bill-2315 Frank Sinatra starred in two memorable heist movies in the 1960s. The first was Ocean's Eleven (1960), which brought the Rat Pack together for a film that Sinatra is said to have remarked "Forget the movie. Let's do the heist!" The second was sci-fi writer Jack Finney's Assault on a Queen (1966). Despite its mediocre rating here on IMDb, it's actually a fascinating film marred only by rather cheap special effects (Sinatra's diving scenes look like they were shot in a backyard pool) and the sometimes ridiculous Rod Serling script. "She's so deep in my gut we breathe together" is the worst line, and one that Sinatra must have needed more than a few drinks to articulate.Meanwhile, Virna Lisi appears as little more than eye candy in the film, and Anthony Franciosa's character is rather repugnant and oily. However, there are some good scenes with Sinatra and fellow Rat Pack member Richard Conte, and the movie would have benefited greatly if their two characters had been given more time together.It's definitely worth watching, and Sinatra's acting is great as usual despite the weak script.

writers_reign As a lifelong Sinatra fan I long ago learned to distinguish between fan as in admirer and fan as in fanatic and there are plenty of the latter who would find something praise-worthy in this pedestrian heist movie which definitely belongs in the same category as Four For Texas, The Kissing Bandit, Double Dynamite etc. The premise is simple not to say simple minded. Sinatra and Errol John are partners in a boat they charter by the day, much like Jack Lemmon and Robert Mitchum in Fire Down Below. Short of cash they agree to dive in search of sunken treasure on behalf of Tony Franciosa and Virna Lisi. Whilst diving Sinatra stumbles on a U-boat on the ocean floor and unbelievable as it sounds the group decide to raise it to the surface, refurbish it and rob the Queen Mary. It ends in tears. Nuff said.

mark.waltz Who in their right mind would think that taking a sunken German submarine and raising it to rob the luxury liner, The Queen Mary, would be a good idea for a caper? That's the whole idea of this extremely silly thriller that in the 1940's would have been a great Universal movie starring the likes of Maria Montez, Jon Hall, Sabu, Lon Chaney Jr. and Turhan Bey. It's all about as realistic as "Cobra Woman", yet the characters in this movie match each of the archetypes the actors I mention would play. In the case of this movie, it is Frank Sinatra, Virni Lisi, Anthony Franciosa and Richard Conte (to name a few), and I was more than surprised that none of them broke into gails of laughter when they had to recite lines in this silly screenplay. Poor Errol John as the only black man involved in the plot becomes the victim of some rather tasteless racial slurs, while Alf Kjellin displays obvious Nazi qualities as he strokes the quickly drying Nazi flag they find aboard the submarine. While the Queen Mary doesn't end up similar fates to the Titanic or the Luisitania, disaster of another kind results.

shepardjessica-1 Nothing special about this one..Sinatra doing his usual under-acting, but Anthony Franciosa is usually interesting, and Virna Lisi is one of the great Italian beauties of the 1960's. Alf Kjellin and Richard Conte are decent actors, but this one drags about half the time. A 5 out of 10.Best performance = Mr. Franciosa.Films like this were common in the mid-60's and Sinatra never seemed to have a clue. Sorry Frank! Anything with Virna Lisi as the main female is always worth checking out. Simply gorgeous with intelligence and a great voice. There's not much else to recommend it and there are no surprises.