Las Vegas Sun

February 12, 2012

Currently: 55° | Complete forecast | Log in

Happy 50th birthday, ‘Ocean’s 11’

Celebrating the anniversary of the Rat Pack classic

Image

Associated Press

By

Thursday, Aug. 12, 2010 | 3:44 p.m.

Calendar

  • What: Ocean's 11 50th anniversary celebration
  • Where: Frankie's Tiki Room, 1712 W. Charleston Blvd; 385-3110
  • When: 4 a.m., Friday, Aug. 13
  • Cost: Free

August 10 marked the 50th anniversary of the release of the original Ocean's 11, the Rat Pack heist film that became a touchstone for classic Vegas and was successfully remade by Steven Soderbergh in 2001. Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop all appeared in the 1960 film as members of a group of World War II veterans who pull off an elaborate robbery of five Vegas casinos (the Sahara, Flamingo, Desert Inn, Sands and Riviera).

Also making a brief appearance in the film was Edi Gomez, at the time a bandleader at the El Rancho, a popular Vegas hangout for the Rat Pack. "I had my group over there, and they said they'd pick me up for a part — a small part," says Gomez, now 88 and still living in Vegas. As the main characters prepare for their robbery at midnight on New Year's Eve, performers at all five casinos count down to the new year. Gomez filmed his part, in which he starts off the countdown, at the Sahara.

Ocean's 11 was shot primarily in the wee hours of the morning, following the nighttime performances of its stars at the Sands, so it's appropriate that its anniversary will be marked by a showing of both the original film and the remake as part of the Graveyard Double Features series at Frankie's Tiki Room at 4 a.m. tonight/Friday morning. All that will be missing is a countdown from Edi Gomez.

— Originally published in Las Vegas Weekly

Discussion: comment so far…

Comments are moderated by Las Vegas Sun editors. Our goal is not to limit the discussion, but rather to elevate it. Comments should be relevant and contain no abusive language. Comments that are off-topic, vulgar, profane or include personal attacks will be removed. Full comments policy. Additionally, we now display comments from trusted commenters by default. Those wishing to become a trusted commenter need to verify their identity or sign in with Facebook Connect to tie their Facebook account to their Las Vegas Sun account. For more on this change, read our story about how it works and why we did it.

Only trusted comments are displayed on this page. Untrusted comments have expired from this story.

No trusted comments have been posted.

Post a comment

Commenting requires registration.

Comments are moderated by Las Vegas Sun editors. Our goal is not to limit the discussion, but rather to elevate it. Comments should be relevant and contain no abusive language. Comments that are off-topic, vulgar, profane or include personal attacks will be removed. Full comments policy.

If you would like to submit your comment as a letter to the editor, you may submit it here.

Most Popular

  • Viewed
  • Discussed
  • E-mailed
  • Facebook