ROBIN AND THE 7 HOODS, last and easily the best of the ‘Rat Pack’ comedies, landed a breezy 19th place among the hits of 1964. Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin & Sammy Davis Jr. find a suitable home for their pack-patter in 1929 Chicago; their camaraderie, a good supporting cast and a slick production make the often-strained material go down. Bing Crosby and Peter Falk fill in Rat-holes left cheeseless by the absent Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop.

Sinatra produced this one, everything looking bright and brassy in color lensing by William H. Daniels, directed by Gordon Douglas. The Robin Hood characters are reworked into Damon Runyon-esque gangland.  ‘Robbo’ (Frank), ‘John Little’ (Dino), ‘Will Scarlet’ (Sammy) and  ‘Alan A. Dale’ (Bing) contend with ‘Guy Gisborne’ (Peter Falk) for shares of the rackets in the Windy City, as well as wooing ‘Marian’ (Barbara Rush).  Edward G. Robinson shows up for some gangster & Warner Brothers nostalgia.

There are a half-dozen songs scattered around, whipped up by Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen, with the ace number being “My Kind Of Town”, which drew an Oscar nomination for Best Song to go with Nelson Riddle’s nomination for Scoring.  The four leads banter along in cruising gear, with Davis getting a manic bartop dance number with a Tommy gun that’s nifty in a vulgar sort of way. There are amusing supporting bits here and there, but Peter Falk handily steals away with the best lines and funniest delivery.

Too long at 124 minutes, but generally fun. With Victor Buono, Robert Foulk, Hank Henry, Philip Crosby, Allen Jenkins, Jack LaRue, Richard Bakalyan, Hans Conreid and Sig Ruman.