This is a mixed bag. At times it seems a Chicago version of "Guys and Dolls" and at times it seems to be channeling "Some Like it Hot." Yet, only about 1/3rd of the scenes match the quality of those two films. Too much of the time, we seem to be watching a gangster movie skit from a 1960's television variety show.
Frank Sinatra could be very good in movies (e.g. "Man With a Golden Arm,") but he could also sleepwalk through a role, which he does here. He does wake up long enough to do a great number "Chicago: My Kind of Town," which was nominated for an Academy Award and should have won, "Chim Chim Cher-ee" from "Mary Poppins" won.
Fortunately, the comedy is provided in small, but delicious doses by Peter Falk, Sammy Davis Jr., Victor Buono, and Dean Martin. Martin's singing of "A Man Who Loves His Mother" is one of the softest and funniest ballads in any movie and Martin does it delightfully. Coincidentally, all of them would find their major successes in television in the 60's and 70's.
This was Bing Crosby's penultimate movie. He did do a remake of "Stagecoach" and continued on television for seven more years. While he is charming as usual and does a wonderful number with Martin and Sinatra, the movie changes mood with him. He's involved in a subplot with orphans and it suddenly seems as if twenty minutes of "Going My Way" was inserted.
Barbara Rush starred in a lot of big movies in the 1950's with top stars like Rock Hudson, Montgomery Cliff and Paul Newman. By 1960, she switched to doing mostly television and continued steadily in television for the next 47 years. She does her best with a poorly written part, but comes across a bit too serious for a light musical like this one.
This is not as good as "Ocean's 11," but much better than "Marriage on the Rocks," which Martin and Sinatra did the following year.
It is a must for Sinatra and Martin fans. Movie fans will find about an hour quite amusing and an hour tolerable.
Frank Sinatra could be very good in movies (e.g. "Man With a Golden Arm,") but he could also sleepwalk through a role, which he does here. He does wake up long enough to do a great number "Chicago: My Kind of Town," which was nominated for an Academy Award and should have won, "Chim Chim Cher-ee" from "Mary Poppins" won.
Fortunately, the comedy is provided in small, but delicious doses by Peter Falk, Sammy Davis Jr., Victor Buono, and Dean Martin. Martin's singing of "A Man Who Loves His Mother" is one of the softest and funniest ballads in any movie and Martin does it delightfully. Coincidentally, all of them would find their major successes in television in the 60's and 70's.
This was Bing Crosby's penultimate movie. He did do a remake of "Stagecoach" and continued on television for seven more years. While he is charming as usual and does a wonderful number with Martin and Sinatra, the movie changes mood with him. He's involved in a subplot with orphans and it suddenly seems as if twenty minutes of "Going My Way" was inserted.
Barbara Rush starred in a lot of big movies in the 1950's with top stars like Rock Hudson, Montgomery Cliff and Paul Newman. By 1960, she switched to doing mostly television and continued steadily in television for the next 47 years. She does her best with a poorly written part, but comes across a bit too serious for a light musical like this one.
This is not as good as "Ocean's 11," but much better than "Marriage on the Rocks," which Martin and Sinatra did the following year.
It is a must for Sinatra and Martin fans. Movie fans will find about an hour quite amusing and an hour tolerable.