Sometimes a documentary doesn't have to be very well put together. It doesn't have to even be a very competent story if the story is so rich that you can skip from point to point and fill in the gaps yourself.
This is ostensibly the story of the making of the film, "Oceans 11." That story is simple: Sinatra was eager to make the most money he could, and gain the highest fame available for the least work. So, with his buddies he devised a scheme to make a movie about robbing casinos while working for one. We hear how difficult he was.
But the story ranges far and wide.
It covers the rise of Las Vegas as the gambling and prostitution capital of the country and the role Sinatra played. This includes the story of bringing organized crime to a new level of power and influence in the country. And this story leads to the story of how organized crime arranged to get JFK elected, and how subsequently Lawford provided Mob-supplied girls to the president and his brother, until RFK started the first real campaign against organized crime. And then an enraged Sinatra was out of the White House.
It also touches on the role Lawford played in getting Marilyn Monroe into the president's bed, but only slightly. And it does mention that he was the last to see her, but refrains from reporting various theories about her death.
We do see how offensively misogynistic and selfish, and thuggish he was. It isn't pointed out; in fact, the voice overs (which include Walter Cronkite) are uniformly celebratory. But its grindingly obvious that these people are not worthy of our attention.
There is a side story though, that is pretty heartbreaking. Sammy Davis Jr really was a talented guy, and never afraid of working for the hearts of an audience. But he fell in love with a white woman. Its hard to fathom that even someone at his level was not allowed to eat, sleep or play in the very places where he entertained. But even more engaging is the story about how he postponed his marriage to help JFK with the election. And how he attended a fund raiser for Martin Luther King rather than attend JFK's inauguration.
We might have followed this man in this documentary instead of Frank. But that's life.
Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.
This is ostensibly the story of the making of the film, "Oceans 11." That story is simple: Sinatra was eager to make the most money he could, and gain the highest fame available for the least work. So, with his buddies he devised a scheme to make a movie about robbing casinos while working for one. We hear how difficult he was.
But the story ranges far and wide.
It covers the rise of Las Vegas as the gambling and prostitution capital of the country and the role Sinatra played. This includes the story of bringing organized crime to a new level of power and influence in the country. And this story leads to the story of how organized crime arranged to get JFK elected, and how subsequently Lawford provided Mob-supplied girls to the president and his brother, until RFK started the first real campaign against organized crime. And then an enraged Sinatra was out of the White House.
It also touches on the role Lawford played in getting Marilyn Monroe into the president's bed, but only slightly. And it does mention that he was the last to see her, but refrains from reporting various theories about her death.
We do see how offensively misogynistic and selfish, and thuggish he was. It isn't pointed out; in fact, the voice overs (which include Walter Cronkite) are uniformly celebratory. But its grindingly obvious that these people are not worthy of our attention.
There is a side story though, that is pretty heartbreaking. Sammy Davis Jr really was a talented guy, and never afraid of working for the hearts of an audience. But he fell in love with a white woman. Its hard to fathom that even someone at his level was not allowed to eat, sleep or play in the very places where he entertained. But even more engaging is the story about how he postponed his marriage to help JFK with the election. And how he attended a fund raiser for Martin Luther King rather than attend JFK's inauguration.
We might have followed this man in this documentary instead of Frank. But that's life.
Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.
