TCM Schedule for Wednesday, May 21 -- STAR OF THE MONTH: FRANK SINATRA

[Longhorn]

5:15am Harvey (1950)
A wealthy eccentric prefers the company of an invisible six-foot rabbit to his family.
Cast: James Stewart, Josephine Hull, Cecil Kellaway. Dir: Henry Koster. BW-104 mins, TV-G

7:00am Their Own Desire (1929)
A young couple's affair is complicated by her father's relationship with his mother.
Cast: Norma Shearer, Robert Montgomery, Lewis Stone. Dir: E. Mason Hopper. BW-65 mins, TV-G

8:15am Love In The Rough (1930)
A shipping clerk bluffs his way into a country club to romance an heiress.
Cast: Robert Montgomery, Dorothy Jordan, J.C. Nugent. Dir: Charles Reisner. BW-84 mins, TV-G

9:45am Easiest Way, The (1931)
A slum girl discovers the joys of life as a kept woman until she falls in love.
Cast: Constance Bennett, Robert Montgomery, Clark Gable. Dir: Jack Conway. BW-74 mins, TV-G

11:00am Strangers May Kiss (1931)
A sophisticated woman risks her marriage for love of a ruthless schemer.
Cast: Norma Shearer, Robert Montgomery, Neil Hamilton. Dir: George Fitzmaurice. BW-81 mins, TV-G

12:30pm Another Language (1933)
A newlywed discovers that she and her husband's snobby family speak different languages.
Cast: Helen Hayes, Robert Montgomery, Louise Closser Hale. Dir: Edward H. Griffith. BW-76 mins, TV-G

2:00pm Lovers Courageous (1932)
A failed playwright falls for an admiral's daughter.
Cast: Robert Montgomery, Madge Evans, Roland Young. Dir: Robert Z. Leonard. BW-77 mins, TV-PG

3:30pm Live, Love And Learn (1937)
A bohemian artist and a society girl try to adjust to marriage.
Cast: Robert Montgomery, Rosalind Russell, Robert Benchley. Dir: George Fitzmaurice. BW-79 mins, TV-G

5:00pm Hide-Out (1934)
Farmers take in an injured racketeer and try to reform him.
Cast: Robert Montgomery, Maureen O'Sullivan, Mickey Rooney. Dir: W.S. Van Dyke II. BW-81 mins, TV-G

6:30pm No More Ladies (1935)
A society girl tries to reform her playboy husband by making him jealous.
Cast: Joan Crawford, Robert Montgomery, Charlie Ruggles. Dir: Edward H. Griffith. BW-80 mins, TV-G

What's On Tonight: STAR OF THE MONTH: FRANK SINATRA

8:00pm Ocean's Eleven (1960)
A group of friends plot to rob a Las Vegas casino.
Cast: Frank Sinatra, Peter Lawford, Sammy Davis, Jr.. Dir: Lewis Milestone. C-127 mins, TV-14

10:15pm Sergeants 3 (1962)
Three adventurous Cavalry officers and their bugler take on a renegade chief.
Cast: Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr. Dir: John Sturges. C-113 mins, TV-PG

12:15am Robin And The 7 Hoods (1964)
A Chicago gangster stumbles into philanthropic work during a gang war.
Cast: Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr. Dir: Gordon Douglas. C-123 mins, TV-PG

2:30am 4 For Texas (1963)
Double-crossing outlaws go straight and become rival saloon owners.
Cast: Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Charles Bronson. Dir: Robert Aldrich. C-115 mins, TV-PG

[Longhorn]

1. Ocean's Eleven (1960)

http://i.cdn.turner.com/v5cache/TCM/Images/Dynamic/i37/Ocean'sEleven_FF_104x78_110320051228.gif

Steven Soderbergh's 2001 take on Ocean's Eleven with George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Brad Pitt, Don Cheadle, Matt Damon and Bill Murray was one of the few remakes to actually improve on the original. However, if you want to return to the ring-a-ding sixties and experience the original 'Rat Pack' in all their glory, the 1960 version is the place to start. Here's the set-up: ten former army buddies concoct a scheme to rob the top five Las Vegas gambling casinos during a power blackout masterminded by their main man, Danny Ocean (Frank Sinatra). But their elaborate preparations result in an unforeseen development in the eleventh hour.

One of the first in a series of heist movies in the sixties, Ocean's Eleven (1960) perfectly captures the neon buzz and nighttime glamour of the world's most popular gambling den. At the same time, audiences are treated to a glimpse of Sinatra and his favored cronies having fun with their on-screen personas which are not so far removed from their off-screen lifestyles. In addition to 'Rat Pack' regulars - Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Joey Bishop, Peter Lawford, Norman Fell and Henry Silva - Ocean's Eleven co-stars Akim Tamiroff, Cesar Romero, Richard Conte, and Angie Dickinson as Ocean's estranged wife. Guest cameos include George Raft, Red Skelton, and Shirley MacLaine.

Lewis Milestone, the veteran director whose most famous film remains the anti-war saga, All Quiet on the Western Front (1930), seemed an unlikely choice to direct Ocean's Eleven. But his career had suffered during the communist purge of Hollywood due to Senator Joe McCarthy's influence in the fifties and Milestone needed the work. And it turned out to be hard work. Milestone had never experienced an actor like Sinatra before. "When he wasn't actually acting himself, he would say, 'Get him to do this' or 'Make sure she does that," Milestone recalled in All the Way, a Sinatra biography by Michael Freedland (St. Martin's Press). "Ask me which was my least favorite film that I ever made and it has to be Ocean's Eleven." For Sinatra fans, however, Ocean's Eleven is a good-time blast from start to finish and even though the "Chairman of the Board" doesn't sing one song on-camera, his pal Dino gets to croon a fun rendition of "Ain't That a Kick in the Head".

Director/Producer: Lewis Milestone
Screenplay: Harry Brown, Charles Lederer
Cinematography: William H. Daniels
Editor: Philip W. Anderson
Art Direction: Nicolai Remisoff
Music: Nelson Riddle
Cast: Frank Sinatra (Danny Ocean), Dean Martin (Sam Harmon), Sammy Davis Jr. (Josh Howard), Peter Lawford (Jimmy Foster), Angie Dickinson (Beatrice Ocean).
C-128m. Letterboxed.

by Jeff Stafford