).  I could go on but I’ll spare you.  This isn’t a bad movie really but there are far better ways to spend your time, unless you are part of the audience that once upon a time this picture was made for.