Robin and the 7 Hoods

For the third Wednesday of Dean Martin's turn as TCM's Star of the month, they're showing the films he made as part of the Rat Pack, or more precisely with Frank Sinatra. Among them is Robin and the 7 Hoods, which will be on at 10:15 PM tonight.

The opening scene reminded me of Some Like It Hot, when all the gangsters meet in Miami and kill one of their number after a rendition of "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow". This time, it's 1928 Chicago, and the gangster killed is Big Jim, played by Edward G. Robinson who notably turned down appearing in Some Like It Hot. After Big Jim's death, the gangsters need a new boss, and Guy Gisborne (Peter Falk) basically nominates himself, and then places rather exorbitant conditions on the rest of the gangsters in the city-wide "partnership".

Well, not all of the gangsters are there. Robbo (Frank Sinatra) leads the north side, together with his right-hand man Will (Sammy Davis Jr.). One day, into his speakeay comes John (Dean Martin), who challenges Robbo to a game of pool, and winning, gets his way into Robbo's partnership. The only problem is that at some point they're going to have to deal with Guy's mob, which also has the police on its payroll.

There's one saving grace for Robbo and friends, however, in the form of Jim's daughter Marian (Barbara Rush). She wants vengeance, and she's willing to go to great lengths to see that justice is done, even offering $50,000 (in 1928 dollars, remember) to get the killer of Big Jim. Robbo refuses. But when Marian sends him the cash anyway, what's a guy to do? So he donates the money to an orphanage.

Allen A. Dale (Bing Crosby) is the secretary of that orphanage, and with the big contribution from Robbo, he decides to start a public relations campaign praising Robbo for the donation, which puts most of the town's citizens on Robbo's side against not just Guy, but law enforcement. Now Guy really wants to get back at Robbo.

As a parody of the Robin Hood story, there's a really great idea behind Robin and the Seven Hoods. Not just riffing on Robin Hood, but setting the story in gangland Chicago. And damn if the cast don't look like they're having the times of their lives. And yet there was still something about the movie that bugged me. With all the star power in the movie, and many of them known for their singing, Sinatra (who also served as producer) made this a musical comedy, not just a straight-up comedy. And every time one of the musical numbers comes, it drags the movie to a screeching halt. (Although, to be fair, Sinatra introduces "My Kind of Town" regarding Chicago.)

Still, there's a lot to like about the movie. There are a lot of small roles for older stars; in addition to Robinson there's Sig Ruman and Allen Jenkins. And the way Robbo handles making his new place raid-proof (with help from architect Hans Conried) is a stroke of genius. If only there weren't so much music.

Robin and the 7 Hoods is also available on DVD.